Sustainable management of forest: A quest for sustainable development

Abstract

Sustainable Management of forest has evolved as one of the key areas in the world which caters to economic development as well as ecological conservation as has been envisaged by the paradigm of sustainable development. It was the Brundtland Commission that brought into focused the need for sustaining development so that the future generations can also attain the same level of well being as enjoyed by the present generation. The pertinent need to bridge ecological conservation and sustain economic development is felt in the forest sector of the world‟s economy through sustainable development, for forests cover about 3,870 million ha, or 30 percent of the earth's land area, according to the Global Forest Resource Assessments.

Many of the world‟s indigenous peoples live in forests and have been their traditional territories. Their way of life and traditional knowledge has developed in tune with the forests on their lands and territories. Unfortunately, forest policies commonly treat forests as empty lands controlled by the State that are available for „development,‟ such as logging, plantations, dams, mines, oil and gas wells and pipelines and agribusiness. These encroachments often force indigenous peoples out of their forest homes and has led to the need to define why and for whom is ecological conservation and development important for.

The paper seeks to study how the policy of sustainable forest management seeks to addressing sustainable development through the diverse interest of protecting the human rights of indigenous people to inhabit their natural dwellings of forest, conserving the ecological concerns and sustaining development.