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Why so glum?

Cover image

Photo: C. Vega, Conservation International

Frogs aren't well known for their sense of humour, but they might need to develop one in coming decades. Perhaps more than any other order of animals, frogs and toads are under threat--from phenomena like climate change and habitat destruction and a mysterious fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Several rainforest species have gone missing in recent years and others are becoming rarer: according to the recent Global Amphibian Assessment, 1653 of the 5067 known frog and toad species globally are either threatened or extinct.

This edition of the TFU is not about frogs. But these moist and vocal creatures are as good a symbol as any of the challenges facing advocates of natural tropical forests.

Contents

  • Cambodia's challenges

    An ITTO mission to Cambodia recommends the cautious resumption of timber-harvesting

    By Jeff Sayer, Efransjah, Sheikh Ibrahim, Misao Ishijima and Xuhe Chen

  • Why don't trade numbers add up?

    Photo: A. Sarre

    Discrepancies in tropical timber trade data highlight the continuing need to strengthen capacity for data collection and analysis

    By Alberto Goetzl

  • More negotiations in June

    The second part of a United Nations negotiating conference made progress on–but didn't conclude–a successor to the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994

  • ITTO's new projects

    The projects summarised here were financed at the 37th session of the International Tropical Timber Council in December 2004

  • Japan: the slumbering giant

    Photo: M. Adams

    While growth in the Chinese timber sector captures the headlines, Japan is still a major player

    By Mike Adams

  • Out on a limb

    Photo: A. Sarre

    The Kyoto Protocol took effect last February. What sort of opportunity does it present for tropical forestry?

    By Hwan Ok Ma

  • Fellowship report

    Photo: Bhim Nath Acharya

    Clear policies on the marketing of products from community forests are needed in Nepal to maximise the contribution of forests to sustainable development

    By Bhim Nath Acharya

  • On the conference circuit

    Reports on the Summit on Forests for Heads of States of Central Africa, the Forestry Congress in Venezuela, and a regional coordination workshop on the rehabilitation of tsunami-affected forest ecosystems

  • Noticeboard

    Announcement of the ITTO international conference on tropical plywood in Beijing, study tour on sustainable livelihoods and community forestry, and more

  • Courses

    Short training courses for professionals in forestry and related disciplines

  • Meetings

    A comprehensive listing of coming conferences relevant to sustainable tropical forest management

Full edition

The ITTO Tropical Forest Update is published quarterly in English, French and Spanish.
The French and Spanish editions are usually posted about one month after the English.

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Content does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of ITTO. ITTO holds the copyright to all photos unless otherwise stated. Articles may be reprinted without charge providing the Tropical Forest Update and author are credited and the editor notified (tfu@itto.int).