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Inthe last quarter century, a growing body of scientific research has revealed that the world’s forests are under stress. Data collected on biodiversity, species decline, and deforestation reveal widespread deterioration of forest ecosystem structure and function. Research on social and community conditions has documented increasing uncertainty about the ability of forest-dependent communities to rely on forests for their livelihoods. Analyses of economic globalization and technological innovations have detailed an acceleration of forest exploitation alongside increasing uncertainty for domestic forest sectors about where global trends are headed. Taken together, existing research has revealed a complex yet fragile relationship between forest use and the natural functioning of forest ecosystems. In the face of this body of knowledge and the consensus that many problems are intensifying, domestic and international …