The 61 papers published in this proceedings volume were presented at the International Symposium on Erosion and Sediment Yield: Global and Regional Perspectives held at Exeter, UK, in July 1996. The Symposium aimed to draw together information currently available on global and regional patterns of erosion and sediment yield and their sensitivity to environmental change, to examine the trends and patterns involved and to identify key areas for future research and international collaboration. The papers were grouped together into six main themes. The papers on Global patterns and Regional and national patterns are primarily concerned with sediment yields and provide a valuable synthesis of existing information both at the global scale and from specific areas of the world. They are complemented by a group of papers dealing more specifically with Soil erosion perspectives which emphasize the significance of soil erosion in many parts of the globe. Any attempt to explain global and regional patterns of erosion and sediment yield must clearly take account of contrasts in the erosional and sediment conveyance systems operating in different morphoclimatic zones, and a further group of papers therefore focuses on Sediment dynamics in contrasting environments. Attention is also given to the sensitivity of erosion and sediment yields to environmental change in a section devoted to Trends in sediment yield. The wider environmental and economic significance of increased sediment loads in rivers and associated management issues are emphasized by the final group of papers dealing with Sedimentation problems and sediment management. The Symposium was a contribution to Projects 2.1 and 2.2 of UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme (IHP-V) which focus on vegetation, land use and erosion processes and on sedimentation processes in reservoirs and deltas.