Selective harvest has become a dominant method of commercial logging in tropical rainforests of the Asia-Pacific region. Although it has usually been recognized that this method minimizes the impact on forest because of the limited number of trees harvested and slight effects on growth of unharvested trees, recent reports suggest that its damage is potentially serious. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a selective logging operation in 1993-1994 on customary land (2024 ha) of New Georgia Island, Solomon Islands. Geo-referenced IKONOS panchromatic (1-m resolution) and multispectral (4-m resolution) images from 2002 (the post-logging period) and aerial photographs (2.5 m pixels, original scale: 1:25 000) from 1991 (the pre-logging period) were analysed by means of supervised classification and on-screen visual interpretation, in association with detailed field observation. The area deforested by selective logging was 88 ha (95% confidence limits: 79-98 ha), accounting for 7.4% of the original forest and thus causing substantial damage.