Rapid economic development in Asia has seen a major increase in demand for raw materials, putting natural resources in the region and worldwide under increasing strain. The forestry sector has not escaped this development drive, with the result that illegal logging has left many countries in Asia facing environmental degradation and the impoverishment of communities that rely on forests for their livelihoods. As one of the world's main timber buying markets, the EU has taken the responsibility to prohibit the placing of illegal timber on its market, promote best practices in the international timber trade and encourage sustainable development of the world's forests. With these aims in mind, the EU set out a range of measures to tackle illegal logging in its Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, which it adopted in 2003.^The measures in the EU FLEGT Action Plan aim to prevent the import of illegal timber into the EU and to increase demand for timber from responsibly managed forests. The EU FLEGT Asia Regional Support Programme has supported the implementation of the EU FLEGT Action Plan in Asia since 2008. This programme improved forestry best practices in Asia by strengthening regional cooperation and promoting international trade in verified legal timber, with the overarching aim of contributing to poverty eradication and facilitating the sustainable management of the region's natural resources. These efforts have yielded results at regional and national levels. In Asia, political interest in forest governance issues has increased. Cross-border cooperation to ensure legal and sustainable forest management has also increased. Furthermore, Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) are under negotiation and implementation in most ASEAN countries.^VPAs require countries to define legality for their timber and timber products. By increasing transparency in the forestry industry and promoting socially and environmentally responsible policies and measures, FLEGT is helping ensure that forests in Asia's main timber-producing countries are sustainably managed and that revenues from forest-based activities are more equitably distributed to benefit communities that rely on the region's forests for their livelihoods.

Rapid economic development in Asia has seen a major increase in demand for raw materials, putting natural resources in the region and worldwide under increasing strain. The forestry sector has not escaped this development drive, with the result that illegal logging has left many countries in Asia facing environmental degradation and the impoverishment of communities that rely on forests for their livelihoods. As one of the world's main timber buying markets, the EU has taken the responsibility to prohibit the placing of illegal timber on its market, promote best practices in the international timber trade and encourage sustainable development of the world's forests. With these aims in mind, the EU set out a range of measures to tackle illegal logging in its Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, which it adopted in 2003.^The measures in the EU FLEGT Action Plan aim to prevent the import of illegal timber into the EU and to increase demand for timber from responsibly managed forests. The EU FLEGT Asia Regional Support Programme has supported the implementation of the EU FLEGT Action Plan in Asia since 2008. This programme improved forestry best practices in Asia by strengthening regional cooperation and promoting international trade in verified legal timber, with the overarching aim of contributing to poverty eradication and facilitating the sustainable management of the region's natural resources. These efforts have yielded results at regional and national levels. In Asia, political interest in forest governance issues has increased. Cross-border cooperation to ensure legal and sustainable forest management has also increased. Furthermore, Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) are under negotiation and implementation in most ASEAN countries.^VPAs require countries to define legality for their timber and timber products. By increasing transparency in the forestry industry and promoting socially and environmentally responsible policies and measures, FLEGT is helping ensure that forests in Asia's main timber-producing countries are sustainably managed and that revenues from forest-based activities are more equitably distributed to benefit communities that rely on the region's forests for their livelihoods.

The FAO-EU FLEGT Programme supports government agencies, non-governmental organizations and private sector associations to work together in support of legal and trade reforms in timber producing countries with the aim of increasing legal trade in timber. The Programme, which started in 2008, is currently half way through its third phase of funding and covers 24 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. An evaluation of the third phase shows that despite significant shifts in timber markets and flows, the Programme remains highly relevant to national and regional forest governance objectives, national trade priorities and market demands. It is also well aligned to donor goals and objectives, particularly the EU-FLEGT Action Plan, as well as FAO Strategic Objectives. The Programme has achieved important results at country level including improved voice of non-state actors; increased capacity and skills; policy, legal and regulatory reforms; transparency and disclosure and improvements in timber legality.

Nowhere is the connection between society and the environment more evident and potentially more harmful for the future of the world than in Asia. In recent decades, rapid development of Asian countries with very large populations has led to an unprecedented increase in environmental problems such as air and water pollution, solid and hazardous wastes, deforestation, depletion of natural resources and extinction of native species. This handbook provides a comprehensive survey of the cultural, social and policy contexts of environmental change across East Asia. The team of international experts critically examine a wide range of environmental problems related to energy, climate change, air, land, water, fisheries, forests and wildlife. The editors conclude that, with nearly half of the human population of the planet, and several rapidly growing economies, most notably China, Asian societies will determine much of the future of human impacts on the regional and global environments. As climate change-related threats to society increase, the book strongly argues for increased environmental consciousness and action in Asian societies. This handbook is a very valuable companion for students, scholars, policy makers and researchers working on environmental issues in Asia.

The FAO-EU forest law enforcement, governance and trade (FLEGT) programme seeks to reduce and eventually eliminate illegal logging. With the support of its donors, the European Union, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme funds projects created by governments, civil society and private sector organizations in Latin America, Africa and Asia to improve forest governance and promote trade in legal timber products on domestic and international markets. The Programme works in support of the European Commission’s Action Plan on FLEGT to promote the legal production and consumption of timber. The evaluation looked at the third phase of the programme, which remained a significant contribution to the goals of the FLEGT Action Plan. The increased capacity of service providers (particularly beginner non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations) and micro, small and medium-sized enterprise associations was considered the most significant change generated by the programme. The promotion of South-South cooperation proved to be an important aspect of capacity enhancement. Thanks to increased capacities, but also multi-stakeholder platforms and improved policy and regulative tools, a positive incipient impact on more inclusive forest governance has been achieved. More information and independent forest monitoring provided an important contribution to improved enabling conditions for legal timber trade and on the information of timber legality, even though the actual market impact is still limited. Recommendations to FAO and its project partners and stakeholders include actions to take away institutional, fiscal, technical and political barriers to scale up results, and actions to strengthen the sustainability of results, gender equity and social inclusion, knowledge management as well as monitoring and evaluation.