The chapters in this book were originally written for a conference organised by the Resource Management in Asia-Pacific Program at The Australian National University in 2001, under the title ‘Resource Tenure, Forest Management and Conflict Resolution: Perspectives from Borneo and New Guinea’. It was made possible with financial assistance from various sources, most notably the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The editor would also like to thank the Earth Island Institute’s Borneo Project, whose contribution enabled the attendance of a participant from Sarawak.

All papers have been updated, considerable changes being made by some authors, less by others. They can stand on their own, but contain some common themes. As mentioned in the introductory and concluding chapters, the common themes emphasise the importance of focusing on changes at the local level, of situating local complexities in the larger institutional context, and of the possible gain from such an approach in the search for alternative models of development.

The anonymous readers are to be thanked for their thorough review of the papers and their constructive criticisms. As a result, the introductory chapter was completely rewritten to capture more precisely the similarities and differences between the Indonesian and Malaysian parts of Borneo. Part of the introductory chapter was presented in draft form at the Stockholm Seminars organised by the Swedish non-government organisation Albaeco and the (Swedish) International Foundation for Science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 15 June 2005. I benefited enormously from comments made at that seminar.

Special people, however, need mention: Cristina Eghenter, who, apart from being a contributor, took on an additional role as commentator to my introduction and to other chapters in the book; Lesley Potter for her continuing support throughout and for her comments and contribution to the introductory chapter; and last but not least, Colin Filer for his patience in seeing the project through to publication.

Fadzilah Majid Cooke

University of Malaysia Sabah

Kota Kinabalu

October 2005