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Forest planning, forest management, and forest policy require updated, reliable, and harmonized spatial datasets. In Italy a national geographic Forest Information System (FIS) designed to store and facilitate the access and analysis of spatial datasets is still missing. Among the different information layers which are useful to start populating a FIS, two are essential for their multiple use in the assessment of forest resources: (i) forest mapping, and (ii) data from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS). Both layers are not available wall-to-wall for Italy, though different local sources of information potentially useful for their implementation already exist. The objectives of this work were to: (i) review forest maps and ALS data availability in Italy; (ii) develop for the first time a high resolution forest mask of Italy which was validated against the official statistics of the Italian National Forest Inventory; (iii) develop the first mosaic of all the main ALS data available in Italy producing a consistent Canopy Height Model (CHM). An on-line geographic FIS with free access to both layers from (ii) and (iii) was developed for demonstration purposes. The total area of forest and other wooded lands computed from the forest mask was 102.608.82 km2 (34% of the Italian territory), i.e., 1.9% less than the NFI benchmark estimate. This map is currently the best wall-to-wall forest mask available for Italy. We showed that only the 63% of the Italian territory (the 60% of the forest area) is covered by ALS data. These results highlight the urgent need for a national strategy to complete the availability of forest data in Italy.

Policies that attempt to balance timber production with non-market values that forests provide are common across the United States. Such is the case in northern Maine, USA, where management of critical areas of mature softwood-dominated forest are regulated through the State’s primary wildlife management agency. We use a case study approach with qualitative and quantitative analyses to understand the persistent difficulties encountered by both forest and wildlife managers when implementing this policy. Interviews with foresters and wildlife biologists established the management parameters, and simulated management scenarios compared forest management outcomes with respect to both financial and wildlife habitat provision goals. The model results indicated that there are opportunities for comparable revenues within regulated habitat areas as without, although the returns varied due to legacy of previous management and species composition. More importantly, the interviews revealed that differing habitat metrics used by foresters and biologists are a barrier to communication and management planning, and thus also a barrier to effective policy implementation. We close with thoughts on the applicability of both the methods and results to other situations where an understanding of multiple-use forest policy implementation is desired.

Forests provide ecosystem services, including timber production. In some cases, private forest owners perform management actions in order to enhance the provision of such services, or they may be encouraged by public policies and payments. This paper focuses specifically on the decision to set forest land aside for biodiversity conservation, as part of the more general question of the efficiency of multiple-use vs. specialised management of forest lands. We propose an econometric analysis to identify factors in the set-aside choice and measure the impact of this decision on forest management costs. The results show that the set-aside choice depends on the landowners’ income and motivations related to forest amenities. The choice of specialised management, as reflected in the set-aside decision, has a significant and positive impact on the intensity of management in the remainder of the forest and on management costs. From a policy implications point of view, these results suggest that instruments such as forest certification, subsidies and reverse auctions for conservation will be most likely to attract the interest of those forest owners with personal motivations and forest properties that offer both benefit and cost advantages in opting for such specialised management strategies.

The concept of ecological integrity has been applied widely to management of aquatic systems, but still is considered by many to be too vague and difficult to quantify to be useful for managing terrestrial systems, particularly across broad areas. Extensive public lands in the western United States are managed for diverse uses such as timber harvest, livestock grazing, energy development, and wildlife conservation, some of which may degrade ecological integrity. We propose a method for assessing ecological integrity on multiple-use lands that identifies the components of integrity and levels in the ecological hierarchy where the assessment will focus, and considers existing policies and management objectives. Both natural reference and societally desired environmental conditions are relevant comparison points. We applied the method to evaluate the ecological integrity of shrublands in Nevada, yielding an assessment based on six indicators of ecosystem structure, function, and composition, including resource- and stressor-based indicators measured at multiple scales. Results varied spatially and among indicators. Invasive plant cover and surface development were highest in shrublands in northwest and southeast Nevada. Departure from reference conditions of shrubland area, composition, patch size, and connectivity was highest in central and northern Nevada. Results may inform efforts to control invasive species and restore shrublands on federal lands in Nevada. We suggest that ecological integrity assessments for multiple-use lands be grounded in existing policies and monitoring programs, incorporate resource- and stressor-based metrics, rely on publicly available data collected at multiple spatial scales, and quantify both natural reference and societally desired resource conditions.

Environmental consideration is an important facet of modern forestry. However, its perceptions by those who own and manage the forest are seldom investigated. After reviewing the evolution of pertinent legislative requirements, this study scrutinizes the attitudes towards environmental consideration, based on qualitative interviews of Lithuanian private forest owners (PFOs), state forest managers, forest management planners and other local forest stakeholders. We find a considerable increase of environmental consideration since 1990, with emphasis on forestland zoning at landscape level. Most of the interviewed forest managers and PFOs are aware of and compliant with the legal demands, however, their judgement of environmental consideration appears to be strongly affected by the degree of the faced restrictions. Informants who manage forest areas with a high share of non-commercial forest zones assess the current restrictions as excessive. Though the Lithuanian forestland zoning overall can be seen as a successful example of implementing multiple use forestry at landscape level, deep qualitative interviews expose several critical issues. Hastily performed zoning entails many mistakes, where the forest or landscape characteristics do not match the intended purpose. Even more critically, severe forest management restrictions around the nests of rare birds lead to widespread destructions of nests in private forests. The most important recommendations of our study are: (i) introducing a fair system of compensations for the economic losses inflicted on PFOs; and (ii) gradual rezoning of forestland, with radically improved consideration of local specifics, including on site assessments and genuine involvement of the local stakeholders.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) manages 193 million acres of public lands across 43 states and Puerto Rico. The original intent behind reserving lands managed by the USFS was to improve and protect forests, secure favorable conditions for water flows, and furnish a continuous supply of timber for the nation. Through time national forests have evolved, so they are managed for a broad array of uses. Differing expectations have led to conflicts between aquatic conservation and other aspects of the USFS’ mandate. In the 1990s, these conflicting goals came to a head with the listing of the northern spotted owl Strix occidentalis caurina and the need to better protect streams that fostered populations of anadromous salmonids. To better balance these conflicting uses, the agency placed additional emphasis on conserving and restoring aquatic systems by integrating conservation concepts into the forest planning process. If the USFS is to succeed in protecting and restoring aquatic biodiversity, it must continue to address traditional challenges such as minimizing the effects of timber harvest, roads, grazing, and mining on aquatic systems while improving policies and practices regarding contemporary challenges such as climate change and invasive species.

