This week, at a meeting in New York, the United Nations will establish a Forum on Forests. This is the culmination of a plethora of international processes that date back to the Tropical Forestry Action Plan of 1985. I have taken part in all these discussions. What impact have they had on the forests?

BOGOR, West Java (JP): During the last dry season the signs of land use conflict were plain to see in southern Sumatra. Armed with a box of matches and plenty of nerve, local communities were reclaiming land taken from them during the Soeharto era.