Forests: maintaining the balance

Forests are a vital and productive resource able to contribute sustainably to the quality of human life in multiple ways. Human history is intimately linked with forests and virtually all of the world's forests have been modified or managed by human societies since time immemorial. Until recently th...

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Autor principal: Sayer, Jeffrey A.
Formato: Capítulo de libro
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2000
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/18113
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author Sayer, Jeffrey A.
author_browse Sayer, Jeffrey A.
author_facet Sayer, Jeffrey A.
author_sort Sayer, Jeffrey A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Forests are a vital and productive resource able to contribute sustainably to the quality of human life in multiple ways. Human history is intimately linked with forests and virtually all of the world's forests have been modified or managed by human societies since time immemorial. Until recently the impact of much human intervention has been to enhance or maintain forest values to people. Some 400 million people in the developing world still depend on these traditional forms of forest management. Forests are now threatened by our more inter-connected and resource hungry world. Forests contribute at least 3% - 6% of GDP in most countries, the contribution often being higher in poor countries with limited economic opportunities. In many places, however, these benefits are being captured in perverse ways by corrupt elites or squandered by unsustainable exploitation. Concern at this inequity and irretrievable loss of biological resources has provoked an environmental backlash manifested in calls to put forests off-limits. The debate on forests has become polarised between those who advocate full-blooded commercial profit maximisation and those who want to lock-up the remaining forests in museums. The way forward requires that people abandon these extreme positions. It must be recognised that people will conserve forests when it is worth their while to do so. The objective of forestry must be to achieve balance between the multiple products and services provided by forests and not to focus exclusively on narrow interests, whether short-term profit or permanent preservation. Management must not be determined either by urban lobbying groups or sawmill operators. Forest uses must balance the legitimate requirements of the full range of local and distant interested parties. Conservation agendas must be pragmatic and set by people who are in touch with the realities of both nature and society.
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spelling CGSpace181132025-01-24T14:12:22Z Forests: maintaining the balance Sayer, Jeffrey A. conferences forest management forests man relationships multiple use Forests are a vital and productive resource able to contribute sustainably to the quality of human life in multiple ways. Human history is intimately linked with forests and virtually all of the world's forests have been modified or managed by human societies since time immemorial. Until recently the impact of much human intervention has been to enhance or maintain forest values to people. Some 400 million people in the developing world still depend on these traditional forms of forest management. Forests are now threatened by our more inter-connected and resource hungry world. Forests contribute at least 3% - 6% of GDP in most countries, the contribution often being higher in poor countries with limited economic opportunities. In many places, however, these benefits are being captured in perverse ways by corrupt elites or squandered by unsustainable exploitation. Concern at this inequity and irretrievable loss of biological resources has provoked an environmental backlash manifested in calls to put forests off-limits. The debate on forests has become polarised between those who advocate full-blooded commercial profit maximisation and those who want to lock-up the remaining forests in museums. The way forward requires that people abandon these extreme positions. It must be recognised that people will conserve forests when it is worth their while to do so. The objective of forestry must be to achieve balance between the multiple products and services provided by forests and not to focus exclusively on narrow interests, whether short-term profit or permanent preservation. Management must not be determined either by urban lobbying groups or sawmill operators. Forest uses must balance the legitimate requirements of the full range of local and distant interested parties. Conservation agendas must be pragmatic and set by people who are in touch with the realities of both nature and society. 2000 2012-06-04T09:06:06Z 2012-06-04T09:06:06Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/18113 en Sayer, J.A. 2000. Forests: maintaining the balance . ACIAR Monograph In: Cadman, H. ed.. The food and environment tightrope: proceedings of a seminar conducted by the Crawford Fund for International Agricultural Research, Parliament House, Canberra, 24 November 1999. :47-58.
spellingShingle conferences
forest management
forests
man
relationships
multiple use
Sayer, Jeffrey A.
Forests: maintaining the balance
title Forests: maintaining the balance
title_full Forests: maintaining the balance
title_fullStr Forests: maintaining the balance
title_full_unstemmed Forests: maintaining the balance
title_short Forests: maintaining the balance
title_sort forests maintaining the balance
topic conferences
forest management
forests
man
relationships
multiple use
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/18113
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