Knowra Sustainable forestry Sustainable forestry Sustainable forestry manages forests to maintain ecological functions, biodiversity, and renewable resources over time. It balances timber production and other human uses with the forest’s capacity to regenerate.
Sustained-yield forestry : Forest management that limits harvest to the amount forests can regenerate over time. It expresses the resource-renewal principle behind sustainable harvest planning.
Forest biodiversity : The variety of genes, species, and ecological communities found in forest ecosystems. Retaining diverse habitats is a central ecological measure of sustainable management.
Clear-cutting : A harvesting method that removes nearly all trees from a defined area at once. Its concentrated disturbance contrasts with approaches that retain standing trees.
Forest Stewardship Council : An international nonprofit organization that sets standards for responsible forest management and chain-of-custody certification. Its certification system is a prominent way to assess and label forest products.
Selective logging : Timber harvesting that removes selected trees rather than clearing an entire stand. It can retain forest structure while supplying timber, though outcomes depend on how it is conducted.
Forest fragmentation : The division of continuous forest into smaller, isolated patches, often through land conversion or infrastructure. Poorly planned roads and harvests can divide habitat and undermine ecological continuity.
Plantation forestry : The cultivation of planted trees, often in even-aged stands, for timber or other products. Plantations can produce wood efficiently but may support fewer ecological functions than natural forests.
Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification : An international alliance that endorses national forest certification systems. It provides a second major framework for certifying sustainably managed forests and products.
Reduced-impact logging : Planned timber harvesting methods that reduce damage to soils, residual trees, and waterways. It makes harvesting less damaging within managed tropical forests.
Carbon sequestration : The capture and long-term storage of carbon from the atmosphere in plants, soils, or other reservoirs. Forest growth and soil protection affect how much carbon managed forests store.
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