In its broadest meaning, a forestry association is a group of people who are interested in forestry or forest industries. Their activities are concerned with the forest and its products, or the group may derive all or part of their livelihood from the forest or its products. Many such associations would not be termed “professional”: the words “forest” or “forest products” may not even appear in their title. Nevertheless, their activities – directly or indirectly, permanently or temporarily – may be concerned with the forest and its products. In a narrower sense, a PFA is restricted to a group of specialists with the same interests in forestry or forestry industries, who gain most of their livelihood from their forestry activities and who perform duties directly concerned with their own profession.