Redefining sustainable forestry for a climate emergency

Abstract

The concept of what constitutes sustainable forestry has evolved over time, as foresters and society have reconsidered our knowledge of forest ecosystems and exactly what should be sustained, where, when, and for whom. Now, as humanity faces a climate emergency, we need a new definition of sustainable forestry that recognizes climate change explicitly, and new approaches to managing forest ecosystems. These new approaches need to be robust: that is, likely to succeed despite enormous uncertainty about the conditions forests will face in the future. Going forward, sustainable forestry must retain recognized values from past conceptions, such as maintaining ecosystem health and biodiversity over the long term, while also addressing the urgent challenge of climate change by increasing carbon stored in both forests and long-lived forest products. We propose the following new definition for sustainable forestry for the 21st century and outline the steps needed to implement it:

Sustainable forestry is forest management that prioritizes mitigating and adapting to climate change during the next several decades as a critical aspect of meeting the social, economic, ecological, and spiritual needs of current and future generations.

Summary of recommendations

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  Adoption by the global forestry community of a new definition of sustainable forestry that recognizes the climate emergency.
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  Implementation of strategies that increase resilience and resistance of forests to climate change effects.
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  At the landscape scale, optimizing for both forest carbon storage and production of wood to substitute for more carbon-intensive materials.
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  Creation of financial systems that make the best climate-smart silvicultural practices profitable.