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Silviculture: a key to sustainable forest management

Unasylva 181: 2
Concern for the sustainable management of the world's forest resources has never been greater. Across
the globe, numerous initiatives are under way to foment the development of forest management plans
aimed at maximizing the contribution of forests to the achievement of development and socio-economic
goals without compromising the present and future condition of the resource base. The discussion on
sustainability tends to focus on the need to be environmentally "correct" while ensuring provision of
adequate direct or indirect economic benefits to the owners or users of forest lands, thereby justifying their
maintenance as forest as opposed to their permanent conversion to another form of land use.
Silviculture, as the element of forestry that deals with the establishment, development, reproduction, care
and harvesting of forest vegetation, has the daunting yet essential responsibility of providing the biological
and technical options to achieve management objectives. Without appropriate silviculture, sustainable
forest management is impossible.
As such, it would seem logical for silviculture to be at the forefront of attention, both within and outside the
forestry sector. Instead, in some instances silviculture seems to be taken for granted while, in others, it is
virtually neglected.
Among some actors, particularly within the forestry sector, there is a tendency to affirm that the technical
solutions to the challenges of sustainable forest management already exist and that it is only a matter of
applying them appropriately. External actors, on the other hand, especially those with a protectionist
perspective, often accuse silviculturists of not having the technical knowledge required to satisfy the new
and multiple demands being made on forest resources without endangering the resource. They argue,
therefore, that the forests should simply be reserved against further use until research has identified
appropriate, widely applicable techniques, except perhaps for use by local people who are believed to have
sufficient knowledge of their resource, at least in a micromanagement situation. These same actors often
argue for "regreening", but without considering with what species, for what use and under what ecological
conditions. This tack can only lead to forests that are without long-term biological or economic viability.
Both of the positions err on the side of extremity and yet both also hold elements of truth. Although tested
appropriate techniques do exist for a limited number of forest situations, primarily in the temperate and
boreal zones, silviculture in the tropics, particularly in terms of natural forest management, is still in its
infancy. On the other hand, the suggestion that insufficient scientific knowledge prevents action is
unacceptable; the absence of complete knowledge will not keep forest resources from being used or
abused.
This issue of Unasylva examines how silviculturists are attempting to meet the challenges of today's rapidly
evolving forest management objectives. In the first article, J.G. Bertault, B. Dupuy and H.F. Matre of the
International Cooperation Centre on Agrarian Research for Development's Forest Management Program
me (CIRAD- Fort) examine silvicultural options available for the management of both natural and
plantation forest formations in the humid tropics. They conclude that technical capacities are sufficient to
support large-scale plantation activities but that the level of knowledge on the silvics of natural forest stands
is still modest, although some effective practical tools have been developed. A short article by C. Linares
Bensimon discusses the development of a silvicultural plan for the management of the Alexander von
Humboldt National Forest, located in the Peruvian Amazon.
The challenges facing silviculture in the dry tropics are reviewed by M. Soto Flandez, based on his
experiences as chief technical adviser for an FAO-assisted project in Burkina Faso. S. Hagner deals with
silviculture in boreal forest areas, where harsh climatic conditions, high levels of industrial exploitation and
the resource's concurrent importance to national and local economies combine to present special
challenges.
As the demands on forests change and expand rapidly, silviculture must evolve as well. H. Benskin and L.
Beford examine the changing demands on silviculture in British Columbia in response to new multiple

objectives of forest management. They detail initiatives aimed at the basic stewardship of all valuables,
investments to improve volume and value and the generation of employment. J. Kartasubrata and K.F.
Wiersum explore the evolution of silvicultural research in Indonesia in response to changing forest
management objectives. Particular emphasis is laid on the silvicultural challenges brought about by the
recent focus on community forestry development, and on the need for field-level research combining
scientific knowledge and the empirical expertise of local forest resource users. In the final article directly
related to the main focus of this issue, M.Z. Hussain describes silvicultural systems for mangrove
ecosystems that are being practiced in a number of countries in Asia and examines their potential
application on a wider basis.
This issue of Unasylva also contains three highly stimulating, provocative independent articles: B.A. Wilcox
discusses efforts to develop tools for assessing, quantitatively and qualitatively, the risks for biodiversity in
the face of tropical forest loss and degradation; A. Agrawal re-examines the relative importance of
population pressure, market forces and institutional effectiveness on forest conditions; and E. D'Souza
describes the progressive involvement of the Indian military forces in environmental protection work.