Forest management

Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, protection, and forest regulation. This includes management for timber, aesthetics, recreation, urban values, water, wildlife, inland and nearshore fisheries, wood products, plant genetic resources, and other forest resource values.^[1] Management objectives can be for conservation, utilisation, or a mixture of the two. Techniques include timber extraction, planting and replanting of different species, building and maintenance of roads and pathways through forests, and preventing fire.

Many tools like remote sensing, GIS and photogrammetry^[2][3] modelling have been developed to improve forest inventory and management planning.^[4] Since 1953, the volume of standing trees in the United States has increased by 90% due to sustainable forest management.^[5]

Definition

The forest is a natural system that can supply different products and services. Forests supply water, mitigate climate change, provide habitats for wildlife including many pollinators which are essential for sustainable food production, provide timber and fuelwood, serve as a source of non-wood forest products including food and medicine, and contribute to rural livelihoods.^[6]

The working of this system is influenced by the natural environment: climate, topography, soil, etc., and also by human activity. The actions of humans in forests constitute forest management.^[7] In developed societies, this management tends to be elaborated and planned in order to achieve the objectives that are considered desirable.^{[citation needed]}

Some forests have been and are managed to obtain traditional forest products such as firewood, fiber for paper, and timber, with little thinking for other products and services. Nevertheless, as a result of the progression of environmental awareness, management of forests for multiple use is becoming more common.^[8]

Wildlife considerations

The abundance and diversity of birds, mammals, amphibians and other wildlife are affected by strategies and types of forest management.^[9] Forests are important because they provide these species with food, space and water.^[10] Forest management is also important as it helps in conservation and utilization of the forest resources.^{[citation needed]}

Approximately 50 million hectares (or 24%) of European forest land is protected for biodiversity and landscape protection. Forests allocated for soil, water, and other ecosystem services encompass around 72 million hectares (32% of European forest area).^[11][12][13] Over 90% of the world's forests regenerate organically, and more than half are covered by forest management plans or equivalents.^[14][15]

Management intensity

Forest management varies in intensity from a leave alone, natural situation to a highly intensive regime with silvicultural interventions. Forest Management is generally increased in intensity to achieve either economic criteria (increased timber yields, non-timber forest products, ecosystem services) or ecological criteria (species recovery, fostering of rare species, carbon sequestration).^[17]

Most of the forests in Europe have management plans; on the other hand, management plans exist for less than 25 percent of forests in Africa and less than 20 percent in South America. The area of forest under management plans is increasing in all regions – globally, it has increased by 233 million ha since 2000, reaching 2.05 billion ha in 2020.^[18]

Public input and awareness

There has been increased public awareness of natural resource policy, including forest management.^{[citation needed]} Public concern regarding forest management may have shifted from the extraction of timber for economic development, to maintaining the flow of the range of ecosystem services provided by forests, including provision of habitat for wildlife, protecting biodiversity, watershed management, and opportunities for recreation. Increased environmental awareness may contribute to an increased public mistrust of forest management professionals.^[19] But it can also lead to greater understanding about what professionals do for forests for nature conservation and ecological services. The importance of taking care of the forests for ecological as well as economical sustainable reasons has been shown in the TV show Ax Men.

Community forestry

This section is an excerpt from Community forestry § Overview.[edit]

Community forestry is a branch of forestry that deals with the communal management of forests for generating income from timber and non-timber forest products as forms of goods while in other hand regulating ecosystem, downstream settlements benefits from watershed conservation, carbon sequestration and aesthetic values as in forms of services. It has been considered one of the most promising options of combining forest conservation with rural development and community empowerment and poverty reduction objectives. Community forestry is defined by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations as "any situation that intimately involves local people in forestry activity".^[20] Community forestry exists when the local community in an area plays a significant role in land use decision-making and when the community is satisfied with its involvement and benefits from the management of the surrounding forest and its resources.^[21]

Community forestry is first implemented through the establishment of a legal and institutional framework including the revision of legal norms and regulations for forest management, the development of National Forest Plans and the strengthening of decentralization processes to sub-national levels of government. The second principal line of action is the implementation of pilot projects to demonstrate the feasibility of the community forestry framework ^{[citation needed]}. However, a study by the Overseas Development Institute shows that the technical, managerial and financial requirements stipulated by the framework are often incompatible with local realities and interests. A successful legal and institutional framework will incorporate the strengthening of existing institutions and enable the dissemination of locally appropriate practices as well as the local capacity for regulation and control.^[22]

In a 2016 review of community-based forestry, FAO estimated that almost one-third of the world's forest area is under some form of community-based management.^[23]

Sustainable forest management

Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the management of forests according to the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable forest management must keep a balance between the three main pillars: ecological, economic and socio-cultural. The goal of sustainable forestry is to allow for a balance to be found between making use of trees while maintaining natural patterns of disturbance and regeneration.^[24] The forestry industry mitigates climate change by boosting carbon storage in growing trees and soils and improving the sustainable supply of renewable raw materials via sustainable forest management.^[25]

Successfully achieving sustainable forest management will provide integrated benefits to all, ranging from safeguarding local livelihoods to protecting biodiversity and ecosystems provided by forests, reducing rural poverty and mitigating some of the effects of climate change.^[26] Forest conservation is essential to stop climate change.^[27][28]

Sustainable forest management also helps with climate change adaptation by increasing forest ecosystems' resistance to future climatic hazards and lowering the danger of additional land degradation by repairing and stabilizing soils and boosting their water-retention capacity.^[29][30] It contributes to the provision of a wide range of vital ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation, such as wildlife habitats, recreational amenity values, and a variety of non-timber forest products.^[11][31] Conservation of biodiversity is the major management aim in around 13% of the world's forests, while preservation of soil and water resources is the primary management goal in more than 30%.^[11][15]

Feeding humanity and conserving and sustainably using ecosystems are complementary and closely interdependent goals. Forests supply water, mitigate climate change and provide habitats for many pollinators, which are essential for sustainable food production. It is estimated that 75 percent of the world's leading food crops, representing 35 percent of global food production, benefit from animal pollination for fruit, vegetable or seed production.^[32]

The "Forest Principles" adopted at the Earth Summit (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 captured the general international understanding of sustainable forest management at that time. A number of sets of criteria and indicators have since been developed to evaluate the achievement of SFM at the global, regional, country and management unit level. These were all attempts to codify and provide for assessment of the degree to which the broader objectives of sustainable forest management are being achieved in practice. In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests. The instrument was the first of its kind that reflected the strong international commitment to promote implementation of sustainable forest management through a new approach bringing all stakeholders together.^[33]

The Sustainable Development Goal 15 is also a global initiative aimed at promoting the implementation of sustainable forest management.^[34]

Definition

A definition of SFM was developed by the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (FOREST EUROPE) and has since been adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).^[35] It defines sustainable forest management as:

The stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfill, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions, at local, national, and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other ecosystems.

