Forest@ (Jan 2006)
Standard procedures in forest management planning: cultural identity aimed at division into compartments
Abstract
Nowadays lots of answers are required concerning forest management planning. For this reason adopting standard procedures in the planning process is becoming a necessity in the forest sector. The aim of this paper is to identify standard procedures aimed at the division of forest into compartments, in the context of forest management plans. First of all we analyse the bases on which different systems of division into compartments are founded. The approach of subdivision from bottom upwards (or by aggregation) is the most suitable within the present context of sustainable management. The study points out both the potential and the requirements of such an approach. In this way we have identified the characteristics which define and guide the process and which should be gathered in a new key concept: the cultural identity. These characteristics are: forest cover, composition, applicable silviculture, assignable function. The cultural identity - which includes physical, cultural and functional variables - offers a working system and a reasoning method that can be repeated and applied to any situation..