Large areas of tropical forest have been designated for timber production but logging practices vary widely. Reduced-impact logging is considered best practice and third-party certification aims to ensure that strict standards are met. This includes minimizing the number of roads constructed, avoiding sensitive areas and strictly regulating hunting. Large scale camera trap grids were utilized in Guatemala and Peru to evaluate the impact of reduced-impact logging in certified concessions upon the large and medium-sized mammal fauna with special emphasis on jaguars (Panthera onca). Spatial capture-recapture models showed that jaguar density in Peru (4.54 ± 0.83 ind. 100 km−2) was significantly higher than in Guatemala (1.52 ± 0.34 ind. 100 km−2) but in both regions, densities were comparable to protected areas. Camera traps detected 22 species of large and medium sized mammals in Guatemala and 27 in Peru and a multi-species occupancy model revealed that logging had no negative impact on any of the species studied and actually had an initial positive impact on several herbivore species. We found no avoidance of logging roads; in fact, many species, especially carnivores, frequently used logging roads as movement corridors. Our results indicate that well-managed logging concessions can maintain important populations of large and medium-sized mammals including large herbivores and large carnivores as long as hunting is controlled and timber volumes extracted are low. Responsible forest management would therefore be an ideal activity in the buffer zones and multiple use zones of protected areas creating much less impact and conflict than alternatives such as agriculture or cattle ranching while still providing economic opportunities. Logging concessions can also play an important role in maintaining landscape connectivity between protected areas.

Managers of public multiple-use landscapes are charged to balance a spectrum of interests and objectives, a task that has become increasingly challenging in light of global climate change. Forests supply a diverse array of social, economic, and environmental goods and benefits, but also stand to contribute to climate change mitigation by sequestering and storing carbon. The scientific dimensions of management decisions made against this backdrop are well appreciated, but their ethical complexity tends to be, at best, understated. Focusing on the issue of carbon storage for climate change mitigation in federal forests of the United States Pacific Northwest, we employ the method of argument analysis to highlight the role of normative or ethical judgments in multiple-use forest management. We demonstrate that such decisions are logically predicated on normative judgments about which public interests merit recognition and prioritization in the decision context. We show that a generalized commitment to multiple-use is insufficient as a normative basis for management decisions, and that more ethically explicit judgments are required to reach actionable conclusions about appropriate management objectives.

Ecosystem services are increasingly recognized as a way of framing and describing the broad suite of benefits that people receive from forests. The USDA Forest Service has been exploring use of an ecosystem services framework to describe forest values provided by federal lands and to attract and build partnerships with stakeholders to implement projects. Recently, the agency has sought placed-based applications of the ecosystem services framework to national forest management to better illustrate the concept for policymakers, managers and forest stakeholders. This framework includes describing the ecosystem services provided by forest landscapes, examining the potential trade-offs among services associated with proposed management activities, and attracting and building partnerships with stakeholders who benefit from particular services forests provide. Projects that describe objectives and outcomes using an ecosystem services framework are quickly gaining respect and could provide an optimal method of managing forests to better serve the needs of people. We describe how project-scale guidelines can be designed to address commonly recognized products such as timber and clean water, as well as critical regulating, supporting and cultural services. We present results from national programmes to forest plan assessments to project-scale applications that enhance the provision of ecosystem services and sustainable forest management at broad to local scales.

The boreal forests of Fennoscandia are largely dominated by Norway spruce and Scots pine. Conifer monocultures have been favoured in forest management during the last decades. Recently, concern has risen that forests consisting of only one tree species could be vulnerable to biotic damage. Additionally, environmental and societal changes are placing new demands on forest utilization, thus shifting the focus to alternative forest management options providing a wider scale of ecosystem services. It has been proposed that mixed forests are better than monocultures with respect to biodiversity, risk management and recreational value. By synthesising research studies, we provide an overview of current knowledge on how to combine wood production and other ecosystem services in mixed boreal forests in Fennoscandia. We addressed the following questions in more detail: what are the effects of mixed forests on soil properties, understorey vegetation, biodiversity, wildlife, resistance to and resilience against damage, forest productivity and the multiple use of forests? Furthermore, what are the silvicultural possibilities for establishing and managing mixed forests? Based on this review, mixed forests appear to provide a higher output of most ecosystem goods and services, including higher biodiversity and improved risk management, soil properties and multiple-use values. The most serious challenge is the browsing by cervids, which damages sapling stands. There is potential to establish single-storied mixed forests with current regeneration methods and material. Further research is particularly needed on the silvicultural practices suited for mixed boreal forests.

