This study deals with past, present and future forest management in West Africa and its biological background. The focus is on three adjacent countries, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia, with similar ecological conditions but distinctly different historical contexts. The book was written in response to the negative information presented in the popular press about the forestry situation in West Africa. It not only describes deforestation and its causes, but also past and present efforts to develop methods and strategies for sustainable management of natural forest. The authors are forestry scientists, and the text shows some of the main characteristics of the way of thinking in forestry. The book, therefore, leans heavily on historical evidence, as it explains the rain forest ecosystem and the use and misuse of such forests by man. The book starts with a historical essay on deforestation and early timber exploitation as well as botanical research, and continues with a concise account of the state of ecological knowledge, followed by detailed descriptions of forestry practices in the recent past and the present. Special attention is given to the ways in which timber exploitation is controlled in the three countries, and to recent research efforts to develop silvicultural management. The last chapter focuses on the future and describes the current move to reorganise the forest sector in Ghana with its renewed emphasis on sustainable timber production and the national forest development objectives in Côte d'Ivoire. As many forests in the region are severely degraded, the promising efforts to restore the depleted Bossematié Forest Reserve receive special attention. Furthermore, the potential for future ecological improvements in timber harvesting, based on the life phases of trees, and for diversifying forest production by including non-timber forest products and lesser-used timbers, is discussed.