Protect and manage what we already have

In many parts of the world, achieving a transition from deforestation to forest conservation and management will be a challenge. Forests will have to be managed using sustainable forestry practices. If forest programmes are to be successful, they will need to be part of wider, integrated land use and natural resource management programmes.

Protecting, conserving and managing forests sustainably comes at a cost. It also requires the commitment of resources. On the other hand, the Stern Review suggests that it can be cost-effective. The pressure for deforestation is greatest in a small number of developing countries, but every country in the world gains from maintaining forest resources that provide public goods to the rest of the world. Finding ways to compensate the countries that provide a global service in this way will encourage conservation.

Sustainable forestry practices are essential in managing our forests. These practices balance the wide range of benefits that woodlands provide, including biodiversity, recreation and effects on the carbon cycle. They also seek to protect woodlands against hazards such as pests, diseases, browsing animals, storms and fire. The benefits that woodlands provide are most effective if they are part of a part of a wider, integrated approach to land-use and natural resources management.

In well-managed forests, felling trees is also part of a sustainable cycle. The felled trees are replaced by planting young trees, by natural seeding or coppice regrowth. Across the world there are forests that have been managed for timber and other products for hundreds of years while maintaining their carbon, biodiversity or value to society. Some of the most valued ancient woodlands in the UK are coppice systems where long-abandoned cutting cycles are being resurrected to restore their conservation value.

Most countries have laws to protect forests. In European countries these can be very stringent, not least in the UK. In the northern hemisphere, forests are expanding yet even in countries like the UK, illegal felling of trees is a cause for concern. In the developing world where the pressures are greatest the problem is huge and forests are shrinking.