In this book it is argued that sustainable management of the forests is of vital concern for both consumers and producers of tropical timber. The book is based on a study carried out by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) for the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). The purpose of this study was to examine the management of natural forest within the producer countries of ITTO and to establish whether the forests were successfully managed in a sustainable manner or not. Existing management schemes and timber production in Australia and in a number of countries in Africa, South America, the Caribbean and Asia are described, analysed and compared. It is concluded that, although many countries intend to manage their forest sustainably, progress in establishing stable sustainable systems is slow and has very little impact on the general decline in quantity and quality of the forest. Urgent measures are considered necessary and recommendations for action are formulated. Finally, some recent developments are reported. KEYWORDS: RURAL | Agricultural development | tropical forests | forest management | logging | comparative analysis.