Following an interdisciplinary approach to debates about the future of tropical forests in Southeast Asia, the authors - experts in their field - unravel the extent to which the interests of local inhabitants, nation-states and international environmental movements are intertwined. This volume, a joint publication with Kyoto University Press, examines the highly politicized context in which local forestry problems intersect with global market forces, focusing on the social and economic diversity of different tropical forests and their specific historical background. It emphasizes the importance of examining local issues in their own right.

About Editors and Authors

ABE Ken’ichi

ABE Ken’ichi is Professor at the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan. He completed his MA and Doctorate at Kyoto University, and specializes in Southeast Asian area studies, environmental anthropology and tropical ecology.

LYE Tuck-Po

Lye Tuck-Po is an environmental anthropologist and Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Science, Malaysia. She completed a PhD in anthropology at the University of Hawai’i, Manoa, and her research focuses on local communities’ environmental knowledge and relations, particularly regarding the inhabitants of tropical forests in Southeast Asia.

DE JONG Wil

Wil De Jong is Professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. His primary field of research is tropical forests in South America, Asia and Africa, and he specializes in environmental governance, policy research and natural resource management. He has served as Professor at the Japan Centre for Area Studies, National Museum of Ethnology, and as Senior Scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research, Indonesia.

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