This paper was presented as a position paper at the International Conference  "The Nature and Culture of Forests" in May 2001 at the University of  British Columbia, Canada.  The conference brought together international  scientists and policymakers in the field of Sustainable Forest Management.  

This paper presents an overall concept for sustainable forest management  and the strengths and weaknesses of the components of this framework.  It  is concluded that an efficient policy framework is needed in order to achieve  sustainable development.  A sufficient policy framework in this respect is  missing in most countries today.