Forest ecosystems include a great variety of communities of organisms interacting with their physical environment: multi-aged natural forests, even-aged monocultures, and secondary forests invaded by foreign species. The challenge is to sustain their ability to function, by adapting to changing climates and satisfying a multitude of human demands. Our first chapter sets the scene with a discussion about the effects of forest management on ecosystem services. Details about forest observational infrastructures are introduced in the second chapter. The third chapter presents methods of analysing forest density and structure. Models for estimating the shape and growth of individual forest trees are introduced in chapter 4, models of forest community production in Chapter 5. Methods and examples of sustainable forest design are covered in chapter 6. New scientific contributions continue to emerge as we are writing, and this work is never finished. We hope to continue with regular updates replacing obsolete sections with new ones, but the general aim remains the same, to introduce a range of methods that will assist those interested in sustaining forest ecosystems.

Mexico leads the world in community management of forests for the commercial production of timber. Yet this success story is not widely known, even in Mexico, despite the fact that communities around the globe are increasingly involved in managing their own forest resources. To assess the achievements and shortcomings of Mexico's community forest management programs and to offer approaches that can be applied in other parts of the world, this book collects fourteen articles that explore community forest management from historical, policy, economic, ecological, sociological, and political perspectives. The contributors to this book are established researchers in the field, as well as many of the important actors in Mexico's nongovernmental organization sector. Some articles are case studies of community forest management programs in the states of Michoacán, Oaxaca, Durango, Quintana Roo, and Guerrero. Others provide broader historical and contemporary overviews of various aspects of community forest management. As a whole, this volume clearly establishes that the community forest sector in Mexico is large, diverse, and has achieved unusual maturity in doing what communities in the rest of the world are only beginning to explore: how to balance community income with forest conservation. In this process, Mexican communities are also managing for sustainable landscapes and livelihoods.

Exploring a topic of vital and ongoing importance, Traditional Forest Knowledge examines the history, current status and trends in the development and application of traditional forest knowledge by local and indigenous communities worldwide. It considers the interplay between traditional beliefs and practices and formal forest science and interrogates the often uneasy relationship between these different knowledge systems. The contents also highlight efforts to conserve and promote traditional forest management practices that balance the environmental, economic and social objectives of forest management. It places these efforts in the context of recent trends towards the devolution of forest management authority in many parts of the world. The book includes regional chapters covering North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Australia-Pacific region. As well as relating the general factors mentioned above to these specific areas, these chapters cover issues of special regional significance, such as the importance of traditional knowledge and practices for food security, economic development and cultural identity. Other chapters examine topics ranging from key policy issues to the significant programs of regional and international organisations, and from research ethics and best practices for scientific study of traditional knowledge to the adaptation of traditional forest knowledge to climate change and globalisation.

A global assessment of potential and anticipated impacts of efforts to achieve the SDGs on forests and related socio-economic systems. This title is available as Open Access via Cambridge Core.

Collectively, the chapters in this exploratory study constitute a review of community economic development as a response in the Pacific Northwest to the globalization of the timber industry. The history of federal policies concerning forest communities & timber production is discussed, & recent social & economic changes that are profoundly affecting forest communities are examined. Case studies of new approaches to creating jobs & wealth in forest communities are presented as well as research into the link between economic development & social & political development. Charts & tables.

This handbook is designed for staff in protected areas around the world who encounter conflicts of all kinds. It presents a framework and strategies for responding to different types of conflicts, along with case studies that describe a variety of approaches for dealing with conflict.

Since the 1970s and 1980s, community-based forestry has grown in popularity, based on the concept that local communities, when granted suffi­cient property rights over local forest commons, can organize autonomously and develop local institutions to regulate the use of natural resources and manage them sustainably. Over time, various forms of community-based forestry have evolved in different countries, but all have at their heart the notion of some level of participation by smallholders and community groups in planning and implementation. This publication is FAO’s fi­rst comprehensive look at the impact of community-based forestry since previous reviews in 1991 and 2001. It considers both collaborative regimes (forestry practised on land with formal communal tenure requiring collective action) and smallholder forestry (on land that is generally privately owned). The publication examines the extent of community-based forestry globally and regionally and assesses its effectiveness in delivering on key biophysical and socioeconomic outcomes, i.e. moving towards sustainable forest management and improving local livelihoods. The report is targeted at policy-makers, practitioners, researchers, communities and civil society.

This book, which contains 8 chapters, provides a framework for the general public, forest managers and policy makers to understand what factors need to be included when working towards using and protecting the world's forests so that they can be sustained. Topics covered include: historical perceptions and use of forests; the creation of today's forest landscapes by global societies; decision making related to forests becoming democratic and globalized; changing views about the ecology and conservation of forests; the historical and continuing impacts of human disturbances (i.e., air pollution, climatic change, salt injury, introduced plants, introduced insects, introduced pathogens, forest management activities and wars) on forests; the relevance of natural disturbances (i.e., wildfires, wind, extreme temperature and moisture, volcanic eruptions, pathogens, and insect and vertebrate pests) in maintaining sustainable forests; the relationship of human health to forest management; and the relationship among forests, humans and the carbon cycle. Case studies from Australia, Bolivia, Botswana, China, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and the USA, are also included.

The Complex Forest systematically examines the theory, processes, and early outcomes of a research and management approach called adaptive collaborative management (ACM). An alternative to positivist approaches to development and conservation that assume predictability in forest management, ACM acknowledges the complexity and unpredictability inherent in any forest community and the importance of developing solutions together with the forest peoples whose lives will be most affected by the outcomes. Building on earlier work that established the importance of flexible, collaborative approaches to sustainable forest management, The Complex Forest describes the work of ACM practitioners facing a broad range of challenges in diverse settings and attempts to identify the conditions under which ACM is most effective. Case studies of ACM in 33 forest sites in 11 countries together with Colfer's systematic comparison of results at each site indicate that human and institutional capabilities have been strengthened. In Zimbabwe, for example, the number of women involved in decisionmaking soared. In Nepal, community members detected and sanctioned dishonest community elites. In Cameroon and Bolivia, learning programs resulted in better conflict management. These are early results, but a wide range of recent research supports Colfer's belief that these new capabilities will eventually contribute to higher incomes and to sustainable improvements in the health of forests and forest peoples. The Complex Forest reinforces calls for change in the way we plan conservation and development programs, away from command-and-control approaches, toward ones that require bureaucratic flexibility and responsiveness, as well as greater local participation in setting priorities and problem solving.

This book discusses the reality of implementing sustainable forest management measures. Rather than simply offering theoretical descriptions, the book comprehensively details how sustainably managed forests can only be achieved through the cooperation and support of foresters, politicians, business leaders, local communities, consumers of forest-based goods and services, and the general public. The book also aims to raise public awareness of the factors involved in attaining the true sustainability of forest management, and the consequences of failing to do so, as well as the current issues facing sustainable forest management such as land ownership and land-use rights, political corruption, environmental stressors, and economic pressure. In 17 chapters, the book will appeal to academics and teachers in forestry and related areas, government practitioners, development agencies, and NGOs.