Courtesy : Bachelor of Science Forestry (Botany, Zoology, forestry)
Forestry plans
Foresters develop and implement forest management plans relying on mapped resources, inventories showing an area’s topographical features as well as its distribution of trees (by species) and other plant covers. Plans also include landowner objectives, roads, culverts, proximity to human habitation, water features and hydrological conditions, and soils information. Forest management plans typically include recommended silvicultural treatments and a timetable for their implementation. Application of digital maps in Geographic Informations systems (GIS) that extracts and integrates different information about forest terrains, soil type and tree covers, etc. using, e.g. laser scanning enhances forest management plans in modern systems.
Forest management plans include recommendations to achieve the landowner’s objectives and desired future conditions for the property subject to ecological, financial, logistical (e.g. access to resources), and other constraints. On some properties, plans focus on producing quality wood products for processing or sale. Hence, tree species, quantity, and form, all central to the value of harvested products quality and quantity, tend to be important components of silvicultural plans.
Good management plans include consideration of future conditions of the stand after any recommended harvests treatments, including future treatments (particularly in intermediate stand treatments), and plans for natural or artificial regeneration after final harvests.
The objectives of landowners and leaseholders influence plans for harvest and subsequent site treatment. In Britain, plans featuring “good forestry practice” must always consider the needs of other stakeholders such as nearby communities or rural residents living within or adjacent to woodland areas. Foresters consider tree felling and environmental legislation when developing plans. Plans instruct the sustainable harvesting and replacement of trees. They indicate whether road building or other forest engineering operations are required.
Agriculture and forest leaders are also trying to understand how the climate change legislation will affect what they do. The information gathered will provide the data that will determine the role of agriculture and forestry in a new climate change regulatory system.
Forestry as a science
Over the past centuries, forestry was regarded as a separate science. With the rise of ecology and environmental science, there has been a reordering in the applied sciences. In line with this view, forestry is a primary land-use science comparable with agriculture. Under these headings, the fundamentals behind the management of natural forests comes by way of natural ecology. Forests or tree plantations, those whose primary purpose is the extraction of forest products, are planned and managed to utilize a mix of ecological and agroecological principles. In many regions of the world there is considerable conflict between forest practices and other societal priorities such as water quality, watershed preservation, sustainable fishing, conservation, and species preservation. # ISO certification in India
Genetic diversity in forestry
The provenance of forest reproductive material used to plant forests has a great influence on how the trees develop, hence why it is important to use forest reproductive material of good quality and of high genetic diversity. More generally, all forest management practices, including in natural regeneration systems, may impact the genetic diversity of trees.
The termgenetic diversity describes the differences in DNA sequence between individuals as distinct from variation caused by environmental influences. The unique genetic composition of an individual (its genotype) will determine its performance (its phenotype) at a particular site. # ISO certification in India
Genetic diversity is needed to maintain the vitality of forests and to provide resilience to pests and diseases. Genetic diversity also ensures that forest trees can survive, adapt and evolve under changing environmental conditions. Furthermore, genetic diversity is the foundation of biological diversity at species and ecosystem levels. Forest genetic resources are therefore important to consider in forest management. # ISO certification in India
Genetic diversity in forests is threatened by forest fires, pests and diseases, habitat fragmentation, poor silvicultural practices and inappropriate use of forest reproductive material. # ISO certification in India
About 98 million hectares of forest were affected by fire in 2015; this was mainly in the tropical domain, where fire burned about 4 percent of the total forest area in that year. More than two-thirds of the total forest area affected was in Africa and South America. Insects, diseases and severe weather events damaged about 40 million hectares of forests in 2015, mainly in the temperate and boreal domains.
Furthermore, the marginal populations of many tree species are facing new threats due to the effects of climate change.
Most countries in Europe have recommendations or guidelines for selecting species and provenances that can be used in a given site or zone.
