Strategic Planning of Sustainable Development on the Estate Level – Contributions from Forest Growth and Yield Science
- Authors
- Type
- Published Article
- Journal
- European Journal of Forest Research
- Publisher
- Springer Berlin Heidelberg
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2003
- Volume
- 122
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 231–249
- Identifiers
- DOI: 10.1046/j.1439-0337.2003.03014.x
- Source
- Springer Nature
- Keywords
- License
- Yellow
Abstract
At the beginning of regular forestry and systematic forest science the focus of sustainable management was on wood production (V. Carlowitz 1713, Cotta 1828, Hartig 1804, Hundeshagen 1826). Subsequently more and more forest functions were considered in management and planning (V. Hagen 1867, Dieterich 1957). Our current understanding of multifunctional forest development is reflected in the six Pan-European criteria and corresponding indicators for sustainable forestry (MCPFE 2000). The present paper outlines how these criteria and indicators can be applied for certification and strategic planning of sustainable development on the level of operational forests and how forest growth and yield science might support this intention. Forestry in Germany is blessed with an excellent database gathered during forest inventories and long-term monitoring. For example, we demonstrate how additional use can be made of the database for more efficient extraction of relevant pan-European criteria and indicators. An important field of application of this database is monitoring and certification of forest development. The creative power of these criteria and indicators can be unfolded by integrating them in strategic forest planning. For the purpose of strategic planning growth models, simulators and decision support systems are available. If these tools cover the relevant criteria and indicators they enable multicriteria scenario analysis and optimisation of management options on estate level. Concepts and tools for multicriteria oriented strategic planning are available (v. Gadow 2003, Hanewinkel 2001, Pretzsch et al. 1998, Spellmann et al. 2001), their transfer into forest management would trigger considerable innovation.
