Progress has been made in recent years in understanding the causes of changes in tropical forest cover. Important knowledge has been gained in the following areas:

* the relationship of levels of economic development to patterns of change in forest cover.

* the interdependence of various forms of agency in the process of deforestation and degradation (e.g.: road and infrastructure, logging, colonisation).

* the relationship of various forms of smallholder land management practices to forest conversion or conservation.

* the relationship of land tenure, land markets, and speculation to forest conversion.

* insights on political-economic reasons for low government rent capture of forest concession lands.

There remain, however, large information gaps on the relationship of forest cover changes to underlying causes (fundamental societal processes such as capital accumulation, technological change, population growth, employment creation and income distribution, etc.), immediate causes (access to resources and markets, relative prices, rules regarding resource use, etc. at the forest frontier), and the particular socio-economic characteristics of the three primary agents of deforestation (small farmers, large farmers, forest concessionaires).

To advance scientific knowledge on inappropriate forms of management and conversion of forests in the humid tropics by examining the relationship of national policies and socio-economic patterns to the behaviour of three forms of agency at the forest margin: small farms (defined as those operating at the level of a household enterprise); large farms (larger than a family enterprise, including plantations and estates); and forest concessions (including natural forest management units and plantations). There will be particular attention to levels of living of residents at the forest margin, as it is assumed this may play a significant role in patterns of change of forest condition.

• Reports will be produced that address each of the five research questions posed above. The reports will also be submitted for publication in refereed scholarly journals.
• A brief will be written that summarises the research results and puts them in a policy context. The brief will specify the causes of inappropriate deforestation and propose policy options that might serve to ameliorate the situation.
• The results of the Cameroon fieldwork will be compared and contrasted with results in Bolivia and Indonesia, where research will be conducted using the same methodology. The analysis will form the basis for comparative monograph(s) on the underlying causes of deforestation.