Laws for forests: An introductory guide to international forest and forest related legal materials that shape forest ethics and practice

The aim of this guide is to arm marginalised managers of forest resources with a basic understanding of key international legal instruments that relate to forests. It introduces the reader to the main purpose of each instrument. Tables within the annexes then show to which specific sections of legislation an appeal might be made if any one of these broad ethical principles is contravened. The guide therefore serves to identify how marginalised people might appeal to the agreed texts of international law in their fight for social and environmental justice. Coverage within this guide is deliberately broad – it deals with hard and soft law currently available in the three fields of environmental, human rights and economic law. It makes no attempt to be exhaustive, but rather highlights the most important and broadly adopted legal instruments.