Loggers and Degradation in the Asia-Pacific
Corporations and Environmental Management

This book examines why and how loggers have resisted and ignored calls for environmental reforms.

Peter Dauvergne (Author)

9780521001342, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 15 October 2001

218 pages, 1 map 5 tables
22.9 x 15.4 x 1.6 cm, 0.394 kg

'Dauvergne's book is a must for those studying social environmental or industrial issues within the Asia-Pacific as well as being an authoritative work for those wishing to gain an informed background to possible environmental implications associated with current forest related debates there.' Australian Journal of Environmental Management

Corporate loggers have damaged much of the tropical forest throughout the Asia-Pacific over the last four decades. Despite a steady rise in global and local concern, few firms have changed their practices. Loggers and Degradation in the Asia-Pacific examines why and how loggers have resisted and ignored calls for environmental reforms. Concentrating on the period after 1990, the book explains what is happening on the ground and highlights the structures within which firms and governments operate. Within this broader context the author considers a range of factors including: the science of tropical forest management, the capacity of states to regulate and enforce rules, the relative power of environmental reformers, and the 1997–9 Asian financial crisis. This is a constructive, insightful approach to a depressing, yet urgent, problem. It will be accessible to academic and student readers as well as those in corporations, government and NGOs.

Part I. Introduction and Background: 1. Introduction
2. Forest degradation in the Asia-Pacific
Part II. Context: 3. Scientific forestry and environmental failures
4. Environmental reformers and state capacity in the Asia-Pacific
5. The 1997 Asian financial crisis and forestry reforms
Part III. Corporations, Profits, and Uncertainty: 6. Capitalism and corporate structures
7. The nature of profits
8. High uncertainty
Part IV. Conclusion: 9. Fading into history or reimagining commercial forests?
Glossary.

Subject Areas: Conservation of the environment [RNK], Political economy [KCP], Regional studies [GTB]