The Natural Forest Communities as the Basis for Sustainable Forestry

Associated persons Hanns Kirchmeir, Christian Keusch, Martin Kühmeier
Clients Office of the Carinthian Government, Department 10F – Forestry, and the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Watermanagement and Environment
Year 2004

The aim of this project was to support sustainable forestry orientated towards the resolutions of the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe. In particular the Helsinki resolutions H1-H4 and the pan-European criteria and indicators for evaluating sustainable forest cultivation which were agreed in Lisbon (L2) were to be taken into account. Here orientation towards potential natural forest societies was in the forefront. Practitioners, advisers and representatives of the authorities were to be given an understanding of potential natural forest societies and their application in forestry culture concepts. The scientific outcomes of the project were to be structured in such a way as to be directly integratable into forestry practice. The project provided the following outcomes: practice handbook, map of potential forest societies, an expert system for determining potential natural forest societies, internet application forest model