Book Review Essay: Law and Forests under a Carbon Shadow Forests in International Law: Is there Really a Need for an International Forest Convention?, by Anja Eikermann, published by Springer, 2015, 196 pp., $129.00, hardback. Global Forest Governance: Legal Concepts and Policy Trends, by Rowena Maguire, published by Edward Elgar, 2013, 384 pp., £101.00, hardback. Law, Tropical Forests and Carbon: The Case of REDD+, edited by Rosemary Lyster, Catherine MacKenzie and Constance McDermott, published by Cambridge University Press, 2013, 308 pp., £69.99, hardback. Climate Change, Forests and REDD: Lessons for Institutional Design, edited by Joyeeta Gupta, Nicolien van der Grijp and Onno Kuik, published by Routledge, 2013, 288 pp., $145.00, hardback. Carbon Conflicts and Forest Landscapes in Africa, edited by Melissa Leach and Ian Scoones, published by Routledge, 2015, 230 pp., $45.95, paperback. Until relatively recently books dedi- cated to the subject of international law and forests were limited in number. This changed with the deci- sion by the United Nations Frame- work Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties in 2005 to explore the development of a mechanism to reduce deforestation and forest deg- radation (‘REDD+’). The number of publications on this theme is now increasing. However, there is a trend toward orientating the broader question of how best to maintain global forests sustainably under international law to one that looks towards designing a working mechanism under the UNFCCC. The five publications reviewed here provide both a broad analysis of forests within international law as well as a focus on climate change law and its influence on the ongoing development of forest-related law. They demonstrate the increasing influence of UNFCCC-related forest measures on the development of forest law more generally. Anja Eikermann explores the long- standing question of whether an international forest convention is needed to conserve global forest resources. Inspired by scholar- ship on fragmentation in relation to the international forest regime complex, Eikermann reviews exist- ing arrangements. Overall, Eiker- mann argues that the existing inter- national forest regime complex and its institutions can, with sufficient coordination and investments in resources, be effective in governing the global forest estate. Eikermann begins by putting forward the case for international forest regulation by drawing on dif- ferent forest dimensions – ecologic- al, economic and socio-political – placed initially within a historical context. This is followed by outlining the ‘tangled web’ of institutional structures that has evolved to advance the international forest agenda. It attempts to explain why these institutions have failed to deliver a comprehensive legal struc- ture. This chronological survey is well documented elsewhere but Eikermann delivers a well-crafted overview for the reader. It is the next chapter, which intro- duces the ‘treaty canopy’ covering forests, in which the book demon- strates limitations. This is where a detailed examination of each of the treaties that constitute the interna- tional forest regime would be expected to be advanced. However, Eikermann provides a rather super- ficial overview of these instruments, focusing on key objectives and articles. This is not taken further to discuss their evolution in any depth, other than selected decisions adopted by various Conferences of the Parties. The book itself is a slim volume, less than 200 pages, so there was scope to expand upon these issues without rendering the publication unnecessarily unwieldy. The penultimate chapter considers the options for international regula- tion of forests. It covers a great deal considering the substance of forest regulation, evaluation of a multi- instrument approach and the obstacles that fragmentation poses to achieving a coordinated interna- tional framework. The conclusion, one that considers that the key ingredients of the international Review of European Community & International Environmental Law RECIEL 24 (3) 2015. ISSN 2050-0386 DOI: 10.1111/reel.12142 © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. 375