This four-volume set is edited by leading experts on the evolving role of forests in providing raw materials and environmental services to meet society's changing needs. It brings together in one collection the major works that have helped to shape thinking on forests as a key sustainable resource. The collection includes classic papers but also assembles more recent publications at the cutting edge of thinking on forests and their sustainable use. The set includes a general introduction and each volume is introduced by a new overview essay, placing the selected materials in context. The breadth of subject matter is considerable, ranging from the management and conservation of forest landscapes, soils, hydrology and tree-atmosphere relations, socio-economic aspects, including the livelihoods of indigenous people, policy and economics, to contemporary issues such as ecosystem services and climate change.

Volume I covers forest conservation, now recognized as crucial to the mitigation of climate change, and its overall implications for forest landscapes, as well as forest ecology and biodiversity conservation within forests. Volume II addresses the more technical biological, physical, and chemical aspects of trees and forests and their environment, including physiological aspects and plant-atmosphere, soil and water relationships. Volume III considers the livelihoods of people working or living in forests, including non-timber forest products, rights and tenure and community forestry, as well as on-farm forestry and urban forestry. The final volume provides an overview of policy, governance, legal, and economic aspects of forests and forest management, including the important topics of decentralization and the ownership of forests.

The set provides students and teachers, confronted with thousands of journal articles, book chapters and grey literature, with a ready-made selection of-and commentary on-the most important key writings on sustainable forests. It is an essential reference for libraries concerned with geography, environmental studies, ecology, natural resource management, and forestry.