In complex systems, small anthropogenic changes of the initial conditions could lead to profound changes in the entire system. In this sense, the present literature review has surveyed several studies related to the multiple uses of forest resources and sustainability in small and medium-sized farms in the tropics. In 1985, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) published a work addressing multiple uses of forests in the tropics. Since then, despite the technological advances, multiple practices in forest management have not expanded as expected. The Forest Principles from 1992 emphasizes that forests should be managed to meet social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of present and future generations. In many tropical countries, multiple use management of forest products and services has traditionally been neglected or it is not well known by policy makers and farmers. Laws are usually written with narrow objectives and tend to decrease social inclusion because of the limited cross-sector dialogue. In spite of these issues, several success stories are reported around the world. Key words: Forestry enterprises, natural resources management, sustainable use of forest resources, land use, multiple use.

Research suggests that certain forest environments can contribute to lower stress levels in humans. This might be increasingly important to consider given the rising prevalence of stress-related diseases and illness absence. To make it feasible to plan for forest management strategies that take such restorative effects into account, it would seem to be important to identify the precise physical properties that contribute to the restorative qualities of forest stands. It would also be useful if forest stand data typically already collected by forest owners could be used for this purpose. In the present study, forest stands in northern, central, and southern Sweden were visited and assessed regarding their restorative potential. These assessments were analysed together with available forest stand data for each region using statistical models. Our results indicate that of the available forest stand data parameters, the most important individual indicators of forest stands’ restorative qualities were tree age, tree sparsity, and tree height. Models based on these parameters explained 30–40 % of the variation in restorative qualities among the evaluated stands, indicating that they can be useful in planning and modelling scenarios where restorative properties of forest stands are considered.

Forests are the most important resource of our planet. The usefulness of forests is spread from commercial exploitation of them for timber and other products to maintenance of wildlife, ecological balance, prevention of soil erosion, etc. In achieving these goals the essential factor is the proper forest management. Forest management is a system of actions for supplying different products and services for society. In developed countries forest management tends to be elaborated and planned in order to achieve the objectives that are considered desirable for environment and economy. Forests are the most biologically diverse land ecosystems that can supply different products and services. The working of this system is influenced by the natural environment, climate, topography, soil, etc., and also by human action. Forests have been and are managed to obtain the traditional forest products: fire wood, fiber for paper, building timber etc. with little thinking for other products and services. Nevertheless, as a result from the development of ecology science and environmental awareness, management of forests for multiple use is becoming more common. Public concern regarding forest management have shifted from the extraction of timber for earning money for the economy, to the preservation of additional forest resources, including wildlife, soil and water conservation, recreation etc. Forests are the repositories of aesthetic, ethical cultural and religious values.

In recent years, the concept of sustainable forest management has evolved into a number of Criteria and Indicators schemes that are designed to guide the practice of sustainable forestry. One such mechanism is the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators, which identifies seven criteria and 54 indicators associated with these seven criteria. While there is sufficient basic forest data available through the FAO's Global Forest Resource Assessment (2015), it is unclear how big forest countries compare in the key parameters surrounding sustainable forest management as defined by major Criteria and Indicator schemes. To accomplish this, we performed analyses of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 (FRA) country report data to provide insights into the current status and trends in the period 1990–2015 in eight jurisdictions, namely Australia, Canada, China, Japan, the European Union, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and the USA. This study found that Canada has performed well against several key sustainable forest management parameters of the Montreal Process, including forest area designated for multiple use, and protective functions such as soil and water conservation and ecosystems services. Forest area in Canada remained stable over the past 25 years, although a relatively small area of forest had been lost. Compared to other countries, the rate of deforestation (which involves a change in land use) in Canada is small and has declined from 65,000 ha per year in 1990 to 48,000 ha per year in 2010. Forest area was also compared in the category of primary forest. Canada lost 741,000 ha of primary forest from 1990 to 2015, although this does not necessarily imply a change in total forest area. Our findings show that Canada, has some of the most stringent forest management legal and policy frameworks. While most other jurisdictions have only national and state level policies and a legislative framework to support sustainable forest management, Canada has comprehensive policies and a legislative framework in place at the national, provincial and local levels. In terms of social parameters, stakeholders are allowed to be involved in the planning, operations and review of almost all forest areas in our selected jurisdictions. This study demonstrates that the forest management and conservation regime in Canada, within the studied domains i.e. legal framework, management plans, national forest inventory and stakeholder involvement, incorporates a sophisticated understanding of the global, national and local interests linking economic, environmental and social issues.

Understanding the effects of forest management strategies is especially important to avoid unregulated natural resource extraction that leads to ecosystem degradation. In addition to the loss of crucial forest services, inefficiencies at converting these natural resources into economic gain for people ultimately exacerbates poverty. Therefore, it is important to know which conservation strategies have proven to be effective in preventing ecosystem degradation and thus be encouraged in future management plans. Here, we used a high-resolution remotely sensed dataset spanning 15 years to study forest cover dynamics across various protected areas in Tanzania. Our findings highlight particular management approaches more effective in preventing forest cover loss and promote forest cover gain, and provide valuable information for conservation efforts. Results show that National Parks have the least forest cover loss, whereas multiple-use Game Controlled Areas have the highest rates of forest loss. In fact, results suggest that these multiple use areas tend to lose more forest cover than areas with no protection or management status at all. These findings suggest the need for more effective strategies for enforcing the existing policies to ensure that socio-economic benefits to local communities are maximized and national interests are sustained.

