ABSTRACT

The sustainable management of forests is concerned with delivery of benefits for the present generation whilst protecting the environment and resources for future generations to enjoy. Forestry is a complex activity – a renewable resource with a minimum 40-year cycle, an alternative land-use, an agent of landscape change, a provider of wildlife habitats, an environment for recreation, a carbon store and – not least – the source of raw material for timber-based industries that enable provision of the wider benefits of forests. A brief history of forestry on the island of IIreland, placing current forest strategies and policies in context, is followed by sections that discuss issues surrounding forestry and sustainability. These include: economic and social issues; effects on the environment; measures taken to meet these concerns and to sustain the environment; and forestry as part of the wider landscape, including its role in carbon storage in relation to global warming.