Is the concept of sustainable forest management still fit for purpose?

Abstract

The concept of sustainable forest management was developed in the 1990s and puts ecological, economic and socio-economic ecosystem functions on the same level. However, society is now making new and complex, not necessarily mutually compatible, demands on forests, for instance in the fields of climate change, renewable energy and biodiversity conservation. Policy instruments that address these societal demands and translate them into legally binding regulations have far-reaching consequences for forest management and put pressure on the traditional, non-legally binding framework for international forest policy. Faced with these radical changes, we conclude there is a need for an in-depth review of the concept of sustainable forest management.