The paper gives an overview on current position of forest functions, multiple use forestry, nature protection etc., in normative acts, planning documents and forestry practice on forests of Banjaluka as an example. In first part of this paper we analyzed all relevant normative acts and planning documents. Normative acts analyzed were: Law on Forests of RS (2008, 2013), Law on Nature Protection of RS (2014). Planning documents analyzed were: Forestry Development Strategy of RS (2012), Nature Protection Strategy of RS (2011), Spatial Plan of RS (2013), Forest Management Plan for “Donjevrbasko” Economy Area (2009), Spatial Plan of Banjaluka city (2014). From those analyzed documents we conclude that there are good formal preconditions for realization and implementation multiple use forestry and gaining of all forest functions (with emphasis on protection and social forest function). Analyzed documents were not perfectly harmonized, but they are not limitative for implementation of modern forestry practice. But, in the same time, realization of all of this almost totally missing in forestry practice (example of Banjaluka forests). Also nature protection practice is on the same level as it is for last fifty year in our country. So we can conclude that our practice of forestry and nature protection today has relatively formal good preconditions, but at the same time very poor realization of same in practice. Good example for those conclusions are forests of Banjaluka city – especially in the meaning of implementation of social and protective forest functions. We found that management plan for this forests has no goals that matches social or/and protective forest function, in spite the fact that many of inhabitants of Banjaluka city use this forest for recreation and rest in nature surrounding, for getting in touch with nature. At the same time, we cannot neglect protective function of this forest area for protection of life quality in a relatively big city (second biggest in BH urban forestry; to initiate and take part in intersectoral cooperation – which is only possible way to implement all needed in forest areas which are in direct contact with urban areas, and their inhabitants. Benefits for forestry are in possibility to promote, educate and bring forestry coser to the people. If forestry do it as we show it on our examples (Figures 4–7) it is a very good way to educate people about forest, forestry and nature. We see it as a starting position for new forestry concept in Banja Luka, and in Republic of Srpska – B&H. Therefore, the question of the relationship of forestry to solving the problem of Banjaluka forests is seen as a turning point in determining the current forestry development: whether we are moving step forward or may return a step back.

Background Traditional management regimes and knowledge systems of forest resources have shaped forests throughout the world where materials from individual species are harvested in a sustainable manner. To comprehend this, the vegetation of Hugumburda-Gratkhassu Forest was described and related to anthropogenic factors. Methods Three ethnobotanical research methods were used to collect indigenous knowledge of the local inhabitants related to conservation and utilization of forest resources. Direct matrix ranking was conducted to discover local attitudes on species preference for multiple use. During this work, the 46 most important tree and shrub species were selected based on recommendations of local guides and key informants to determine the range of uses obtained from each species. Through paired comparison, activities supposed to be the major cause of degradation of the forest were adopted. Pairs of activities were then established from the relation n (n-1)/2. Each respondent was then asked to select an activity that he considered being a major problem to management of the forest. Semi-structured interviews were used to obtain information from sixty local informants to address community attitudes towards forest management and utilization. Results The result obtained from direct matrix ranking showed; that 20 out of 46 plant species compared had the highest scores and rank, indicating that these species are the most important and are exploited by the local communities for multiple purposes. The paired comparison exercise revealed logging for construction materials to be the major threat to the forest due to cutting of large volume of wood for construction of churches, health centers, schools and new houses. Juniperus procera, Olea europaea ssp. cuspidata, Rhus glutinosa, Ficus sur, Hagenia abyssinica, Cassipourea malosana and Acacia etbaica were the most selected and exploited plant species for these purposes. Conclusions Survival of protected areas depends on the support of local communities, rather than on fences, fines, or even force. The local communities in the study area have a rich indigenous ecological knowledge to suggest appropriate solutions for improvement of the forest resources. Thus the old tradition of isolating forests from the community has to be avoided and the basic needs and traditional rights of the communities over the uses of forest resources should be recognized. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13002-018-0218-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The harvest rotation issue: M. Faustmann (1848), calculation of the value which forest land and immature stands possess for forestry B. Ohlin (1921), concerning the question of the rotation period in forestry W.R. Bentley, D.E. Teeguarden (1965), financial maturity - a theoretical review D. Klemperer (1976), impacts of tax alternatives on forest values and investments P.A. Samuelson (1976), economics of forestry in an evolving society J.S. Chang (1982), an economic analysis of forest taxation's impact on optimal rotation age W.J. Reed (1984), the effects of the risk of fire on the optimal rotation of a forest K-G. Lofgren (1985), effects on socially optimal rotation period in forestry of biotechnology improvements in the growth function R.J. Brazee, R. Mendelsohn (1988), timber harvesting with fluctuating prices E. Koskela (1989), forest taxation and timber supply under price uncertainty and perfect capital markets. Timber supply - planted forest and the optimal drawn-down: H.J. Vaux (1973), how much land do we need for timber growing M. Clawson (1979), forest in the long sweep of American history P. Berck (1979), the economics of timber - a renewable resource in the long run K.S. Lyon (1981), mining the forest and the time path of the price of timber K.S. Lyon, R.A. Sedjo (1983), an optimal control theory model to estimate the regional long-term supply of timber. Multiple use and nontimber outputs: R. Hartman (1976), harvesting decision when a standing forest has value S.K. Swallow, P.J. Parks, D. Wear (1990), policy relevant nonconvexities in the production of multiple forest benefits. Global issues: P.J. Parks, I.W. Hardie (1994), least cost forest carbon reserves - cost effective subsidies to convert marginal agriculture land to forests H.F. Hoen, B. Solberg (1994), potential and economic efficiency of carbon sequestration in forest biomass through silvicultural management G.C. Van Kooten, C.S. Binkley, G. Delcourt (1995), effect of carbon taxes and subsidies on optimal forest rotation age and supply of carbon services IPCC (2001), technical and economic potential of options to enhance, maintain and manage biological carbon reservoirs and geo-engineering L.A. Joyce, J.R. Mills, L.S. Heath, A.D. McGuire, R.W. Haynes, R.A. Birdsey (1995), forest sector impacts from changes in forest productivity under climate change C. Montgomery, G. Brown Jr, D.M. Adams (1994), the marginal cost of species preservation - the Northern Spotted Owl R.D. Simpson, R.A. Sedjo, J. Reid (1996), valuing biodiversity for pharmaceutical research.

Mangifera sylvatica Roxb. is an underutilized wild tree species valued for its fruit, timber and medicine. It was believed to be widely grown in sub-tropical forests of Bangladesh, but nowadays can be seen only sparsely. Even though it has multiple uses, only the indigenous people in hilly areas use the fruit of this species, for cooking and making pickles. This study was designed to (1) observe the population status of M. sylvatica in the forests of south-eastern Bangladesh, (2) evaluate domestication potentiality through seed germination and early growth of seedlings, and (3) assess its suitability for small-scale forestry. Through 16 field visits in eight forest beats, 66 individual trees were identified and their GPS (global positioning system) coordinates were recorded. A seed germination rate of 83 % at 6 weeks after direct sowing was attained. The early growth of seedlings with fertilizer treatments showed no remarkable difference with seedlings without fertilization. The seed germination rate and early growth of seedlings indicates that this species can be easily domesticated and be incorporated into small-scale plantation programs. In that it has multiple use values, this species warrants promotion in small-scale forestry programs for conservation and benefiting the villagers.

Despite its inclusion in the forest laws and the support of the international community, Multiple-use Forest Management (MFM) remains poorly implemented in tropical forests. Two specific barriers limit the effectiveness of this approach in the timber concessions of Central Africa. On one hand, formal attempts at MFM are poorly conceived either because they promote forest uses, such as ecological functions or tourism, that have little relevance to direct stakeholders, or because they rely on the legal definition of local users' rights, which is disconnected to customary rules and practices. The article develops an alternative approach for six timber concessions in Cameroon, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in which the foremost purpose of MFM is to solve or reduce actual conflicts of uses, notably regarding agriculture, hunting, chainsaw milling and firewood collection. On the other hand, the costs of implementing MFM measures are rarely estimated and assigned to concerned actors. The costs of resolving conflicts of use were evaluated in the same concessions, based on consensual solutions elaborated by the logging companies, the forestry and agriculture administrations and the local people. In half of these concessions, the cost of MFM equals or exceeds 1.5 million dollars in the next fifteen years. Several trade-offs are possible between these stakeholders, combining tax relief, technical and financial support to local development, and reduction of some illegal practices.

SUMMARY The sparse documentation of local knowledge of Guadua (Poaceae: Bambuseae)-dominated forests has hampered development of sound timber and multiple-use management plans for this forest type. The benefits and constraints of smallholder management systems were evaluated within the context of bamboo-dominated forests using available scientific literature, local knowledge in Acre, Brazil, and botanical survey data. Scientific literature on the subject pointed to numerous benefits of Guadua-dominated forests, including fertile soil for the cultivation of important agricultural crops, results corroborated by local forest managers. Interviews with local informants also substantiated that tree removal by logging crews has favoured bamboo expansion and increased fire risk—views that correspond with the scientific literature on anthropogenic disturbances in bamboo-dominated forests. Yet, these same informants identified the important role that this forest type plays in their broader land management strategie...

Forest management planning focusing on sustainable supply of forest-based services such as wood and Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) is important for the sustainability of forest ecosystems over time. This study explores the development of a mushroom integrated decision support system (ET epsilon APOptimization) for multiple use forest management planning and for the analysis of long-term effects of different forest management scenarios on the joint production of timber and mushroom. The Decision Support System (DSS) integrates both mushroom and timber production derived from the same forest ecosystem using empirical models for mushroom occurrence and yield as well as for tree growth. The DSS takes further into account the spatial distribution and productivity models of Lactarius deliciosus and Lactarius salmonicolor generated for the Kizilcasu Planning unit in Northwest Turkey. Six different forest management scenarios were considered, each with a different set of objectives, e.g., maximization of both the amount and the income from timber or mushroom production. Some scenarios include further timber even flow constraints (10% fluctuation). The Net Present Value (NPV) and the amount of timber and of mushroom production were used as performance indicators to discuss and elaborate on forest dynamics under different management scenarios. The results indicated that forest management planning strategies to address the maximization of NPV from mushroom production scenarios are characterized by substantial decreases in total income from the forest due mainly to the conservation of forest areas to favor mushroom production. On the other hand, the integration of regulatory constraints into forest management plans lead to a substantial decrease of both the economic profit and the amount of forest ecosystem services, e.g., timber and mushroom. The results showed that the NPV from mushroom production can be two to three times higher than the NPV from timber production based on carefully designed management objectives and constraints.

Moist coniferous forests have played a significant role in the economic and social well-being of the Pacific Northwest. The region’s forest-products industry has evolved in the context of federal forest policy that changed from discussions about selling off federal land to consideration of (1) conservation and sustainable yield; (2) active management and planning; (3) multiple use and preservation; and (4) the present emphasis on ecosystem management and ecological forestry. As the dialogues changed, the alliance between forest industry and forest policy, which was once at the heart of Northwest forest management, also changed.

This chapter describes and analyses overlapping planning structures and multi-level planning issues and how they affect current land use and management in the forest landscape. Forest land use in Sweden is based on a large proportion of privately owned forests with the primary purpose of producing timber for the forest industries. Nevertheless, the forests are also characterised by multiple uses and many stakeholders (economic as well as ecological and social) who express themselves and relate to forest management. In this chapter, we present a number of methods, both traditional and more recent, for managing multiple use of the forest landscape. These range from physical planning and the Swedish Right of Public Access to Natura 2000, forest certification, reindeer-husbandry plans, and scenario techniques.

Today, multiple-use (or multifunctional) forestry is one of the main concepts guiding European forestry. While there is wide acceptance of the overall concept, here is a lack of coherence in definitions, policies and practices. Such outcomes indicate that multiple-use forestry (MUF) may contain the essential properties of a “boundary object”, i.e. something that is robust enough to conceptually unite different interests, but at the same time is flexible enough to encompass different practices in line with local needs and conditions. This study sets out to explore the conceptualization and implementation of MUF as a boundary object, examining the overall trends at an international level, and scrutinising the national specifics in three case countries: Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden. The review of international literature finds no consensus on what MUF is, beyond combining two or more forest functions or uses. The case countries show widely different approaches to conceptualizing and implementing MUF, not least in terms of spatial scales for integrating or segregating various functions. The analysis indicates that we should not expect instrumentation of MUF toward uniform guidelines to shape forestry practices throughout Europe. Rather it will continue to serve the profession as a boundary object that serves as a mediating concept between various interests while being inclusive of a wide set of forestry practices.

Community families throughout tropical regions derive an important share of their income from multiple forest products, with generally positive outcomes on their livelihoods. The production of these products in a multiple-use forest management scheme (MFM, the production of multiple forest products within a single management unit) encompasses many (yet) unknown socioeconomic and ecological feedbacks. In particular, MFM entailing timber and non-timber production may be affecting the future availability of valuable timber and non-timber tree species due to the extraction of vital plant components, which may have undesired outcomes on the income that community families derive from forests. In this thesis, I evaluated the social, economic, and ecological viability of an important MFM scheme widely practiced by community households in the Bolivian Amazon: the production of Amazon or Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) and timber from other tree species. Data was obtained from a two-year (2014 and 2015) survey questionnaires of 24 community households in six campesino communities with community forest management plans (CFMPs) and from ecological surveys of 72 2 ha permanent research transects (three transects per household forest) harvested at varying Amazon nut and logging intensities. A CFMP entails the planning and execution of logging activities in compliance with formal rules intended to secure the long-term provision of timber at community-owned forest. Household-level decisions to harvest Amazon nut and to log timber allowed us to account for household forest as our sampling unit. We used multi-model inference and structural equation modelling techniques to determine the impact of socio-ecological factors on the income that community families derived from Amazon nut and timber (chapter 2), and regression and matrix modelling techniques to determine the impact of Amazon nut harvest and logging intensity on Bertholletia (chapter 3) and commercial timber species (chapter 4). In general, we found that few socioeconomic and biophysical factors of community households, together with a general positive response of studied species to timber logging and customary silvicultural intervention, make the production of Amazon nut and timber production of other tree species viable in a MFM scheme. In chapter 2, we found that community households could reduce their dependency on forest resources by increasing income opportunities from other existing livelihood activities. Amazon nut represented the largest source of household income (44% of the total household net income); and off-farm (salary, business and gifts; 21%), husbandry (generally subsistence agriculture, animal rising, and agroforestry; 21%), and timber (9%) incomes were complementary to their livelihood. Increased skills and ecological knowledge of community households enhanced household income derived from forest products. For example, an increase in the number of management practices reduced the need for timber income by increasing Amazon nut production; decreasing further pressure on timber of other tree species. In chapter 3, logging intensity was found to increase Bertholletia’s seedlings and saplings growth rate, and liana cutting was found to increase Amazon nut production rate. Both, logging and liana cutting intensities played a key role on Bertholletia population growth rate. Increased logging and liana cutting intensities counteracted the negative impact of Amazon nut harvesting intensity on the number of new recruits (i.e., due to nut harvest), indicating a trade-off between logging, liana cutting and Amazon nut harvesting intensities. Considering the overall stem density of commercial timber species (chapter 4), we found that 17% of the species present at unlogged sites (3 species out of 17: Swietenia macrophylla, Tabebuia impetiginosa and Terminalia sp.) were not present at sites six years after logging; and a larger percentage (71%) of the species present at unlogged sites in the harvestable size (trees>minimum diameter cutting – MDC) were not present at sites six years after logging, e.g., Cedrela spp. Stem density and timber volume of five of the eight most abundant commercial timber species under study differed among community-owned forests, after accounting for the effects of logging intensity and time since logging as indicated by our best models; whereas, potentially harvestable and harvestable timber volume differed between communities for only two and three species, respectively. Best models indicated that logging intensity increased either stem density or timber volume of Apuleia leiocarpa, Cedrela odorata, Dipteryx micrantha and Hymenaea parvifolia, decreased potentially harvestable timber volume of T. serratifolia, and had no effect on the other three species investigated. We also investigated the impact of logging intensity on congeneric species given that lumping congeneric species for logging is a common simplification during forest inventories and censuses, and is accepted in CFMPs assuming that closely related species respond to timber logging in a similar way. However, logging intensity had a differentiated effect on congeneric species. Logging intensity favoured growth rate of C. odorata trees >10 cm DBH and had no effects on Cedrela fissilis. Regarding Hymenaea congeneric species, logging intensity favoured H. parvifolia survival of individuals 10 cm DBH. In conclusion, Amazon nut harvest and timber logging of other tree species are compatible under certain socioeconomic and biophysical conditions, and as long as commercial timber species differential response to harvesting are accounted for in managing these species in a MFM scheme. This compatibility is due to existing socioeconomic complementarity of both activities and to the positive impact of logging intensity levels as practiced in the region on Amazon nut production and on most commercial timber species. Community families’ better negotiation skills to obtain better prices for Amazon nut, and increased implementation of management practices to increase Amazon nut production (e.g., liana cutting) helped families to increase their income and also decrease pressure on timber. These results highlight the need to look at both socioeconomic and ecological aspects when assessing the long-term sustainability of MFM schemes. Results of this research have important implications for policy to support the sustainable development of community forestry in the Bolivian Amazon. The compatibility found between Amazon nut and timber production calls for the investigation of the compatibility of timber production with other valuable NTFPs commonly harvested by community families throughout the tropics. We argue that management needs to be done at species-specific level, rather than at the level of products or at the level of species groups. This may result prohibitively expensive for communities and smallholders. Thus, we urge governments and the international community to revalorize local ecological knowledge of community people to manage their forests, while supporting the development of technologies, such as the ones based on hyperspectral LiDAR technology, to develop tools that could help reduce management costs of tropical forests at the required level. Such policies need to be accompanied by capacity building programs on different management tasks and negotiation skills to enhance the income obtained from MFM schemes. The research approaches used here could be used in other contexts and scales involving natural resources management to get a better understanding of the systems.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-18T15:56:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014-07-01Bitstream added on 2015-03-18T16:28:25Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 WOS000339989900001.pdf: 614110 bytes, checksum: f2c6e46a0e535382a989dfebeb2bd5c0 (MD5) FFEM (Fonds Francais pour l'Environnement Mondial) Small-scale farmers in the Brazilian Amazon collectively hold tenure over more than 12 million ha of permanent forest reserves, as required by the Forest Code. The trade-off between forest conservation and other land uses entails opportunity costs for them and for the country, which have not been sufficiently studied. We assessed the potential income generated by multiple use forest management for farmers and compared it to the income potentially derived from six other agricultural land uses. Income from the forest was from (i) logging, carried out by a logging company in partnership with farmers' associations; and (ii) harvesting the seeds of Carapa guianensis (local name andiroba) for the production of oil. We then compared the income generated by multiple-use forest management with the income from different types of agrarian systems. According to our calculations in this study, the mean annual economic benefits from multiple forest use are the same as the least productive agrarian system, but only 25% of the annual income generated by the most productive system. Although the income generated by logging may be considered low when calculated on an annual basis and compared to incomes generated by agriculture, the one-time payment after logging is significant (US$5,800 to US$33,508) and could be used to implement more intensive and productive cropping systems such as planting black pepper. The income from forest management could also be used to establish permanent fields in deforested areas for highly productive annual crops using conservation agriculture techniques. These techniques are alternatives to the traditional land use based on periodic clearing of the forest. Nevertheless, the shift in current practices towards adoption of more sustainable conservation agriculture techniques will also require the technical and legal support of the State to help small farmers apply these alternatives, which aim to integrate forest management in sustainable agricultural production systems. Cirad Ctr Int Cooperat Rech Agron Dev, UR B&SEF Biens & Serv Ecosyst Forestiers Trop, F-34398 Montpellier 5, France Gret, BR-66055050 Belem, Para, Brazil UNESP, Fac Ciencas Agr, BR-18610307 Botucatu, SP, Brazil EMBRAPA, Amazonia Oriental, BR-66095100 Belem, Para, Brazil Serv Florestal Brasileiro MMA SFB, BR-68010200 Santarem, Para, Brazil UNESP, Fac Ciencas Agr, BR-18610307 Botucatu, SP, Brazil

