The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (lUFRO) comprises over 700 member institutions in 112 countries, with 15,000 scientists working collaboratively and voluntarily in 280 Divisions, Research Groups and Working Parties. Throughout the twentieth century, the Union stimulated and supported excellent research in a wide range of scientific topics. However, lUFRO has now established Task Forces to encourage the integration of such research and to foster better understanding between researchers and policy makers. At its quinquennial Congress in Malaysia during August 2000, lUFRO scientists produced state-ofknowledge reports on many major issues to indicate both the currently available information and any need for new research. One of lUFRO's Working Parties specifically addresses the potential benefits and risks of molecular technologies in transgenic plantations. The organizers of the Bio-Refor workshop in Nepal asked me to address particularly the role of forest genetics in sustainable forest management. To some extent I did this in a keynote address to the Queensland Forest Research Institute's conference in Caloundra during November 1996, and some of the points here are repetitions or expansions of issues I raised at that meeting (Burley 1996). At the outset, I should state that I consider forest tree improvement to include enhancements in silviculture, forest management, and product processing; forest genetics must be seen as one component of tree improvement interacting with these elements in the search for sustainable forest management.