Forest landscape management revisited

Over the last decade, forest management planning has shifted its focus from a production-oriented approach to an ecosystem-based approach. Forest landscape management has thus emerged as a new challenge to forest managers. In this paper we examine the evolutionary process of forest management leading to landscape management and compares and contrasts its concept and principles to its predecessor, the conventional forest re-source management approach. It explains the conceptual framework, provides the principles and the improvements over conventional management planning, and discusses different design approaches towards the landscape management concept. However. the paper points out that the evolutionary process of forest management provides sustainable healthy forest ecosystems. Smarter use of information technology such as geographic information systems and remote sensing. a comprehensive digital spatial database, better understanding of spatial forest ecosystem dynamics across spatial and temporal scales, effective public involvement, better decision-making tools, and development of workable management strategies towards sustainability are prerequisite to make the realization of holistic management approach on the ground happen.