The principle of sustained yield is a concept that has developed over many decades of forest management and research. Most foresters are familiar with this concept and many attempts have been made to devise systems of forest management that follow sustained yield principles. More recently however, a broader concept of sustainable forest management has been introduced into the national and international policy debate about how forests should be managed. In contrast to sustained yield, sustainable forest management considers the sustainability of production of a wider range of forest outputs, rather than concentrating on one or two products (usually timber and, occasionally, non-wood forest products). There is currently still little agreement as to what exactly constitutes sustainable forest management, or how it should be achieved, although most commentators would probably agree that only a small proportion of the world's forest estate is currently managed in a way that is broadly sustainable.
It is against this background, that this paper has been commissioned by FAO on behalf of the World Bank to review and summarise current experiences with attempts to manage forests sustainably. Due to the difficulty noted above, it concentrates largely on attempts to manage forests for sustainable wood production. The paper also only focuses on temperate and boreal forests. Another paper in this series discusses progress towards sustainable forest management in tropical countries.
The paper is in seven main sections. The first two sections describe the temperate and boreal forest and describe the forest practices that are currently employed there. The following two sections describe the challenges and opportunities to implement sustainable forest management in these forests and describe some of the experiences with different attempts that have already been made. Section five discusses the impacts on forests of events that occur outside the forestry sector and section six makes some recommendations about how sustainable forest management might develop in the future. This theme is further expanded in the final concluding section of the report.
This paper has been prepared by Stig Hagner, drawing on his experience of these issues in temperate and boreal forests and a review of published materials. An informal questionnaire was also used to solicit the views of some of the large forestry corporations in North America. FAO would like to express its gratitude to all the contributors to this study and to thank everyone that has provided comments on earlier drafts of this work. FAO will continue to explore, with member countries, the ways in which sustainable forest management can be implemented with greater success and to assist with implementation through its technical and normative work programmes. In this respect, we would welcome comments on all aspects of this study from readers.
Lennart Ljungman
Director
Forestry Policy and Planning Division
This document is based on my experience of forestry operations in many countries on all continents. I have participated in and followed the development of the rational sustainable forest management concepts in use today in commercial forestry all over the world. I also have a long experience as a participant in the important and never-ending debate about environmental issues in forestry.
As part of the work, I have interviewed key people in several countries involved in the present decision-making process as regards sustainable forest management concepts and certification issues. A special questionnaire was also sent to important large forest owners or forest leaseholders in North America and elsewhere.
Due to time constraints, it has not been possible within this report to cover the whole area covered by temperate and boreal forests. This deficiency is most pronounced for parts of Asia.
Stig Hagner
