Different forest management styles and their effects on biodiversity were central to discussions at the last ForestPaths’ annual meeting. Building off on these conversations, an interview on the topic was given by Carlijn Bos, researcher at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and ForestPaths partner. 

She began by noting that sustainable wood use involves understanding how much wood can be harvested over time without causing permanent ecological harm. This relates to ForestPaths’ objective of examining how forest management choices affect biodiversity and climate change. This is done by using and improving models that represent the dynamics between natural and human factors in forested areas. 

Carlijn works on the IMAGE model, an integrated assessment instrument that simulates interactions between society, the biosphere and the climate system. To estimate the potential cost and quantity of timber, Carlijn combines output of the forestry module of IMAGE with datasets on forestry costs. The potential wood harvest is calculated for all land surfaces globally under different types of forest management. The cost of the extracted timber is estimated by factoring in the costs of site preparation, forest management, harvesting, and transportation. This allows her to create cost supply curves that describe how much of a product can be supplied at a certain cost. These curves can help decide where to source timber from and what forest management style is most effective. 

The ultimate goal with this is to attain a deeper grasp of the impact certain management and harvesting approaches have from both an environmental and an economic standpoint. Project-wise, these efforts are important for their potential to inform the policy pathways ForestPaths is developing to improve forestry sector practices across Europe. 

The video is available in its entirety below. Further reading on why and how modelling is undertaken by ForestPaths researchers is contained on this page.