Forests and landscapes: linking ecology, sustainability and aesthetics

Abstract

Abstract The visual landscape of forests is an important source of information for the public in judging the sustainability of forest resource management, and there is an increasing recognition of the importance of the linkage between forest ecology and aesthetics among foresters and environmental scientists. Forest resource managers pursuing the goals of ecosystem management must consider the aesthetic consequences of timber harvesting operations and find ways to explain the ecological benefits of their activities. This book addresses the relationship between people's perceptions and sustainability. It arose from a workshop organized and funded by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies and the Faculty of Forestry of the University of British Columbia. After a foreword (by Gobster, P. H.), it has 17 chapters by various authors arranged in 6 parts: I. Linking ecological sustainability to aesthetics: do people prefer sustainable landscapes? (one introductory chapter by the editors); II. Seeing and knowing: approaches to aesthetics and sustainability (4 chapters); III. Perspectives on forest sustainability (3 chapters); IV. Theories relating aesthetics and forest ecology (4 chapters); V. Visualization of forest landscapes (4 chapters); and VI. Reconciling forest sustainability and aesthetics (one concluding chapter discussing priorities). Twelve (unpaginated) pages of colour plates, and a subject index are included. All the chapters are noticed separately on the CAB ABSTRACTS database.