What is Sustainable Forestry?

Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), also known simply as Sustainable Forestry is the practice of managing forests to meet the current needs and desires of society for forest resources, that is products, services, and values, without compromising the availability of these for future generations.

To be economically viable, that is sustainable, revenues from sales of forest products and services must exceed costs, or subsidies are required. Foresters have adopted comprehensive approaches to sustaining forests that apply to values beyond specific forest management units, including resource-dependent communities, biodiversity, and potential interactions of forest management with climate change. Economic evaluations for sustainable forestry should take into account people of forest communities and broad social values beyond simple revenue/cost accounting.

SFM manages forests according to the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable forest management has to keep the balance between three main pillars: ecological, economic, and socio-cultural. The goal of sustainable forestry is to allow for a balance to be found between making use of trees and maintaining natural patterns of disturbance and regeneration. The forestry industry mitigates climate change by boosting carbon storage in growing trees and soils and improving the sustainable supply of renewable raw materials via sustainable forest management.  Successfully achieving sustainable forest management will provide integrated benefits to all, ranging from safeguarding local livelihoods to protecting biodiversity and ecosystems provided by forests, reducing rural poverty, and mitigating some of the effects of climate change. Forest conservation is essential to stop climate change.