NGOs and Competing Representations of Deforestation as an Environmental Issue in Malaysia

Paper 4 in this volume highlights the active role NGOs have played in pressing for the formation of cooperative environmental regimes to conserve tropical forests. Despite the activities of NGOs and other agencies, there is currently no intergovernmental or private regime in place. This paper, using Malaysia as an example, examines why the development of shared principles, norms and rules that would be enshrined in a forests regime is so difficult.