This paper is by a leading NGO protagonist in the heated international debate on forest issues. He describes how bad international policy can undermine national or local policies and also how the better initiatives have sparked off progressive policy and change at many other levels. Much is owed to the hard work of NGOs and many challenges remain.

This report charts the evolution of policies that affect forests and how the timber first orientation of forestry is giving way to more collaborative policy and forest management, and discusses the major challenges ahead. After years of “thinf falling apart it seems that Ghanaian forestry is beginning to fall into place.

The forest sector in Papua NewGuinea, well-endowed with tropical forest, mostly held under customary title by the local people, is in a mess. The national policy process centres on a struggle between the logging industries and donor agencies for the hearts and minds of the resource owners. The problems and opportunities in establishing common ground for a wider coalition of interests to be built are examined in this report.

The private sector is an increasingly dominant player in the production of wood, and the market is the main way in which wood products are distributed. Yet, for other forest goods and services such as non-timber forest products, biodiversity, and carbon storage, markets are often not effective. Worse, government and policy failures mean that the private sector's wood production activities often degrade the production base for these non-wood benefits. ~This paper reviews varied experiences of privatisation processes, and recent lessons of regulatory, civil society and market-based instruments that affect the private sector from both supply-side and demand-side angles. It provides an overview of the main mechanisms and instruments for improving the sustainability of private sector forest management, and sets out an agenda for research and discussion.