Sustainable Forest Operation (SFO) for bio-economy and environmental protection in a changing climate

The IUFRO Task Force on Climate Change and Forest Health has recently provided an opportunity for forest operations scientists around the globe to examine the concept and approaches of sustainable forest operations (SFO), in the light of new challenges facing forests and forestry in a changing climate. Global changes influence directly and indirectly forest management activities across the globe. Intensified forest management is inevitable due to continuously increasing human population and their demand for wood products. Forest management activities, from reforestation to timber harvesting, need to change in response to new forest policies, work conditions, socio-economic and environmental demands. Other global issues also include illegal logging, ergonomics (human factor), and quality improvement on both forest production and environment. These considerations should be included in the planning, implementation and assessment of forest operations to ensure their sustai - nability. The objectives of this presentation are to: (i) review the evolution of the forest operations concept from the past to the present based on its focus and scale; (ii) describe the new concept of SFO designed to holistically address forest production, ecosystem services, environmental protection and social wellness in order to accommodate new challenges and opportunities in the forest sector; and (iii) provide examples of using quantitative approaches to assess performance of forest operations sustainability.