Roger Sedjo, a senior fellow in the Energy and Natural Resources Division, is the director of RFF's Forest Economics and Policy Program, which, in addition to doing research, brings visiting researchers and consultants to RFF. The program's principal goal is to support and disseminate public policy research in forestry and related areas.
Sedjo's research interests include forests and global environmental problems, climate change and biodiversity public lands issues, long-term sustainability of forests, industrial forestry and timber supply and demand, global forest trade, forest biotechnology and land use change.
"Forests have always been viewed as a source of fiber and other local outputs, such as watersheds and recreational opportunities," Sedjo said. "It is now clear, however, that forests also play an important role in both stabilizing global climate and sustaining global biodiversity, which needs to be better understood."
Sedjo currently serves as the co-convener of a team of scientists, including economists, from around the world who are writing a chapter on forest sinks for the International Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Third Assessment Report, which will be issued early this fall. The IPCC was established by the United Nations in response to the rise in the global average temperature in recent decades.
The Third Assessment Report—which will consist of three sections, on the state of the science, adaptation options, and mitigation possibilities, each prepared by a separate Working Group—is being prepared by several writing teams. Representatives of Working Group III, which is compiling a broad review and update of the current states of science regarding climate mitigation possibilities and options, recently met in Accra, Ghana, with delegates of 85 countries to finalize the document summary. This document will be used to inform the discussion and negotiations regarding appropriate actions and responses by government and others.
Sedjo was recently a member of the Committee of Scientists, which was created by the Secretary of Agriculture to make recommendations about the planning of the National Forest System, which is managed by the Forest Service. Their report was submitted to the Secretary in 1999.
Sedjo has also been a consultant to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other international organizations in more than a dozen countries, including Argentina, Indonesia, New Zealand, Russia, and Thailand. He also serves as the president of the Environmental Literacy Council.
Sedjo has written or edited 13 books related to forestry and natural resources, in addition to scores of journal articles. His most recent publication, A Vision for the U.S. Forest Service: Goals for Its Next Century, was published last fall by RFF Press.
With contributions from scholars, policymakers, and forestry officials, this volume provides broad reflections on the agency's past and future, contemporary perspectives about the use and stewardship of public lands, and analyses of the science involved in the practice of "scientific management." As the lead editor, he recently received the Best Book Award for 2000 from the Section for Environmental and Natural Resources Administration of the American Society of Public Administration.
A version of this article appeared in print in the Spring 2001 issue of Resources magazine.
