GUEST EDITORIAL: CAN TROPICAL FOREST SCIENCE CONTRIBUTE TO INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDAS?

The Journal of Tropical Forest Science (JTFS) has recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Some thoughts regarding the motivation for such a journal were shared in the last issue of 2008 (volume 20, number 4). Whilst some of the fundamental forest science questions of 20 years ago are still important today, few can doubt that the context in which forest scientists operate has changed remarkably over the last 20 years. This observation alone dictates that forest scientists the world over need to constantly examine the context in which they do their work. This relates to both the scientific and the social/developmental environments in which they frame their research questions and provide answers.