Financial support for this study was provided by the United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and the World Commission for Environment and Development. WRI\'s overall program on tropical forests has received support from the W. Alton Jones Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts. To all these institutions, we express our deep appreciation.

This report is the result of the work of World Resources Institute and an international group of seven collaborators to document government policies on forest resources and the ensuing ecological and economic losses. Those who provided valuable input on the report include:

Eufresina L. Boado, (Ph.D. Forest Resources Management, State University of New York at Syracuse) was formerly the Executive Officer, Project Management Staff, Philippine Forestry Bureau, Manila, Philippines and was the Project coordinator, ASEAN, Manila, Philippines.

John Browder, Visiting Assistant Professor of Planning and Geography, Center for Latin American Studies, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

Kong Fanwen, Research Fellow, Institute of Forestry Economics, Chinese Academy of Forestry Sciences, Beijing

Malcolm Gillis, Dean of Graduate Schools, Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs, and Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Li Jinchang, Director, Technical Economics Section, Research Center for Economic, Technological, and Social Development under the State Council of the People\'s Republic of China, Beijing.

He Naihui, Deputy Chief Editor, Linye Jingji (Forestry Economics), Institute of Forestry Economics, Chinese Academy of Forestry Sciences, Beijing

Robert Repetto, Vice President and Director, Program in Economics and Population, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC

Lester Ross, (Ph.D. Political Science, University of Michigan) is a J.D. Candidate at the Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts