Forests are supposed to meet the requirements not only of the today developing society but also of next generations living a one or two hundred years after us. Being threatened by a range of harmful agents, including the global climate change, and providing manifold public benefits, the forests need global management driven in nature-close, ecological ways. The issues of long-term validity, permanency and ecological orientation of forest development can be successfully resolved only by consistent implementation of the following basic principles of forest management: principle of sustainable development, stabilisation, ecologisation, optimisation and economization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]