Changing forest values and ecosystem management

Abstract

There is substantial evidence that we are currently in a period of rapid and significant change in forest values. Some have charged that managing forests in ways that are responsive to diverse and changing forest values is the main challenge faced by public forest managers. To tackle this challenge, we need to address the following questions: (1) What is the nature of forest values? That is, can all forest values be reduced to a single dimension, as assumed in utilitarian‐based traditional forestry and economics, or are these values multidimensional and incommensurate? (2) What specific values are involved? (3) What is the structure of forest values? That is, how are they related to each other in value systems? (4) How and why have forest values changed over time? and (5) What do changing forest values imply for ecosystem management approaches? This article discusses key issues related to these questions.