In simpler terms, the concept can be described as the attainment of balance: balance between society's increasing demands for forest products and benefits, and the preservation of forest health and diversity. This balance is critical to the survival of forests, and to the prosperity of forest-dependent communities.^[11][31][36]

For forest managers, sustainably managing a particular forest tract means determining, in a tangible way, how to use it today to ensure similar benefits, health and productivity in the future. Forest managers must assess and integrate a wide array of sometimes conflicting factors: commercial and non-commercial values, environmental considerations, community needs,^[37] even global impact to produce sound forest plans. In most cases, forest managers develop their forest plans in consultation with citizens, businesses, organizations and other interested parties in and around the forest tract being managed. The tools and visualization have been recently evolving for better management practices.^[38]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, at the request of Member States, developed and launched the Sustainable Forest Management Toolbox in 2014, an online collection of tools, best practices and examples of their application to support countries implementing sustainable forest management.^[39]

Because forests and societies are in constant flux, the desired outcome of sustainable forest management is not a fixed one. What constitutes a sustainably managed forest will change over time as values held by the public change.^[40]

Criteria and indicators

Criteria and indicators are tools which can be used to conceptualise, evaluate and implement sustainable forest management.^[41] Criteria define and characterize the essential elements, as well as a set of conditions or processes, by which sustainable forest management may be assessed. Periodically measured indicators reveal the direction of change with respect to each criterion.^{[citation needed]}

Criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management are widely used and many countries produce national reports that assess their progress toward sustainable forest management. There are nine international and regional criteria and indicators initiatives, which collectively involve more than 150 countries.^[42] Three of the more advanced initiatives are those of the Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests (also called the Montréal Process),^[43] Forest Europe,^[44] and the International Tropical Timber Organization.^[45] Countries who are members of the same initiative usually agree to produce reports at the same time and using the same indicators. Within countries, at the management unit level, efforts have also been directed at developing local level criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management. The Center for International Forestry Research, the International Model Forest Network^[46] and researchers at the University of British Columbia have developed a number of tools and techniques to help forest-dependent communities develop their own local level criteria and indicators.^[47][48] Criteria and Indicators also form the basis of third-party forest certification programs such as the Canadian Standards Association's^[49] Sustainable Forest Management Standards and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.^[50]

There appears to be growing international consensus on the key elements of sustainable forest management. Seven common thematic areas of sustainable forest management have emerged based on the criteria of the nine ongoing regional and international criteria and indicators initiatives. The seven thematic areas are:

• Extent of forest resources
• Biological diversity
• Forest health and vitality
• Productive functions of forest resources
• Protective functions of forest resources
• Socio-economic functions
• Legal, policy and institutional framework.

This consensus on common thematic areas (or criteria) effectively provides a common and implicit definition of sustainable forest management. The seven thematic areas were acknowledged by the international forest community at the fourth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests and the 16th session of the Committee on Forestry.^[51][52] These thematic areas have since been enshrined in the Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests as a reference framework for sustainable forest management to help achieve the purpose of the instrument.^{[citation needed]}

On 5 January 2012, the Montréal Process, Forest Europe, the International Tropical Timber Organization, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, acknowledging the seven thematic areas, endorsed a joint statement of collaboration to improve global forest-related data collection and reporting and avoiding the proliferation of monitoring requirements and associated reporting burdens.^{[citation needed]}

Ecosystem approach

The ecosystem approach has been prominent on the agenda of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) since 1995. The CBD definition of the Ecosystem Approach and a set of principles for its application were developed at an expert meeting in Malawi in 1995, known as the Malawi Principles.^[53] The definition, 12 principles and 5 points of "operational guidance" were adopted by the fifth Conference of Parties (COP5) in 2000. The CBD definition is as follows:

The ecosystem approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. Application of the ecosystem approach will help to reach a balance of the three objectives of the Convention. An ecosystem approach is based on the application of appropriate scientific methodologies focused on levels of biological organization, which encompasses the essential structures, processes, functions and interactions among organisms and their environment. It recognizes that humans, with their cultural diversity, are an integral component of many ecosystems.

Sustainable forest management was recognized by parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2004 (Decision VII/11 of COP7) to be a concrete means of applying the Ecosystem Approach to forest ecosystems. The two concepts, sustainable forest management and the ecosystem approach, aim at promoting conservation and management practices which are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable, and which generate and maintain benefits for both present and future generations. In Europe, the MCPFE and the Council for the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS) jointly recognized sustainable forest management to be consistent with the Ecosystem Approach in 2006.^{[54][55][56][57]}

Independent certification

Growing environmental awareness and consumer demand for more socially responsible businesses helped third-party forest certification emerge in the 1990s as a credible tool for communicating the environmental and social performance of forest operations.

There are many potential users of certification, including: forest managers, scientists, policy makers, investors, environmental advocates, business consumers of wood and paper, and individuals.^{[citation needed]}

With third-party forest certification, an independent standards setting organization (SSO) develops standards of good forest management, and independent auditors issue certificates to forest operations that comply with those standards. Forest certification verifies that forests are well-managed – as defined by a particular standard – and chain-of-custody certification tracks wood and paper products from the certified forest through processing to the point of sale.^{[citation needed]}

This rise of certification led to the emergence of several different systems throughout the world. As a result, there is no single accepted forest management international standard worldwide. ISO members^[58] rejected a proposal for a forestry management system as requirements standard, with a consensus that a management system for certification would not be effective. Instead ISO members voted for a chain of custody of wood and wood-based products with ISO 38200 published in 2018. Without an international standard each system takes a somewhat different approach with scheme owners defining private standards for sustainable forest management.

