Economic instruments - taxes, royalties, quotas, auctions, permit markets, subsidies, performance bonds, timber certification, log export bans, carbon dioxide markets - lie at the heart of contemporary debate over 'sustainable management' of tropical forests and especially one of its most controversial aspects: logging. Drawing on economic theory and concrete examples mainly from Central Africa but also from south-east Asia, this book provides a pragmatic and stimulating view of the forestry policy issues bound up with these new aspects of tropical forest management at the crossroads of economics and ecology. Instruments for sustainable private sector forestry series Forests provide society with many goods and services. The private sector has come to play an increasingly dominant role in the production and distribution of many forest goods. often, this has come at a price - environments have been degraded, social inequalities increased. Forest services that benefit society as a whole, notably climate moderation, biodiversity and heritage, are overlooked or undermined because they offer no opportunity for private profit. Securing these forest goods and services has traditionally been a government function. However, faced with limited resources, many governments now face the challenge of finding ways to ensure the private sector manages forests such that they that optimise benefits to society. Some industry leaders have already taken the initiative and are working towards better forestry. This series of publications comprises both thematic and country studies. The studies aim to better understand private sector motivations and to identify effective market and regulatory instruments to ensure the private sector produces social and environmental benefits from forest management. By considering new instruments within the wider context of policy reform, the series aims to provide practical guidance on how best to ensure the private sector manages forest resources sustainab