The history of Burma's forests is a paradox. No other country has been so closely identified in the popular imagination with its forests, yet the political processes that govern their fate are even today scarcely - understood. This book addresses the paradox, analysing the politics of forest management in Burma between 1824 and 1994.

The central question is: what have been the political consequences of the advent of a Forest Department in 1856 on forest access and conflict in Burma? To answer it three notions, which serve as the analytical framework of the book, are differentiated: forests as a contested resource: the Forest Department as a resource manager; and conflicting perceptions of forest use.