Managing Forests Sustainably
Long-term development of any forest depends on how well we look after that forest. The best practice of managing the limited forest resources that we have is known as sustainable forest management. Whenever we think about commercial forestry we always tend to think about the amount of profit that we can make from the timber first and the forest and the trees second. It is this timber that provides jobs, it is the economics that keeps the whole forestry machine running. Without the economics we have no forest, without there being a pay check at the end of the production cycle, there are no forestry communities. So, to produce the best quality timber is only half the story. Producing the best quality timber is only half of the reason why we are here.
There are many different generations that have been brought up around forestry. Not only have families relied on generating an income from the forest around them, whole communities have grown up relying on that industry. Now, if we don't do something to put best practice in front of economic gain then we are going to lessen the chance of the forest industry having a long-term future. The demand is there for forest products and is only going to rise throughout the coming years. We have the make sure that we can provide for that enlarging market while still keeping our forests thriving.
Sustainable forest management relies on everyone that works in the industry, from the boss of the top who is responsible for running the company right down to the guy who's replanting the trees. Irish forestry needs much more responsibility if it is going to survive. Although 10% of our land is under forest canopy, there is far more that we can do, we can almost double that amount. But we have to put good land into forestry. There's no point in planting trees in land which is no good for anything else, and not much good for planting trees either.
A forest is always going to be very fluid, what works now may very well not work in the future. All we can do is to implement best practice as we know today and hope that we are doing enough for our forests to survive well into the future and beyond. Forest Ireland believes that long-term success in Irish forestry depends on the willingness to move forward in a sustainable manner.
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Great article. You are very correct that forestry is a long-term issue.
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