Abstract
This book presents edited and revised versions of 31 papers selected from those presented at a major conference on 'History and forest resources', held in Florence, Italy, in 1998. It also includes an introduction by the first editor. The book is a companion volume to 'Methods and approaches in forest history' (IUFRO Research Series No. 3), which is also based on papers from the conference, and published by CABI Publishing in association with IUFRO. The conference was organized by the Italian Academy of Forestry Science and IUFRO Working Group S6.07.02 on Forest History. As a whole the papers present details of the interrelationships between forest ecosystems and socioeconomic development (including early forest industry development) from 13 countries. The main economic and social factors, techniques and local practices, as well as legal, political, environmental and ecological aspects related to forest changes are discussed, according to the latest achievements in forest history research.