A summary of a report prepared for the European Union, this paper set out the main factors affecting forestry in the Melanesian countries, present donor activities and recommendations for future EU interventions. The main threat to forests in the region were powerful and unscrupulous foreign logging companies who had in the 1990s extended their operations from state forests to customary lands where they were less subject to regulation. The authors suggested that EU involvement should concentrate first on reinforcing government forest services to help them regain control over logging. In some cases this should be supported by policy reform, including perhaps promotion of joint ventures between the government and customary landholders or private entrepeneurs.