ABSTRACT
Various predatory forms of tropical forest utilization either extract a few species of exceptional value, damaging or abandoning the remainder in the process. Many rational forest management systems can effectively protect the environment and the natural resource base, while providing significant economic benefits to rural areas. Of the many types of reforestation, single-species plantations, while cheaper and more productive of wood than heterogeneous plantations, are often more vulnerable to pests and diseases. "Social" or "community" forestry is usually a small-scale endeavor, more directly beneficial to the local inhabitants than are industrial plantations. Social forestry can involve multi-purpose tree species that yield harvestable products. Deforestation is used to mean serious damage to or outright loss of natural forest and long-term conversion of once-forested areas to other forms of land use, such as cattle pastures, agricultural colonization, or rubber, cocoa, and oil palm plantations.
