The Compendium will be an encyclopaedic information resource on species characteristics relevant to the conservation, management and use of economically important forest trees of the Asia-Pacific. A key feature will be the interpretation of knowledge by experts, in terms of its application to forestry practice. The Compendium is designed as a tool to aid sustainable forest management, the conservation of natural resources, planning and training. It will contain species reviews, bibliographies, abstracts, illustrations, maps, taxonomic and terminological databases, and an interactive guide to species selection in a user friendly format.

To improve the efficiency of forestry in the Asia-Pacific Region by providing a continually updated single source of information on the characteristics of economically important tree species in the Region, in a user-friendly presentation for personal computers. The result will contribute to sustainable forest management and the conservation of natural resources in the Region.

• The Forestry Compendium - a silvicultural reference. Volume 1 (Asia-Pacific Region) will be published in Sept 98 and Volume II (Global) in Jan 2000.