Objectives

The objective of this module is to provide you with an introduction to the planning and implementation of sustainable forest management. This is a very complex subject, and one that requires a variety of skills. You will be introduced to a variety of techniques, including adaptive management, planned interventions, public participation and decision support systems, and will also learn how to tell if you have succeeded in implementing sustainable forest management.

Relevant Components

• Writing a forest management plan
• Achieving management goals through planned interventions
• Public participation in forest land-use decision-making
• Decision support systems to help forest managers
• Certification of forest management

After taking this module, you should be able to:

1. Describe the principles of adaptive management
   1. Explain what a wicked problem is
   2. Explain the principles of adaptive management
   3. Describe how adaptive management can best be implemented
   4. Describe an example of adaptive management in practice
2. Explain how management objectives can be achieved through planned interventions
   1. Develop a forest management plan
   2. Distinguish between criteria, objectives, goals and strategies
   3. Explain how targets are set
3. Identify some of the decision support systems that can be used to aid sustainable forest management
   1. Describe how a decision needs to be structured
   2. Describe how the potential outcomes of a decision are defined
   3. Explain the differences between predictive and explorative approaches to decision-making
   4. Describe how decision support systems can be incorporated into a sustainable forest management plan
4. Explain how the quality of forest management is assessed
   1. Describe the process of forest certification
   2. Explain how the criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management relate to certification