A sustainable forest is a forest that is carefully managed so that as trees are felled they are replaced with seedlings that eventually grow into mature trees. This is a carefully and skillfully managed system. Being a working place, it produces wood products like wood pulp. Thus great care should be undertaken in ensuring natural environment and wildlife safety.

Commonsense policy results to sustainable forests with sufficient trees replacing felled trees. If you are wondering how forest sustainability is done, here’s how:

  1. Establish Protected Areas & Conserve Biodiversity

The biodiversity of a forest is inclusive of animal population, plant species, soils and water resources which should be conserved. Which simply means forest managers are doing all they can to minimize soil erosion, dispose waste in a proper manner and protect wildlife species amongst many other conservation methods. UNESCO World Heritage Sites as well as some protected areas are beneficiaries of acquiring FSC/Rainforest Alliance Certified businesses in forestry as neighbors. Other Asian and African studies show that in comparison to noncertified enterprises, certified enterprises were doing pleasant jobs in the protection of apes as well as other mammals. So why not protect the forest biodiversity in any possible means?

  1. Protect and Prevent Forest Conversion and  High Conservation Value Forests

The FSC standard requires that forest managers protect natural forests against deforestation, reduce the risk of fires, and take particular care to protect “high conservation value forests.” A high conservation value forest simply describes forests which contain biodiversity of significant concentrations which are inclusive of endangered ecosystems. They are ecosystem services critical providers. In Petén region, Guatemala, researchers came to a conclusion that over a period of 20 years, forests that were FSC –certified and well managed faced deforestation in lower rates. Additionally, out of the entire certified land, it is only 0.1% that risked fire outbreaks. Interesting, right?

  1. Harvesting Accordingly and Possess Management Plans

Logging comes in various ways like selective harvesting and clear cutting in small scale. This causes landslides, fires amongst other disturbances that are found in fairly hot atmospheric forests. In order to be FSC-certified, operations in forestry should lay out a management plan which gives clear details of the amount of trees which will be harvested in every acre.  This all aims at regenerating the species as well as the maintenance of forests ecological health.

  1. Roles to be played by Tree Plantations

The sustainability of forestry is focused at having natural forests stand. However, it is only in severe cases that any tree plantation has FSC-certification application abilities resultant of forest conversion. Nonetheless plantation establishment on degraded or even deforested land improves ecosystem’s health as well as helping it meet its forest product demands which release natural forests pressure. In order to obtain FSC certification, all plantations have a responsibility in accord to management plans which promotes natural forests’ conservation, restoration and protection.

  1. Using Techniques that reduce the impact of logging

Do you know that logging is likened to a bulldozer trailing behind a landscape which is denuded? However it is just possible to have timber harvested without actually having to cause collateral damage in other forest parts. Techniques that reduce impacts permit loggers to extract trees as well as fell them in a way that other standing trees face reduced damage. Having to Use this approach will result in the minimization of carbon emission and waste and erosion. Now you know.