While many studies of tropical deforestation neglect the indigenous people of the forests, this book illuminates the insights local people have into conservation of their ecosystems, the effects of habitation on those ecosystems, and the impact of development and natural resource depletion on their lives. The authors present fresh perspectives on deforestation from a wide range of fields including biological ecology, forest history, conservation biology, anthropology, political economy, and development economics. The book covers Central and South America, Africa, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Indian subcontinent.