In its 2009–2010 Forest Products Annual Market Review United Nations Economic Commission for Europe/Food and Agriculture Organization stated: "Over the years, many of the issues that previously divided the (certification) systems have become much less distinct. The largest certification systems now generally have the same structural programmatic requirements."^[59]

Third-party forest certification is an important tool for those seeking to ensure that the paper and wood products they purchase and use come from forests that are well-managed and legally harvested. Incorporating third-party certification into forest product procurement practices can be a centerpiece for comprehensive wood and paper policies that include factors such as the protection of sensitive forest values, thoughtful material selection and efficient use of products.^[60]

Without a single international standard, there are a proliferation of private standards,^[61] with more than fifty scheme owners offering certification worldwide, addressing the diversity of forest types and tenures. Globally, the two largest umbrella certification programs are:

• Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)
• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

The Forest Stewardship Council's Policy on Conversion states that land areas converted from natural forests to round wood production after November 1994 are ineligible for Forest Stewardship Council certification.^[11][62]

The area of forest certified worldwide is growing slowly. PEFC is the world's largest forest certification system, with more than two-thirds of the total global certified area certified to its Sustainability Benchmarks.^[63][64] In 2021, PEFC issued a position statement^[65] defending their use of private standards in response to the Destruction: Certified report from Greenpeace.^[66]

In North America, there are three certification standards endorsed by PEFC – the Sustainable Forestry Initiative,^[67] the Canadian Standards Association's Sustainable Forest Management Standard,^[68] and the American Tree Farm System.^[69] SFI is the world's largest single forest certification standard by area.^[70] FSC has five standards in North America – one in the United States^[71] and four in Canada.^[72]

While certification is intended as a tool to enhance forest management practices throughout the world, to date most certified forestry operations are located in Europe and North America. A significant barrier for many forest managers in developing countries is that they lack the capacity to undergo a certification audit and maintain operations to a certification standard.^[73]

Forest governance

Although a majority of forests continue to be owned formally by government, the effectiveness of forest governance is increasingly independent of formal ownership.^[74] Since neo-liberal ideology in the 1980s and the emanation of the climate change challenges, evidence that the state is failing to effectively manage environmental resources has emerged.^[75] Under neo-liberal regimes in the developing countries, the role of the state has diminished and the market forces have increasingly taken over the dominant socio-economic role.^[76] Though the critiques of neo-liberal policies have maintained that market forces are not only inappropriate for sustaining the environment, but are in fact a major cause of environmental destruction.^[77] Hardin's tragedy of the commons (1968) has shown that the people cannot be left to do as they wish with land or environmental resources. Thus, decentralization of management offers an alternative solution to forest governance.^[74]

The shifting of natural resource management responsibilities from central to state and local governments, where this is occurring, is usually a part of broader decentralization process.^[78] According to Rondinelli and Cheema (1983), there are four distinct decentralization options: these are: (i) Privatization – the transfer of authority from the central government to non-governmental sectors otherwise known as market-based service provision, (ii) Delegation – centrally nominated local authority, (iii) Devolution – transfer of power to locally acceptable authority and (iv) Deconcentration – the redistribution of authority from the central government to field delegations of the central government. The major key to effective decentralization is increased broad-based participation in local-public decision making. In 2000, the World Bank report reveals that local government knows the needs and desires of their constituents better than the national government, while at the same time, it is easier to hold local leaders accountable. From the study of West African tropical forest, it is argued that the downwardly accountable and/or representative authorities with meaningful discretional powers are the basic institutional element of decentralization that should lead to efficiency, development and equity.^[79] This collaborates with the World Bank report in 2000 which says that decentralization should improve resource allocation, efficiency, accountability and equity "by linking the cost and benefit of local services more closely".^[80]

Many reasons point to the advocacy of decentralization of forest management. (i) Integrated rural development projects often fail because they are top-down projects that did not take local people's needs and desires into account.^[81] (ii) National government sometimes have legal authority over vast forest areas that they cannot control,^[82] thus, many protected area projects result in increased biodiversity loss and greater social conflict.^[83] Within the sphere of forest management, as state earlier, the most effective option of decentralization is "devolution"-the transfer of power to locally accountable authority.^[84] However, apprehension about local governments is not unfounded. They are often short of resources, may be staffed by people with low education and are sometimes captured by local elites who promote clientelist relation rather than democratic participation.^[85] Enters and Anderson (1999) point that the result of community-based projects intended to reverse the problems of past central approaches to conservation and development have also been discouraging.

Broadly speaking, the goal of forest conservation has historically not been met when, in contrast with land use changes; driven by demand for food, fuel and profit.^[86] It is necessary to recognize and advocate for better forest governance more strongly given the importance of forest in meeting basic human needs in the future and maintaining ecosystem and biodiversity as well as addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation goal.^[74] Such advocacy must be coupled with financial incentives for government of developing countries and greater governance role for local government, civil society, private sector and NGOs on behalf of the "communities".^[87]

Sustainable forestry operations must also adhere to the International Labour Organization's 18 criteria on human and social rights. Gender equality, health and well-being and community consultation are examples of such rights.^[11][88]

National Forest Funds

The development of National Forest Funds is one way to address the issue of financing sustainable forest management.^[89] National forest funds (NFFs) are dedicated financing mechanisms managed by public institutions designed to support the conservation and sustainable use of forest resources.^[90] As of 2014, there are 70 NFFs operating globally.^[90]

Methods

Alternative harvesting methods

Reduced impact logging (RIL) is a sustainable forestry method as it decreases the forest and canopy damages by approximately 75% compared to the conventional logging methods.^[91] Additionally, a 120-year regression model found that RIL would have a significantly higher reforestation in 30 years ("18.3 m³ ha⁻¹") in relation to conventional logging ("14.0 m³ ha⁻¹").^[92] Furthermore, it is essential that RIL should be practiced as soon as possible to improve reforestation in the future. For instance, a study concluded that logging would have to reduce by 40% in Brazil if the current logging measures stay of "6 trees/hectare with a 30-year cutting cycle" stay in place. This would be to ensure that future ground biomass to have regeneration of the original ground biomass prior to harvesting.^[93]

Preserving forest genetic resources

Appropriate use and long-term conservation of forest genetic resources (FGR) is a part of sustainable forest management.^[94] In particular when it comes to the adaptation of forests and forest management to climate change.^[95] Genetic diversity ensures that forest trees can survive, adapt and evolve under changing environmental conditions. Genetic diversity in forests also contributes to tree vitality and to the resilience towards pests and diseases. Furthermore, FGR has a crucial role in maintaining forest biological diversity at both species and ecosystem levels.^[96]

