Corruption is the major factor linking long-term forest harvesting concessions and the government agencies in Guyana, South America, and it is based on the very low forest taxes and high profits on under-declared log exports. Three "rings of power" or social compacts mutually foster the...

Taxation systems for publicly-owned forests should be founded on a government's constitutional right of radical tenure, simultaneously recognising the rights of forest-dependent stakeholders to share benefits and responsibilities. Complex taxes may be historically explicable but are open to...