Links among sustainability, ecology and economics of forestry systems: some reflections

Abstract

Traditionally the study of the ecological and economical aspects of forestry systems has been accomplished from totally different disciplinary perspectives. This type of disciplinary separation is currently in crisis, due mainly to the arising of concepts like multiple use of forests and their sustainable management. Thus, from a perspective of multiple use the ecological and economical aspects related to the forestry systems are closely linked. In other words, to the ecological aspects underlie economical dimensions and vice versa. These interrelations between economics and ecology are specially relevant when the concept of forest systems sustainability is introduced. This paper starts reflecting on the ecological and economical dimensions that in an interlaced way underlie to the concept of sustainability. After that, a methodology for measuring the sustainability is proposed. The methodology is based upon in the aggregation of indicators of different nature that measure the goodness of a forestry system from a sustainability perspective. The application of the proposed methodology to «the Pinar» forest, provides different «rankings» of management alternatives, according to the value given to a control parameter previously defined.