Selecting carefully the forest reproductive material with emphasis on getting a high genetic diversity rather than aiming at producing a uniform stand of trees, is essential for sustainable use of FGR. Considering the provenance is crucial as well. For example, in relation to climate change, local material may not have the genetic diversity or phenotypic plasticity to guarantee good performance under changed conditions. A different population from further away, which may have experienced selection under conditions more like those forecast for the site to be reforested, might represent a more suitable seed source.^[97]

Community based forest management

Community-based forest management (CBFM) is a scheme that links governmental forest agencies and the local community in efforts to regenerate degraded forests, reforest deforested areas, and decrease carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. This partnership is done with the intent of not only repairing damage to the environment but also providing economic and social benefits to the affected area.^[98][99] In principle, the benefits for the local community involvement in the management and protection of their forests would be to provide employment and to supplement income from both the wage labor and additional agriculture which would then strength the entire local economy while improving environmental conditions and mitigating climate change. Therefore, implementing a CBFM system can provide rural development while mitigating climate change and sustaining biodiversity within the region. It is important to engage the local community members, many of which are indigenous since presumably, they would have a deeper knowledge of the local ecosystems as well as the life cycles of those ecosystems over time. Their involvement also helps to ensure that their cultural practices remain intact.^[98]

By region

Developing world

In December 2007, at the Climate Change Conference in Bali, the issue of deforestation in the developing world in particular was raised and discussed. The foundations of a new incentive mechanism for encouraging sustainable forest management measures was therefore laid in hopes of reducing world deforestation rates. This mechanism was formalized and adopted as REDD in November 2010 at the Climate Change Conference in Cancun by UNFCCC COP 16. Developing countries who are signatories of the CBD were encouraged to take measure to implement REDD activities in the hope of becoming more active contributors of global efforts aimed at the mitigation greenhouse gas, as deforestation and forest degradation account for roughly 15% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.^[100] The REDD activities are formally tasked with "reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation; and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries". REDD+ works in 3 phases. The first phase consists of developing viable strategies, while the second phase begins work on technology development and technology transfer to the developing countries taking part in REDD+ activities. The last phase measures and reports the implementation of the action taken.^[101] In 2021 the LEAF coalition was created, aiming to provide 1 billion dollars to countries that will protect their tropical and subtropical forests.^[102]

European Union

In 2022 the European parliament approved a bill aiming to stop the import linked with deforestation. The bill may cause to Brazil, for example, to stop deforestation for agricultural production and begun to "increase productivity on existing agricultural land".^[103] The legislation was adopted with some changes by the European Council in May 2023 and is expected to enter into force several weeks after. The bill requires companies who want to import certain types of products to the European Union to prove the production of those commodities is not linked to areas deforested after 31 of December 2020. It prohibits also import of products linked with Human rights abuse. The list of products includes: palm oil, cattle, wood, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy. Some derivatives of those products are also included: chocolate, furniture, printed paper and several palm oil based derivates.^[104][105]

Great Britain

The Forestry Commission was founded in 1919 to restore forests to Great Britain after World War 1. The commission regulates both private and public forests, as well as manages private forests. Agricultural land was bought and transformed, totalling 35% of the British woodland area having been possessed at one point in time^[106]

Canada

Canada's significant contribution to global sustainable forest management with its 166 million hectares of forest land independently certified as sustainably managed, representing 40% of the world’s certified forests, which is more than any other country.^[107] Approximately 94% of Canada's forest land is publicly owned. Sustainable forest management strategies aim to reconcile various immediate demands while ensuring that forests continue to provide benefits for future generations.^[108]

The province of Ontario has its own sustainable forest management measures in place. A little less than half of all the publicly owned forests of Ontario are managed forests, required by The Crown Forest Sustainability Act to be managed sustainably. Sustainable management is often done by forest companies who are granted Sustainable Forest Licenses which are valid for 20 years. The main goal of Ontario's sustainable forest management measures is to ensure that the forest are kept healthy and productive, conserving biodiversity, all whilst supporting communities and forest industry jobs. All management strategies and plans are highly regulated, arranged to last for a 10-year period, and follow the strict guidelines of the Forest Management Planning Manual. Alongside public sustainable forest management, the government of Ontario encourages sustainable forest management of Ontario's private forests as well through incentives.^[109] So far, 44% of Ontario's crown forests are managed.^[109]

In order for logging to begin, the forestry companies must present a plan to the government who will then communicate to the public, First Nations and other industries in order to protect forest values. The plan must include strategies on how the forest values will be protected, assessing the state of the forest and whether it is capable of recovering from human activity, and presenting strategies on regeneration. After the harvest begins, the government monitors if the company is complying within the planned restrictions and also monitors the health of the ecosystem^[110] (soil depletion and erosion, water contamination, wildlife...). Failure to comply may result in fines, suspensions, removal of harvesting rights, confiscation of harvested timber and possible imprisonment.^[110]

Russia

In 2019 after severe wildfires and public pressure the Russian government decided to take a number of measures for more effective forest management, what is considered as a big victory for the Environmental movement^[111]

Indonesia

In August 2019, a court in Indonesia stopped the construction of a dam that could heavily hurt forests and villagers in the area^[112]

In 2020 the rate of deforestation in Indonesia was the slowest since 1990. It was 75% lower than in 2019. This is because the government stopped issuing new licences to cut forests, including for palm oil plantations. The falling price of palm oil facilitated making it. Very wet weather reduced wildfires what also contributed to the achievement.^[113]

United States

In the beginning of the year 2020 the "Save the Redwoods League" after a successful crowdfunding campaign bought " Alder Creek" a piece of land 583 acres large, with 483 big Sequoia trees including the 5th largest tree in the world. The organizations plan to make there forest thinning^[114] that is a controversial operation^[115]

Cameroon

In August 2020, the government of Cameroon suspended the permit for logging in the Ebo forest.^[116]

Congo

In August 2021 UNESCO removed the Salonga National Park from its list of threatened sites. Forbidding oil drilling, reducing poaching played crucial role in the achievement. The event is considered as a big win to Democratic Republic of the Congo as the Salonga forest is the biggest protected rainforest in Africa.^[117]

Kenya

In accordance with Article 10 of the Kenyan Constitution, which mandates the incorporation of sustainable development into all laws and decisions regarding public policy, including forest conservation and management. Kenya responds to continued deforestation, forest degradation, and forest encroachment, which results in conversion of land uses to settlement and agriculture, by taking action.^[118]

Problems

Drought

This section is an excerpt from Drought.[edit]

Droughts cause a range of impacts and are often worsened by to the effects of climate change on the water cycle: a dry riverbed in France; sandstorm in Somaliland due to drought; droughts negatively impact agriculture in Texas; drought and high temperatures worsened the 2020 bushfires in Australia.