This paper discusses the relative importance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for rural households in Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana. It aims to compare and contrast the significance of NTFPs for income generation in rainforest areas, both within and across these countries to draw out regional patterns in a wider ecological, social and political context. In doing so, we bring the added value of highlighting the different roles which NTFPs currently play, or might likely begin to play out, in wider landscapes. The contribution NTFPs make to rural livelihoods depends largely on the availability of forest resources and access to markets, as well as socio-economic variables including wealth, gender and migration status. The findings indicate that remote communities and poorer households rely more on NTFP-based income compared to more accessible communities and wealthier households. NTFPs are relatively unimportant as an income source for households in more accessible rural areas, where farm-related income dominates. These findings support the theory that NTFPs are an important component to rural livelihoods and make significant and timely income contributions to poor households. Furthermore, in times of economic and climatic uncertainty, NTFPs and the forest and agricultural landscapes within which they are found, make a significant contribution to the resilience of rural forest dwellers' livelihoods.

The conflict between conservation and timber production is shifting in regions such as Biscay (Basque Country, northern Spain) where planted forests are no longer profitable without public subsidies and environmentalist claim that public subsidies should be reoriented to the regeneration of natural forest. This paper develops an approach that integrates scientific knowledge and stakeholders’ demands to provide decision-making guidelines for the development of new landscape planning strategies while considering ecosystem services. First, a participatory process was conducted to develop a community vision for the region’s sustainable future considering the opportunities and constrains provided by the landscape and its ecosystems. In the participatory process forest management was considered an important driver for the region`s landscape development and forest multi-functionality was envisioned as a feasible attractive alternative. The participatory process identified a knowledge gap on the synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and carbon storage and how these depend on different forest types. Second, to study the existing synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and carbon storage and disentangle the identified knowledge gap, a GIS-based research was conducted based on spatially explicit indicators. Our spatial analysis results showed that natural forests’ contribution to biodiversity and carbon storage is higher than that of the plantations with exotic species in the region. The results from the spatial analysis converged with those from the participatory process in the suitability of promoting, where possible and appropriate, natural forest ecosystems restoration. This iterative learning and decision making process is already showing its effectiveness for decision making, with concrete examples of how the results obtained with the applied approach are being included in planning and decision-making processes.

