Integrative Forest Management Guidelines

Introduction

Natural disturbance-based forest management means managing forests in ways that recognize and integrate natural processes such as wind, insect outbreaks, fire and natural regeneration into management decisions. Rather than attempting to eliminate all disturbances, this approach uses knowledge of natural disturbance regimes to maintain forest resilience, structural diversity and ecological functions. Natural disturbances can promote regeneration, increase landscape heterogeneity and support the development of more diverse forest structures. Therefore, forest management that reflects natural disturbance dynamics contributes to sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. Effective implementation requires considering natural disturbance patterns at both stand and landscape scales, retaining structural complexity and adapting management to local disturbance regimes rather than applying uniform management approaches across the landscape.