A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.^{[119]: 1157} A drought can last for days, months or years. Drought often has large impacts on the ecosystems and agriculture of affected regions, and causes harm to the local economy.^[120][121] Annual dry seasons in the tropics significantly increase the chances of a drought developing, with subsequent increased wildfire risks.^[122] Heat waves can significantly worsen drought conditions by increasing evapotranspiration.^[123] This dries out forests and other vegetation, and increases the amount of fuel for wildfires.^[122][124]

Wildfires

This section is an excerpt from Wildfire.[edit]

Wildfires are a common type of natural disaster in some regions, including Siberia (Russia), California (United States), British Columbia (Canada), and Australia.^{[125][126][127][128]} Areas with Mediterranean climates or in the taiga biome are particularly susceptible. At a global level, human practices have made the impacts of wildfire worse, with a doubling in land area burned by wildfires compared to natural levels.^[129]: 247 Humans have impacted wildfire through climate change (e.g. more intense heat waves and droughts), land-use change, and wildfire suppression.^[129]: 247 The carbon released from wildfires can add to carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and thus contribute to the greenhouse effect. This creates a climate change feedback.^[130]: 20

Forest degradation

This section is an excerpt from Forest degradation.[edit]

Forest degradation is a process in which the biological wealth of a forest area is permanently diminished by some factor or by a combination of factors. "This does not involve a reduction of the forest area, but rather a quality decrease in its condition." The forest is still there, but with fewer trees, or less species of trees, plants or animals, or some of them affected by plagues.^[131] This degradation makes the forest less valuable and may lead to deforestation. Forest degradation is a type of the more general issue of land degradation. Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, which contributes significantly to the ongoing loss of biodiversity.^[132]

Deforestation

This section is an excerpt from Deforestation.[edit]

Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use.^[133] Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present.^[134] This is one-third less than the forest cover before the expansion of agriculture, with half of that loss occurring in the last century.^[135] Between 15 million to 18 million hectares of forest, an area the size of Bangladesh, are destroyed every year. On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute.^[136] Estimates vary widely as to the extent of deforestation in the tropics.^[137][138] In 2019, nearly a third of the overall tree cover loss, or 3.8 million hectares, occurred within humid tropical primary forests. These are areas of mature rainforest that are especially important for biodiversity and carbon storage.^[139][140]

The direct cause of most deforestation is agriculture by far.^[141] More than 80% of deforestation was attributed to agriculture in 2018.^[142] Forests are being converted to plantations for coffee, palm oil, rubber and various other popular products.^[143] Livestock grazing also drives deforestation. Further drivers are the wood industry (logging), urbanization and mining. The effects of climate change are another cause via the increased risk of wildfires (see deforestation and climate change).

Deforestation results in habitat destruction which in turn leads to biodiversity loss. Deforestation also leads to extinction of animals and plants, changes to the local climate, and displacement of indigenous people who live in forests. Deforested regions often also suffer from other environmental problems such as desertification and soil erosion.

Another problem is that deforestation reduces the uptake of carbon dioxide (carbon sequestration) from the atmosphere. This reduces the potential of forests to assist with climate change mitigation. The role of forests in capturing and storing carbon and mitigating climate change is also important for the agricultural sector.^[144] The reason for this linkage is because the effects of climate change on agriculture pose new risks to global food systems.^[144]

Since 1990, it is estimated that some 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses, although the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past three decades. Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year, down from 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s. The area of primary forest worldwide has decreased by over 80 million hectares since 1990. More than 100 million hectares of forests are adversely affected by forest fires, pests, diseases, invasive species, drought and adverse weather events.^[145]

Deforestation and climate change

This section is an excerpt from Deforestation and climate change.[edit]

Deforestation is a primary contributor to climate change,^[146][147] and climate change affects the health of forests.^[148] Land use change, especially in the form of deforestation, is the second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from human activities, after the burning of fossil fuels.^[149][150] Greenhouse gases are emitted from deforestation during the burning of forest biomass and decomposition of remaining plant material and soil carbon. Global models and national greenhouse gas inventories give similar results for deforestation emissions.^[150] As of 2019^[update], deforestation is responsible for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions.^[151] Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation are accelerating.^[152][153]

When forests grow they are a carbon sink and therefore have potential to mitigate the effects of climate change.Some of the effects of climate change, such as more wildfires,^[154] invasive species, and more extreme weather events can lead to more forest loss.^[155][156] The relationship between deforestation and climate change is one of a positive (amplifying) climate feedback.^[157] The more trees that are removed equals larger effects of climate change which, in turn, results in the loss of more trees.^[158]

Forests cover 31% of the land area on Earth. Every year, 75,700 square kilometers (18.7 million acres) of the forest is lost.^[159] There was a 12% increase in the loss of primary tropical forests from 2019 to 2020.^[160]

Deforestation has many causes and drivers. Examples include agricultural clearcutting, livestock grazing, logging for timber, and wildfires.

