A set of four reports has been prepared to communicate the outcome of the "Oslo Workshop" to a range of audiences: Highlights: A "Highlights" document was produced at the workshop itself that summarised the main messages from the meeting. Formal report: With the intention of providing an input into the work of the United Nations Forum on Forests, an edited version of the "Highlights" was formatted as a formal report and officially transmitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations by

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... six co-sponsoring governments of the Oslo Workshop. Proceedings: The "Highlights," accompanied by the full set of papers for the workshop have been released as Proceedings but only as a CD-ROM and in electronic form on the CIFOR Website. Main report: The present publication is the main report. It combines an edited version of the "Highlights" with complementary synthesis of main messages from the rich discussion, as well as summaries of the papers prepared for the Workshop. This main report is available in hard copy as well as on the CIFOR Website. Private sector report: The last output is a publication to communicate private sector views regarding its interest in Sustainable Forest Management, its perception of constraints, and suggestions for changes to facilitate its greater engagement in SFM investment. The present publication is the main report. It has been deliberately designed for reading not only by officials and professionals but also by the general public. For this reason we A NOTE TO THE READER iv requested a professional text editor to help clarify the language and we took two other decisions to achieve wider readability: a) while largely retaining the exact wording that was developed at the Oslo Workshop for the "Highlights", we have encouraged light editing for greater clarity but without changing the meaning; and b) we have avoided mid-sentence cross-referencing to authors, which interrupts reading flow. To compensate, we have included summaries of the papers where the key messages can be read in context. This document has been assembled and edited by Mafa E. Chipeta and Mahendra Joshi working in their individual capacities. Condensing papers, conveying the essence of workshop discussions, and elaborating on wording developed at the conclusion of the Workshop involved considerable interpretation. In doing the synthesis, the co-editors have sought, above all else, to convey the spirit of discussions and the intent and emphasis desired by the authors and presenters; the original authors were requested to study the summaries of their papers before publication. Should there be cases where the efforts of the editors have not succeeded in fully conveying the main message and spirit of the originals, responsibility rests with the editors as individuals and not with their respective employers, the Oslo Workshop Steering committee, the original contributing authors, or the co-sponsoring governments.