Fr. Peter Walpole, S.J. Director, Institute of Environmental
Science for Social Change, Manila, Philippines The recent report
on the State of the Worlds Forests (FAO, 2001), highlighted the
increasing roles of communities in forest management. However,
no emphasis was placed on the significant potential of assisted
natural regeneration. This exemplifies the overall lack of
attention given to this promising approach. This paper
highlights ten aspects of assisted natural regeneration (ANR)
that warrant increased attention if ANR is to move forward
successfully. These are: 1. Environments or biomes of the region
2. Different forms and understanding of ANR 3. Traditional
systems 4. Relation to local communities 5. Constraints and
impediments 6. State of the art of ANR 7. Patterns of
regeneration 8. Development mechanisms 9. Research needs and
topics 10. Building strategies and agendas Environments of the
region Whitmore (1990) describes 14 tropical forest formations
in the Asia-Pacific region. These forest types