Unsustainable practices

Clear-cutting

This section is an excerpt from Clearcutting.[edit]

Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ecosystems and to promote select species^[161] that require an abundance of sunlight or grow in large, even-age stands.^[162] Logging companies and forest-worker unions in some countries support the practice for scientific, safety and economic reasons, while detractors consider it a form of deforestation that destroys natural habitats^[163] and contributes to climate change.^[164] Environmentalists, traditional owners, local residents and others have regularly campaigned against clearcutting, including through the use of blockades and nonviolent direct action.^[165]

Clearcutting is the most common and economically profitable method of logging. However, it also may create detrimental side effects, such as the loss of topsoil, the costs of which are intensely debated by economic, environmental and other interests. In addition to the purpose of harvesting wood, clearcutting is used to create land for farming.^[166] Ultimately, the effects of clearcutting on the land will depend on how well or poorly the forest is managed,^[167] and whether it is converted to non-forest land uses after clearcuts.^[168]

While deforestation of both temperate and tropical forests through clearcutting has received considerable media attention in recent years, the other large forests of the world, such as the taiga, also known as boreal forests, are also under threat of rapid development. In Russia, North America and Scandinavia, creating protected areas and granting long-term leases to tend and regenerate trees—thus maximizing future harvests—are among the means used to limit the harmful effects of clearcutting.^[169] Long-term studies of clearcut forests, such as studies of the Pasoh Rainforest in Malaysia, are also important in providing insights into the conservation of forest resources worldwide.^[170]

Even-aged timber management

Illegal logging

Land development

Mitigation of deforestation and climate change

Certified wood

Forest certification is a globally recognized system for encouraging sustainable forest management and assuring that forest-based goods are derived from sustainably managed forests.^{[175][176][177]} This is a voluntary procedure in which an impartial third-party organization evaluates the quality of forest management and output against a set of criteria established by a governmental or commercial certification agency.^[178][179]

Forest protection

This section is an excerpt from Forest protection.[edit]

Forest protection is a branch of forestry which is concerned with the preservation or improvement of a forest and prevention and control of damage to forest by natural or man made causes like forest fires, plant pests, and adverse climatic conditions (global warming).

Forest protection also has a legal status and rather than protection from only people damaging the forests is seen to be broader and include forest pathology too. Due to the different emphases there exist widely different methods forest protection.

In German-speaking countries, forest protection would focus on the biotic and abiotic factors that are non-crime related. A protected forest is not the same as a protection forest. These terms can lead to some confusion in English, although they are clearer in other languages. As a result, reading English literature can be problematic for non-experts due to localization and conflation of meanings.

The types of man-induced abuse that forest protection seeks to prevent include:

• Aggressive or unsustainable intensive farming and logging
• Pollution of the forest soil
• Expanding city development caused by population explosion and the resulting urban sprawl

There is considerable debate over the effectiveness of forest protection methods. Enforcement of laws regarding purchased forest land is weak or non-existent in most parts of the world. In the increasingly dangerous South America, home of major rainforests, officials of the Brazilian National Agency for the Environment (IBAMA) have recently been shot during their routine duties.^[180]

Proforestation

Proforestation is the practice of protecting existing natural forests to foster continuous growth, carbon accumulation, and structural complexity.^[182][183] It is recognized as an important forest based strategy for addressing the global crises in climate and biodiversity.^[183][184] Forest restoration can be a strategy for climate change mitigation.^[185]: 37 Proforestation complements other forest-based solutions like afforestation, reforestation and improved forest management.

Allowing proforestation in some secondary forests will increase their accumulated carbon and biodiversity over time. Strategies for proforestation include rewilding,^[186] such as reintroducing apex predators and keystone species as, for example, predators keep the population of herbivores in check (which reduce the biomass of vegetation). Another strategy is establishing wildlife corridors connecting isolated protected areas.^[187][188]

Definition

Proforestation refers specifically to enabling continuous forest growth uninterrupted by active management or timber harvesting, a term coined by scientists William Moomaw, Susan Masino, and Edward Faison.^[189][182]

Proforestation is a natural climate solution that addresses climate mitigation and adaptation by prioritizing natural processes and regeneration in existing forests to optimize cumulative carbon and ecological complexity.^[182]

Proforestation seeks to strengthen and sustain complexity and carbon accumulation in forest ecosystems. As ecologist Ed Faison states, "forests provide these services incredibly well when left alone; in fact over time unmanipulated forests develop the greatest complexity and accumulated carbon storage and therefore serve as models for "ecological forestry" techniques.^{[190][191][192]}

Proforestation differs from agroforestry or the cultivation of forest plantations, the latter consisting of similarly aged trees of just one or two species. Plantations can be an efficient source of wood but often come at the expense of natural forests and cultivate little habitat for biodiversity, such as dead and fallen trees or understory plants. Further, once factoring in emissions from clearing the land and the decay of plantation waste and products at the end of their often brief lifecycles (e.g. paper products), plantations sequester 40 times less carbon than natural forests.^[193]

Proforestation is specifically recommended in “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency, as a means to “quickly curtail habitat and biodiversity loss” and protect “high carbon stores” and areas “with the capacity to rapidly sequester carbon.”^[194]

Proforestation is part of a suite of forest-based climate solutions that includes avoided conversion, afforestation, reforestation and improved forest management.^[195]

Benefits

Proforestation offers many benefits, from sequestering carbon for climate change mitigation and sustaining biodiversity, to providing ecosystem services, including water filtration, flood buffering, and maintaining soil health.^[196]

Carbon Sequestration

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, about 730 billion tons of CO₂ (or 199 billion tons of carbon) will need to be removed from the atmosphere by 2100. This is an enormous amount (more than was emitted by the US, the UK, Germany and China since the Industrial Revolution) and forests will play an essential role in this removal.^[193]

In the United States, forests currently remove enough atmospheric CO₂ to reduce national net emissions by 11 percent each year.^[182] And each additional 8.6 million hectares of land regenerated to natural forest would sequester another 1 billion tons of carbon by 2100.^[193]

Research has found that in complex forests of all types, the largest one percent of trees (by diameter) store about half of the carbon.^[189] Facilitating growth of larger trees will increase carbon sequestration. Research also found that replacing old growth forests with young forests, even counting carbon ‘sequestered’ in long-lasting wood products (e.g. houses), leads to an overall increase in carbon emissions and that proforestation leads to the largest carbon storage capability.^[197][198] Compared to clearcutting, complex forest ecosystems retain more than twice the carbon.^[199]

Sustaining Biodiversity

Wilderness areas are examples of proforestation and have been shown to reduce the rate of extinction at broad scales.^[200] Primary forests in some regions have been shown to hold far more biodiversity than “disturbed forests.” According to a meta-analysis of 138 studies of tropical forest ecosystems, researchers found that “most forms of forest degradation have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on tropical biodiversity,” leading them to conclude that “when it comes to maintaining tropical biodiversity, there is no substitute for primary forests.”^[201] Proforestation also results in greater cumulative carbon storage and structural complexity compared to that found in similar forests that are actively managed.^[190] Enhanced structural complexity is achieved via dynamic natural processes and disturbances which often give rise to a greater abundance and diversity of flora and fauna.^{[190][202][203]} Proforestation is therefore a powerful forest-based strategy that can help address the global crises in climate and biodiversity.^[204]

