Διαδικτυακή Πύλη Συνεργασίας Για Τα Δάση

The maintenance and conservation of forest biodiversity has become a pivotal task of ecologically sustainable forest management. It depends on the appropriate management of forest composition and structure and the clever application of different, complementary instruments with respect to biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Most commonly, segregative approaches such as setting aside old-growth refuges, rare forest types, and biodiversity hotspots as protected areas are the preferred conservation instruments due to the high local impact and effectiveness. However, considering the high proportion of multi-functional forests in Europe, the conservation and restoration of forest biodiversity in managed forests make a crucial contribution to the persistence of viable populations of forest-dwelling species since the large majority of the forest area will continue to be managed for various ecosystem functions and services. Some of these services, like timber production, CO2-sequestration, and recreation, can conflict with forest biodiversity conservation. Therefore, the integration of structural attributes such as old-growth stand relicts, patches of open and light forest, ecotones, disturbance gaps, habitat trees, and standing and downed deadwood into managed forests is essential for an ecological, multi-functional forest management. In this chapter, we review the main approaches and instruments of forest biodiversity conservation, discuss their potential and limitation, and analyse to what extent an integrative approach supports the conservation and restoration of native biota in multi-functional forest landscapes. This chapter presents a unifying conceptual framework for the application of a broad set of conservation instruments in an integrated forest management.