Sustainable management of planted forests: some comparisons between Central Europe and the United States

Following the introduction of planned forestry and the regular high forest system more than 250 years ago, forests in Central Europe became increasingly shaped by plantation silviculture. Many natural woodlands were replaced by planted forests, and forest plantations are still being established through afforestation of extensive land areas. Nowadays, forests are managed for many different purposes, including wood production, recreation, ecological, cultural, and amenity values, biodiversity, and soil and groundwater protection. This brings new challenges to forest management and silviculture. To reach a sustainable forestry, in the sense of Brundtland (WCED 1987), we are now reshaping European forestry toward a more nature oriented silviculture. Maybe forestry in the United States and elsewhere can benefit from the mistakes made in Europe during the last two centuries and take a shortcut toward sustainable forestry.