Providing Ecosystem Services

Forests provide a variety of ecosystem services: cleaning the air, accumulating carbon, filtering water, and reducing flooding and erosion.^[205] Forests are the most biodiverse land-based ecosystem, and provide habitat for a vast array of animals, birds, plants and other life. They can provide food and material and also opportunities for recreation and education. Research has found that forest plantations “may result in reduced diversity and abundance of pollinators compared with natural forests that have greater structural and plant species diversity.”^[206]

Increasing Forest and Community Resilience

1.6 billion people worldwide depend on forests for their livelihoods, including 300-350 million (half of whom are Indigenous peoples) who live near or within “dense forests” and depend almost entirely on these ecosystems for their survival.^[207] Rural households in Asia, Africa, and Latin America also depend on forests for about a quarter of their total incomes, with about half of this in the form of food, fodder, energy, building materials and medicine.^[208] Proforestation can protect full native biodiversity and support the forests and other land types that provide resources we need. For example, research has found that old growth and complex forests are more resistant to the effects of climate change. One study found that taller trees had increased drought resistance, being able to capture and retain water better, due to their deeper root system and larger biomass. This means that even in dry conditions, these trees continued to photosynthesize at a higher rate than smaller trees.^[209] Further, old-growth forests have been shown to be more resistant to fires compared to young forests with trees that have thinner bark and with more fuel available for increasing temperatures and fire damage.^[210] Proforestation can help to reduce fire risks to forests and the surrounding communities. They can also help absorb water and prevent flooding to surrounding communities.^[211] Considering the variety of ecosystem services complex forests provide, sustaining healthy forests means adjacent communities will be better off as well.

Proforestation and forest fires

Considering the rise in the acreage of forests that have experienced wildfires in the United States during the last three decades.^[212] It is essential to consider the connection between forest management practices and forest fires. Many believe that the intensity and scale of recent fires are closely linked to the accumulation of fuels in the forest understory. This accumulation occurs due to a lack of forest management efforts aimed at reducing these fuels, which typically include activities like pulping, masticating, thinning, raking, and prescribed burning. Nonetheless, there is evidence to suggest that proforestation may, in fact, decrease the risk of wildfires.^[213] Several key factors warrant consideration in this regard. Firstly, it's important to acknowledge that fire is a natural and intrinsic component of forest ecosystems in the Western U.S. Secondly, the occurrence, size, and extent of wildfires are typically not entirely preventable, even with efforts focused on removing fuels from the forest. ^[213] Thirdly, it's worth noting that the current extent of forest area burned by wildfires is considerably lower than it was during the first half of the twentieth century, a period characterized by more intensive timber harvesting practices and less active wildfire suppression efforts.^[214] Interestingly, over the past three decades, intact forests in the Western U.S. experienced significantly lower-intensity wildfires compared to managed forests.^[215] The heightened potential for fuel in intact forests seems to be balanced out by factors such as drier conditions, higher wind speeds, the presence of smaller trees, and the presence of residual, more combustible fuels found in managed areas.^[213] Instead of combating wildfires indiscriminately, the most effective strategy involves restricting development in fire-prone regions, establishing and defending zones around existing developments, particularly in wildland-urban interface areas, and implementing construction codes that prioritize fire-resistant structures.^[213]

Policy and media

Proforestation was featured in July 2019 on NEXT^[216] by the New England News Collaborative on New England Public Radio ^[217] and on the EnviroShow.^[218] It has also been highlighted in major editorials,^[219] in a letter signed by 370 top scientists with expertise in climate, ecology and health, and recommended specifically in “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency, as a means to “quickly curtail habitat and biodiversity loss” and protect “high carbon stores” and areas “with the capacity to rapidly sequester carbon.”^[220]

Leveraging nature-based solutions is consistent with the recommendations of the Paris Agreement and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the goals of the US Climate Alliance. Nature-based solutions can counteract the negative climate, environmental and ecological effects of deforestation and forest manipulation and extraction.^[218][221]

In August 2019, an IPCC Special Report titled “Climate Change and Land” identified land use as a major driver of and a major solution to the climate crisis. A piece in The Conversation referred to the IPCC Special Report and highlighted the importance of natural forests and proforestation. Climate activist Bill McKibben came out against biomass and in favor of proforestation in an article titled "Don’t Burn Trees to Fight Climate Change—Let Them Grow" in the New Yorker. This policy position was echoed in a blog^[222] piece co-released by the Nicholas School at Duke University Duke and the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies.

Proforestation was also prominently featured at the Climate Action Network International. Recent press releases on proforestation include Trinity College, Frontiers, and Symposium at Harvard Forest.

Tree planting

This section is an excerpt from Tree planting.[edit]

Tree planting is the process of transplanting tree seedlings, generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping purposes. It differs from the transplantation of larger trees in arboriculture and from the lower-cost but slower and less reliable distribution of tree seeds. Trees contribute to their environment over long periods of time by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife. During the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and produce the oxygen we breathe.

Because trees remove carbon dioxide from the air as they grow, tree planting can be used to help limit climate change. Desert greening projects are also motivated by improved biodiversity and reclamation of natural water systems, as well as improved economic and social welfare due to an increased number of jobs in farming and forestry.

Reforestation

This section is an excerpt from Reforestation.[edit]

Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Two important purposes of reforestation programs are for harvesting of wood or for climate change mitigation purposes. Reforestation can also help with ecosystem restoration. One method for reforestation is to establish tree plantations, also called plantation forests. They cover about 131 million ha worldwide, which is 3 percent of the global forest area and 45 percent of the total area of planted forests.^[223]

Globally, planted forests increased from 4.1% to 7.0% of the total forest area between 1990 and 2015.^[224] Plantation forests made up 280 million ha (hectare) in 2015, an increase of about 40 million ha in the last ten years.^[225] Globally, planted forests consist of about 18% exotic or introduced species while the rest are species native to the country where they are planted.

There are limitations and challenges with reforestation projects, especially if they are in the form of tree plantations. Firstly, there can be competition with other land uses and displacement risk. Secondly, tree plantations are often monocultures which comes with a set of disadvantages, for example biodiversity loss. Lastly, there is also the problem that stored carbon is released at some point.