In the context of multiple forest management, multipurpose tree species which provide both timber and non-timber forest products (NTFP), present particular challenges as the potential of conflicting use for either product may be high. One key aspect is that the magnitude of conflict of use can be location specific, thus adding complexity to policy development. This paper focuses on the extent to which the potential for conflict of use in multipurpose tree species varies across the Amazonian lowland forests shared by Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, emphasizing the economic dimension of conflict. Based on a review of the current normative and regulatory aspects of timber and NTFP extraction in the five countries, the paper also briefly discusses the opportunities and constraints for harmonization of timber and NTFP management of multipurpose species across the region. It was found that about half of the 336 timber species reviewed across the five countries also have non-timber uses. Eleven timber species are multipurpose in all five countries: Calophyllum brasiliense, Cedrela odorata, Ceiba pentandra, Clarisia racemosa, Ficus insipida, Jacaranda copaia, Schefflera morototoni, Simarouba amara and Terminalia amazonia. Seven other multipurpose species occurred only in either Venezuela (Tabebuia impetiginosa, Spondias mombin, Pentaclethra macroloba, Copaifera officinalis, Chlorophora tinctoria, Carapa guianensis) or Ecuador (Tabebuia chrysantha). Four multipurpose tree species presented the highest potential of conflict of use across the region: Dipteryx odorata, Tabebuia serratifolia, Hymenaea courbaril and Myroxylon balsamum yet these were not evenly distributed across all five countries. None of the five studied countries have specific legislation to promote sustainable use of any of the multipurpose species reported here and thus mitigate potential conflict of use; nor documented management options for integration or else segregation of both their timber and NTFP values.

Traditionally, forestry professionals in the United States have believed that forest management is a scientific discipline that should be undertaken by value-neutral experts. This understanding originated in the progressive era, typically dated from 1890 to 1920, as part of a wider progressive belief in the “scientific management” of American society. The U.S. Forest Service was created in 1905 to advance this mission, including on the national forests directly managed by the Forest Service itself. In the last few decades of the twentieth century, however, such core tenets of professional forestry came under increasing challenge from the environmental movement. Instead of seeing a forest as a “natural resource” to be used to advance the economic progress of American society, environmentalists now saw forests as having an “intrinsic value” independent of human welfare. By the early twenty-first century, reflecting such new thinking in American society, the old idea of “multiple-use management” of the national forests (and other natural systems) had lost out to “ecosystem management.” This article finds that this shift in forest management philosophy reflected new (secular) religious directions in American society, as the progressive “gospel of efficiency” increasingly lost out to a new environmental “gospel of naturalness.”

Lindenmayer et al. proposed that logging makes “some kinds of forests more prone to increased probability of ignition and increased fire severity.” The proposition was developed most strongly in relation to the wet eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia. A key argument was that logging in wet forests results in drier forests that tend to be more fire-prone, and this argument has gained prominence both in the literature and in policy debate. We find no support for that argument from considerations of eucalypt stand development, and from reanalysis of the only Australian study cited by Lindenmayer et al .I n addition, there is no evidence from recent megafires in Victoria that younger regrowth ( 70 years); furthermore, forests in reserves (with no logging) did not burn with less severity than multiple-use forests (with some logging). The flammability of stands of different ages can be explained in terms of stand structure and fuel accumulation, rather than as a dichotomy of regrowth stands being highly flammable but mature and old-growth stands not highly flammable. Lack of management of fire-adapted ecosystems carries long-term social, economic, and environmental consequences.

This paper presents a deterministic finite time horizon dynamic optimisation model aimed to determine optimal paths for artificial plantations and natural regeneration of two main tree species in dehesa multiple use ecosystems, holm oak ( Quercus ilex L. ) and cork oak ( Q. suber L. ). Whilst dehesa forest sustainability problems associated to exhaustive use of grazing resources have been indirectly approached by European Union authorities, providing support for artificial plantations over treeless land, no mention is made to natural regeneration techniques. In this sense, the formulated model allows for natural regeneration of already established ageing stands as a complement or even a substitute of actual reforestation practices. The proposed methodology is neither designed to determine optimal rotation of tree species nor optimal decorticating or pruning cycles of cork oaks and holm oaks, respectively. Instead, this information enters the model exogenously through knowledge of region specific silvicultural cycles for those commercially relevant tree species, and the optimisation program acts as an optimal land use allocator and thus a practical tool for policy analysis purposes. In addition to existing cost benefit analysis applications in dehesa ecosystems, the presented model allows in one side efficient evaluation of long term management dynamics —thus oak woodlands sustainability can be tested for sufficiently large time horizons—, and in the other, management decisions, instead of being forced through predefined scenarios, correspond to the optimal actions a decision agent would take from the complete set of feasible possibilities given actual land use and tree age distributions.

In response to federal administrative rule, the Tahoe National Forest (TNF), California, USA engaged in trail-route prioritization for motorized recreation (e.g., off-highway-vehicles) and other recreation types. The prioritization was intended to identify routes that were suitable and ill-suited for maintenance in a transportation system. A recreational user survey was conducted online (n = 813) for user preferences for trail system characteristics, recreational use patterns, and demographics. Motorized trail users and non-motorized users displayed very clear and contrasting preferences for the same system. As has been found by previous investigators, non-motorized users expressed antagonism to motorized use on the same recreational travel system, whereas motorized users either supported multiple-use routes or dismissed non-motorized recreationists' concerns. To help the TNF plan for reduced conflict, a geographic information system (GIS) based modeling approach was used to identify recreational opportunities and potential environmental impacts of all travel routes. This GIS-based approach was based on an expert-derived rule set. The rules addressed particular environmental and recreation concerns in the TNF. Route segments were identified that could be incorporated into minimal-impact networks to support various types of recreation. The combination of potential impacts and user-benefits supported an optimization approach for an appropriate recreational travel network to minimize environmental impacts and user-conflicts in a multi-purpose system.