Ahmad Maryudi

Abstract
History has witnessed forests shaping human civilization from the ancient times to the industrial ages and after. In recent years, the world's forests have staged more prominent roles in our society. That the year 2011 has been declared as the International Year of Forests by the United Nations reveals a bold statement on such importance. The forests of Indonesia are in particular; stakes placed upon are diverse and often conflicting, not only from local or national levels but also from international society. This book provides insights and analysis on forest policy and practices, with particular focus on the forests of Indonesia.

Keywords
forest management, sustainability, timber industry, illegal logging, environmental services, regulatory approach, market instruments, community forestry, social forestry, empowerment, climate change, emissions, carbon trading, REDD, forest education,

Author

AHMAD MARYUDI was born in Blora (Indonesia), a small city surrounded by rich teak forests of Perhutani, the state forest enterprise managing Java's forests. His strong connection with the uses and management of the forests, as well as some environmental problems such as water shortage, encouraged him to study forest management in Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta (1994-1998). In 2003, he received an Australian Development Scholarship to pursue master degree in the Australian National University (Canberra, Australia) in International Forest Policy. He completed his PhD in Forest Development Policy in Georg-August University Goettingen (Germany), funded by Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) in early 2011. He now lectures in Forest Management Department of Universitas Gadjah Mada. In recent years, he has been involved in research and consultancies to several international agencies, such as Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ, Germany), the Institute of Global Environmental Strategies (IGES, Japan) and Tropical Forest Trust. Recently, he was involved in the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO's) special project on World, Forest, Environment and Society (WFSE), and was also elevated as a lead author in "Global Forest Expert Panel" on International Forest Regime, an initiative of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, lead and coordinated by IUFRO.