Adaptation measures for sustainable forest operations

Global and regional changes in climate can alter forest ecosystems, disturbance processes, and local work environments, affecting forest operations from tree planting to restoration to timber harvesting. Migration of tree species to higher altitude caused by climate change might expand production forest land areas, but require advanced harvesting techniques for environmentally sound steep ground operations. Widespread damage from extreme weather events, insects and wildfires can increase the occurrence and amount of salvage harvest, but value recovery from damage trees and worker safety could become potential issues. Increased seasonal restrictions on forest operations due to change in local climate require higher operational efficiency in order to maintain the previous production level in a shorter amount of time without compromising worker safety and environment. In areas with increased erosion and landslides, forest operations must be undertaken with more care particularly in regions where more intense rainfall events are anticipated. While the aforementioned shifts can present challenges for many forest practitioners around the world, well-planned adaptation efforts are opportunities in sustainable forest management. In this presentation, we introduce an emerging concept of sustainable forest operations, and suggest adaptation measures for conducting forest operations under the changing climatic environments, hoping that such measures improve the adaptive capacity of forestry sectors while minimizing potential negative consequences.