The effects of reforestation and afforestation will be farther in the future than those of proforestation (the conservation of intact forests).^[226] Instead of planting entirely new areas, it might be better to reconnect forested areas and restoring the edges of forest. This protects their mature core and makes them more resilient and longer-lasting.^[227] It takes much longer − several decades − for the carbon sequestration benefits of reforestation to become similar to the those from mature trees in tropical forests. Therefore, reducing deforestation is usually more beneficial for climate change mitigation than reforestation.^[228]

Many countries carry out reforestation programs. For example, in China, the Three Northern Protected Forest Development Program – informally known as the "Great Green Wall" – was launched in 1978 and scheduled to last until 2050. It aims to eventually plant nearly 90 million acres of new forest in a 2,800-mile stretch of northern China.^[229]

Forest restoration

This section is an excerpt from Forest restoration.[edit]

Forest restoration is defined as “actions to re-instate ecological processes, which accelerate recovery of forest structure, ecological functioning and biodiversity levels towards those typical of climax forest”^[230] i.e. the end-stage of natural forest succession. Climax forests are relatively stable ecosystems that have developed the maximum biomass, structural complexity and species diversity that are possible within the limits imposed by climate and soil and without continued disturbance from humans (more explanation here). Climax forest is therefore the target ecosystem, which defines the ultimate aim of forest restoration. Since climate is a major factor that determines climax forest composition, global climate change may result in changing restoration aims.^[231] Additionally, the potential impacts of climate change on restoration goals must be taken into account, as changes in temperature and precipitation patterns may alter the composition and distribution of climax forests.^[232]

Forest restoration is a specialized form of reforestation, but it differs from conventional tree plantations in that its primary goals are biodiversity recovery and environmental protection.^[233][234]

Forest and landscape restoration (FLR) is defined as a process that aims to regain ecological functionality and enhance human well-being in deforested or degraded landscapes.^[235] FLR has been developed as a response to the growing degradation and loss of forest and land, which resulted in declined biodiversity and ecosystem services.^[235] Effective FLR will support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.^[235] The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030)  provides the opportunity to restore hundreds of millions of hectares of degraded forests and other ecosystems.^[235] Successful ecosystem restoration requires a fundamental understanding of the ecological characteristics of the component species, together with knowledge of how they assemble, interact and function as communities^[236]

Afforestation

This section is an excerpt from Afforestation.[edit]

Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees (forestation) in an area where there was no recent tree cover.^[237] In comparison, reforestation means re-establishing forest that have either been cut down or lost due to natural causes, such as fire, storm, etc.^[238] There are three types of afforestation: Natural regeneration, agroforestry and tree plantations.^[239] Afforestation has many benefits. In the context of climate change, afforestation can be helpful for climate change mitigation through the route of carbon sequestration. Afforestation can also improve the local climate through increased rainfall and by being a barrier against high winds. The additional trees can also prevent or reduce topsoil erosion (from water and wind), floods and landslides. Finally, additional trees can be a habitat for wildlife, and provide employment and wood products.^[239]

Several countries have afforestation programs to increase carbon dioxide removal from forests and to reduce desertification. However, afforestation on grasslands and savanna areas can be problematic. Carbon sequestration estimates in those areas often do not include the full amount of carbon reductions in soils and slowing tree growth over time. Also afforestation can negatively affect biodiversity through increasing fragmentation and edge effects for the habitat remaining outside the planted area.

Tropical rainforest conservation

This section is an excerpt from Tropical rainforest conservation.[edit]

Building blocks for tropical rainforest conservation include ecotourism and rehabilitation. Reforestation and restoration are common practices in certain areas to try to increase tropical rainforest density. By communicating with the local people living in, and around, the rainforest, conservationists can learn more about what might allow them to best focus their efforts.^[240]

Rainforests are globally important to sustainability and preservation of biodiversity. Although they may vary in location and inhabited species of plants and animals, they remain important worldwide for their abundance of natural resources and for the ecosystem services. It is important to take into consideration the differing species and the biodiversity that exists across different rainforest types in order to accurately implement methods of conservation.^[241]

Forest conservation in the United States

This section is an excerpt from Forest conservation in the United States.[edit]

Forest conservation is the practice of planning and maintaining forested areas for the benefit and sustainability of future generations. Forest conservation involves the upkeep of the natural resources within a forest that are beneficial for both humans and the ecosystem. Forests provide wildlife with a suitable habitat for living which allows the ecosystem to be biodiverse and benefit other natural processes. Forests also filter groundwater and prevent runoff keeping water safe for human consumption.^[242] There are many types of forests to consider and various techniques to preserve them. Of the types of forests in the United States, they each face specific threats. But, there are various techniques to implement that will protect and preserve them.

Different types of forests have adapted throughout history, allowing them to thrive in specific habitats. Forests in the United States can be categorized into three main forest biomes, they are boreal, temperate, or sub-tropical based on the location and climate of the forest. Each of these biomes faces various threats of deforestation, urban development,^[243] soil compaction, species extinction, unmanaged recreational use, invasive species, or any combination of these threats. But there are many techniques that can be implemented for forest conservation efforts.^[244] This includes methods such as afforestation, reforestation, selective logging,^[245] controlled burns, wildland fire use, laws and policies,^[246] advocacy groups, and wildlife management areas. Additionally, multiple United States government programs support forest conservation efforts.

See also

• Checkerboarding in forest management
• Conservation biology
• Coppicing
• Environmental protection
• Forest farming
• Forest inventory
• Forest plans
• Growth and yield modelling
• Habitat conservation
• Outline of forestry

• Deforestation and climate change
• Forest conservation in the United States
• Healthy Forests Initiative
• Overexploitation
• Renewable resource
• Sustainable development
• Sustainable land management
• Category:Forest conservation

References

Sources

External links

• Why does this forest look like a fingerprint? We set out to solve why a forest in the middle of Uruguay looked like that — and wound up discovering something much bigger.   Vox – explores issues surrounding commercial monoculture forest management and its impact upon the economy, previously existing habitats, wildlife, and people.
• California fires are so severe some forests might vanish forever   LA Times – a serious forest management issue, in which industrial forest management practices are increasing high-severity fire risk.
• The checkerboard effect   OSU Press – explores how the effects of forest management decisions can last for centuries, and the value of forest history in understanding current forest management problems.

• Media related to Sustainable forest management at Wikimedia Commons

This page was last edited on 23 May 2024, at 17:24