Preface
Pathways to the wise management of forests in Europe
``The signatory states and international institu-tions commit themselves to better combine their research efforts at the international level. . .and
to set up a European network for research on forest ecosystems . . . and definition of a few
research subjects particularly for the protection of European forests. . .''
Ministerial Conference Resolution 6, Strasbourg 1990 The modern concept of sustainable forest manage-ment brings to bear a wide range of disciplines on the management of the forest. The goals of management too, have been expanded to re¯ect the broad demands placed upon the forest by modern, af¯uent society. While experience in Europe, in recent decades, has demonstrated the bene®ts of international research co-operation, the limited interaction between northern and southern Europe has served to emphasise differ-ences in perspective and priority between regions. Despite this, the awareness of the commonality of problems, at a fundamental level, has highlighted the potential bene®ts to the European Union as a whole, of a truly pan-European network devoted to co-ordinated research into forest ecosystems.
European Forest Ecosystem Research Network (EFERN), was conceived, following a meeting of experts from 20 European countries, in Warsaw, Poland, in 1995. The following year, a concerted action, under the EU Food and Agriculture Pro-gramme (FAIR), was approved with the objectives of establishing a database of European forest ecosys-tem research, determining forest ecosysecosys-tem research priorities for Europe and advancing new multi-dis-ciplinary and multinational research co-operation. The programme has been directed by a co-ordinating
group, the composition of which is listed below. Special thanks are due to the secretary of the group, Dr. Roland Berger, who also assisted in editing this volume.
An electronic communication system Ð the EFERN database of institutions, projects and scien-tists is now available, operating on the Internet. The development of priorities for research started with a meeting in Vienna, in 1996, where major research themes were delineated. A thematic framework was then established for analysis of these areas. This framework was built on the fundamental concepts of sustainability, productivity, biodiversity, ecosystem stability±resilience, and multifunctionallity.
The contents of this volume has evolved from the ®rst presentation at a meeting in Paris, 1997, through a series of discussions and interactions, using modern electronic communication systems, a ®nal plenary meeting in Sweden in 1998 and a series of meetings of the co-ordinating group. The ®nal paper, in parti-cular, is based on the presentations and results from working groups at a meeting in Sweden 1998. It has developed further after discussions and attempts to identify the appropriate focus of research for the development of sustainable forestry founded on eco-logical and ecosystem principles with an integration of Socio-economic and planning.
Knowledge of the past, which affords an under-standing of how previous land-use has in¯uenced the forests we have today, provides the only ®rm founda-tion for an effective research programme. This special issue begins, therefore, with an exploration of the impact of history and of the development of ideas on forests and forest management. This is followed, in the same paper with a history of forest ecosystem research, which together form the basis of future
Forest Ecology and Management 132 (2000) 3±4
development. The four following papers develop the concepts of ecosystem stability, the scienti®c basis of sustainability, biodiversity and the interaction between society and forest ecosystems. Regional perspectives on research priorities are then presented, but while highlighting diversity in issues, the thrust of EFERN is to emphasise their common scienti®c basis. The need for co-ordinated activities has been stressed. We need not only increased understanding of the forest eco-system and its processes, but we must also integrate this knowledge and its application to forest manage-ment with socio-economic circumstances, whether at pan-European or regional scale of resolution.
The multifunctional nature of the demands placed on forests today further emphasise the need for inter-disciplinary research. Not only are European forest ecosystems multi-faceted, their complex history greatly complicates the understanding of their reaction to change, whether natural or anthropogenic. It is important too, to understand that anthropogenic in¯u-ence encompasses not only external in¯uin¯u-ences, such as climate change, but within the forest, both delib-erate management intervention and the absence of positive management.
The way to a balanced utilisation and management of forest land will require new dimensions. It is no longer suf®cient to focus on planning of forest stands in isolation of the wider environment. We need to
consider both the interaction of the forest with con-tiguous ecosystems, surface waters, for instances, but we must also consider the forest in the landscape. This broader perspective incorporates an element of land-scape planning into the integration of the ecological and socio-economic criteria of forest management.
It is a challenge to bring experts from different disciplines together. It is also a challenge to make effective use of existing ®eld information from the work of previous researchers. The results of long-term studies are particularly valuable. Time is an ecological factor not to be forgotten.
Members of the Co-ordinating Group:
Prof. Dr. Folke Andersson1
Dr. Roland BergerÐsecretary2
Prof. Dr. Edward P. Farrell3
Prof. Dr. Erwin FuÈhrer2
Prof. Dr. Reinhard F. HuÈttl4
Dr. Olivier Laroussinie5
Mr. Fergal Mulloy3
Dr. Helfried Oswald6
Prof. Dr. Pietro Piussi7
Prof. Dr. Giseppe Scarascia-Mugnozza8
Vienna, Larv and Dublin April 2000
Dr. Folke Andersson (Prof.)*,1
Dr. Erwin FuÈhrer (Prof.)2
Dr. Edward P. Farrell (Prof.)3
1Department of Ecology and Environmental Research, Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7072, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
2Institut fuÈr Forstentomologie, Forstpathologie und Forstschutz,
UniversitaÈt fuÈr Bodenkultur, Hasenauerstraûe 38, A-1190 Wien, Austria.
3Forest Ecosystem Research Group, Department of
Environ-mental Resource Management, University College Dublin, Bel-field, Dublin 4, Ireland.
4Lehrstuhl fuÈr Bodenschutz und Rekultivierung, FakultaÈt
Umweltwissenschaften und Verfahrenstechnik, Brandenburgische Technische UniversitaÈt Cottbus, P.O. Box 101344, D-03013 Cottbus, Germany.
5Groupement d'InteÂreÃt Public-EcosysteÁmes Forestiers
(GIP-ECOFOR), 15 Avenue du Maine, F-75015 Paris, France. 6Mediterranean Forest Research Unit, INRA, Av. Vivaldi, F-84
000 Avignon, France.
7Istituto di Selvicoltura, UniversitaÁ di Firenze, Via San
Bonaventura 13, I-50145 Firenze, Italy.
8Department Forest Environment and Resources, UniversitaÂ
della Tuscia, Via De Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy. *Corresponding author.
