An overview of sustainable forestry

With the population of the globe ac-celerating past 5 billion, increasing de-terioration of ecosystems throughoutmuch of the world, and mounting evi-dence that we are entering a period ofsignificant change in global climate, itseems clear that if we are to survive, wehumans must change our relationshipwith nature from one dominated by ex-ploitation and indifference to one ofrespect and sustainable balance. One ofthe first steps on the road to sustaina-bility is to ask how various resourcemanagement practices influence thelong-term health and productivity ofecosystems, which in turn requires thatwe know something about what keepsecosystems stable and productive. Withthis knowledge, we humans can turnour often misplaced genius to the taskof developing appropriate "ecotech-nologies," i.e., resource managementsystems designed with the future inmind as well as the present. In doing sowe buy insurance for our children.
This paper deals with sustainableforestry, although the basic principlesdiscussed here should apply to any re-newable resource. I first discuss theconcept of "long-term" productivity,what it means and what it doesn'tmean. I then outline the important fac-tors contributing to ecosystem stability,the system components that manage-ment must strive to protect, and howthese are impacted by current manage-ment practices. Finally, I close withsome discussion of current research di-rections. Throughout it is important torealize that scientists have a ratherpoor understanding of how ecosystemsfunction, and in particular what keepsthem stable. Some of the ideas I willdiscuss are controversial; all needmuch more study.