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Trees outside forests (ToF) is often a misunderstood category. This is the case in Brazil as shown by the lack of data on ToF reported until now by the country. In this article, ToF are understood in relation to the FAO definition of forest because it is the definition used in Brazil for the National Forest Inventory. I provide a definition of ToF, detail the main sets as inferred from this definition, propose to focus on a category of ToF as an efficient and realistic first step towards the assessment of ToF countrywide, and I illustrate the diversity of ToF-based systems in Brazil, from relatively isolated trees in agroforestry fields to dense mixed tree formations that cannot be distinguished from forests on satellite images. A recent publication has placed Brazil as the world leader in terms of the total biomass carbon stored by one ToF set, trees on agricultural land. This result could stimulate the desire for Brazil to better assess not only trees on agricultural land but also trees on urban land, the two major sets of trees outside forests. The present paper can help those who will undertake this challenging and exciting task.

The objective of this paper is to study the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector of rubber products of Malaysia, through the analysis of the medical gloves industry. The joint action between the productive sector and the State privileged the attraction of foreign investments, the focus in the exportations, the search of the competitiveness through the productivity and the best use of the resources. These practical are coherent with the clusters theory, therefore they exactly emphasize the supported growth of the productivity and the competitiveness, and not the temporary advantages or firms concentration. The performance of the specialized institutions of technological research and of the associations of the manufacturers has been expressive, either for standardization purposes, improvement of quality and product promotion in the foreign. The case study offers a counterpoint for evaluation of the strategies for industrial development in Brazil.

A comparative analysis of the spatio-temporal evolution of mosaics of forest-savannas subject to local agricultural practices was conducted in two tropical areas (Forest Guinea, Centre of Cameroon). During the last three decades, the spatial influence of the agro-forest systems or « agroforest » associating perennial crops (cocoa, coffee ...) and sub-spontaneous vegetation, strongly increased in these two regions. In Guinea, these systems, mainly based on coffee trees, developed to the detriment of spaces formerly dedicated to annual crops (pluvial rice) in rotation with fallow trees or shrubs. But a dynamic of extension of agroforests with coffee trees in the units of savannah has begun. In the centre of Cameroon, agroforest, mainly with cocoa trees, was implanted first of all in forest relicts and forest galleries. Then, due to lack of forest reserves, the farmers innovated by developing and expanding over large areas of agroforests in the zones of savannah with grasses, traditionally devoted to food-producing annual crops. This dynamic, far from being destructive, contributes to the constitution of a « cultivated forester » ecosystem or agroforest, in regions originally dominated by the savannah and the secondary forest. Faced with these relatively recent processes, the issue of sustainability of agroforests is raised, because of the increase of demand for food therefore needs land for annual crops.

Resumo A entrevista a seguir, concedida a um grupo de teóricos e críticos, entre eles, Stephen Bann, historiador da arte e um dos editores da Oxford Art Journal, apareceu, originalmente, em número especial dessa publicação [vol. 28, n. 2, 2005, p. 157-181], tendo resultado de seminário dedicado à obra de Damisch, promovido pela revista, em parceria com a Tate Britain, em outubro de 2003. Além de Stephen Bann, entrevistaram Hubert Damisch Margaret Iversen, John Goodman, Stephen Melville e Yve-Alain Bois.