Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity

Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity
Ecosystems are connected with each other. Thus management activities in any ecosystem inevitably effect
other ecosystems, which according to Principle 3 should be considered by ecosystem managers. In order to be
able to assess those effects, a sound knowledge of the functional interactions between individual ecosystems is
required. Even though such interactions are comparatively well known for Central European forests, there is a
need for further research. With the mapping of forest biotopes, a first step has been taken in the direction of
avoiding negative effects on special biotopes within forest stands.
The vast majority of German forests are fully managed forests, which have been understood in a purely
economic context. In line with Principle 4, forestry development programmes with an unfavourable impact on
forest biodiversity have been revised and complemented with new criteria for ecological management. While
there are promising efforts for the reduction of market distortions and the creation of positive incentives, there
is still room for improvement as regards the internalisation of costs and benefits in the given ecosystem.
Apart from ecosystem goods, forests also provide a number of ecosystem services. Therefore, conservation of
structures and functions should be a priority target of the ecosystem approach according to Principle 5. While
in the past there has been a focus on the commercial function of forests, the protective, recreational and nature
conservation functions now gain in significance. In contrast to the concept of multifunctional forest use,
management practice still gives priority to ecosystem goods compared to ecosystem services.
The requirement of Principle 6 that ecosystems must be managed within the limits of their functioning is
consistent with the requirement for management within the limits of sustainability. This means that an
assessment depends on a tangible and measurable definition of sustainability. In the sense of quantitative
sustainability this principle has already been implemented in Germany.
The natural life cycle in the forest ecosystem may easily cover several centuries. Thus, in line with Principle 7
time intervals of several generations represent the appropriate temporal scale for forest management to be
sustainable. In various developmental stages of the forest, however, forest owners are unable to earn a profit.
Consequently, certain phases are being deliberately shortened (regeneration phase) or even eliminated (oldgrowth
phase) as a result of management activities but also because of legal obligations that support rapid
reforestation. Respective laws should be amended.
Due to the ownership structure, forest management in Germany is practised on areas of extremely
inhomogeneous size (ranging from a few acres to several thousand hectares). For the purpose of forest
management, the forests are furthermore divided into various planning and operational units. Therefore, the
implementation of appropriate spatial scales of management as postulated in Principle 7 will be a rather slow
and lengthy process. On the model of a natural Central European forest, which can be described as a “mosaic”
of various stages of succession, the area size chosen for interventions of forest management should primarily
be aligned with the dimensions of this natural mosaic.
In view of the long temporal scales of ecosystem processes in forests, appropriate management must inevitably
be set for the long term (as highlighted in Principle 8). This Principle is a logical consequence of Principle 7,
and it seems therefore appropriate to treat those two principles as one.
In line with Principle 9 silviculture recognizes that management is dependent on natural site conditions, on
disturbances due to natural events, and on resulting changes in the ecosystem. In addition, man-made
phenomena will have to be increasingly considered in the future, although they are largely beyond
management on a local level (e.g. climate change, atmospheric pollution), and must therefore continue to be
discussed and dealt with on a higher level of both society and politics in order to arrive at strategies for their
solution. Nevertheless, forestry will have to deal intensively with the issue of how to improve capacity for
response and adaptation to changing ecological conditions.
The concept of multifunctional forest use allots equal importance to use and protection (thus following
Principle 10 to seek the appropriate balance and integration of these objectives). However, this model of
equivalence can hardly become operational in practice since as yet 90% of the proceeds from our commercial
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