7 Transforming Woodlands: European Forest Protection in a Global Context

This chapter discusses protection of forests as material resources, ecosystems, and sites of cultural appreciation. It inquires into the ideas, policies, actors, and effects of protecting forests that have emerged during the last 300 years. The “long twentieth century” of nature protection in Europe is thus embedded within a long-term global perspective. How did wood and timber conservation transform into more holistic, ecological modes of protection? When did heritage and recreational objectives begin to shape forest protection? How were European protection policies connected to more global changes? After a brief outline of the material development of forests in Europe from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century, this chapter summarizes the major policy trajectories and cultural outlooks on forest protection in European countries up to the 1960s. Another section examines major shifts in policy, knowledge, and cultural appreciation during the age of ecology, including joint European and global efforts in forest protection.