The Dipterocarp forests of South-East Asia constitute a dominant component of the world's tropical forests. As such, they are intertwined with a Pandora's box of problems that have plagued the world for decades; Over- and underdevelopment, poverty, hunger, population growth, exploitation of natural resources, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, the debt crisis and, of late, climate change. The world community has responded to the crucial role of these forests and the dangers facing them with funds, and a myriad of programmers, projects, institutions, conferences and networks. Apparently neither a lack of knowledge nor finance constrains the dissipation of sustainable management practices: the fate of the world's Dipterocarp forests will certainly depend on the involvement of scientists from many nations and disciplines, but will perhaps ultimately, rest with local policymakers, forest administrators and line foresters. Unfortunately, these two groups rarely share realms, readings or reasoning: practical foresters, invariably very involved with the challenges of day-to-day forest management in remote, isolated environments, may long remain oblivious to scientific developments. Traditionally though they do find solutions to problems, gain deep insights into forest responses and practical constraints, and sometimes even report in semi-obscure publications, which rarely reach the scientific circuit.The editors of the book, both experienced forest and soil scientists and practical forest managers, have attempted to bridge the gap between the realms of forest science and practice in Dipterocarp ecology, management and utilization.

Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics is a comprehensive review of the hydrological and physiological functioning of tropical rain forests, the environmental impacts of their disturbance and conversion to other land uses, and optimum strategies for managing them. The book brings together leading specialists in such diverse fields as tropical anthropology and human geography, environmental economics, climatology and meteorology, hydrology, geomorphology, plant and aquatic ecology, forestry and conservation agronomy. The editors have supplemented the individual contributions with invaluable overviews of the main sections and provide key pointers for future research. Specialists will find authenticated detail in chapters written by experts on a whole range of people-water-land use issues, managers and practitioners will learn more about the implications of ongoing and planned forest conversion, while scientists and students will appreciate a unique review of the literature.