This book is an outcome of a research project on "Sustainable Forestry and the Environment in Developing Countries". The project has been run by Metsantutki­ muslaitos METLA -the Finnish Forest Research Institute since 1987 and will be completed this year. A major output by this project has so far been a report in three volumes on "Deforestation or development in the Third World?" The purpose of our multidisciplinary research project is to generate new knowl­ edge about the causes of deforestation, its scenarios and consequences. More knowledge is needed for more effective, efficient and equitable public policy, both at the national and intemationallevels in supporting sustainable forestry in develop­ ing countries. Our project has specifically focused on 90 tropical countries as one group and on three subgroups by continents, as well as the three case study countries, the Philippines, Ethiopia and Chile. The University of Joensuu has been our active partner in the Philippine study. We have complemented the three cases by the analyzes of Brazil and Indonesia, the two largest tropical forest-owning countries. Some other interesting country studies were annexed to complement our book both by geography and expertise. The United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economics Research, UNUIWIDER in Helsinki Finland has also been partly engaged. Most of the results from its project on "The Forest in the South and North in Context of Global Warming" will, however, be published later in a separate book.