In this course students should strengthen their understanding of management options for natural forests as well as of the ecological, silvicultural, and economic consequences of management interventions. The course’s twelve modules progress from consideration of the goals of natural forest management through the ecological conditions that determine the appropriateness of different sorts of silvicultural interventions. Given the importance of timber stand management, the modules deal with pre-harvest activities, harvesting, and the impacts of harvesting. The last two modules consider approaches to securing regeneration of commercial species and increasing yields. Throughout the course, due attention is paid to the financial costs of different activities as well as the unavoidable economic, social, and ecological tradeoffs involved in any sort of management.
By the end of the course each student should be able to:
Explain the various objectives of natural forest management in the tropics.
Clarify the tradeoffs and synergies among these objectives.
Develop a general plan for the management of a natural forest that includes pre-harvest activities, harvesting, and post-harvest monitoring.
Select from a range of silvicultural treatments designed to improve the stocking and growth of commercial species.
Predict the major social, ecological, and economic impediments to sustainable management of a forest based on fundamental considerations about that forest.