Authors: Ibisch, Pierre;

The loss of functioning forest ecosystems is intimately linked to the current biodiversity crisis and increases the vulnerability of the global ecosystem in the anthropogenic climate crisis. The concept of social-ecological forest management is based on a systems ecology approach. In the face of Earth crises, the goal of best preserving ecosystem functioning includes maintaining or restoring their dynamic capacity to resilently adapt and evolve. Social-ecological systems result from their complex and intertwined interactions and interdependencies. Social-ecological forest management is ecosystem-based and human-centered. This means that, in addition to a paradigm of ecosystem functioning that can be scientifically described and justified, appropriate ethical considerations and orientations must be taken to provide an expedient framework for management. In the face of existing challenges and lines of conflict, social-ecological forest governance must contribute to the creation of frameworks through social instruments and discourses that ensure the maintenance and promotion of forest ecosystems as well as of a contemporary forest justice, in the sense of the fair and equitable use of all ecosystem services needed for human well-being. The growing importance of regulating ecosystem services means that forest management must emancipate itself from the primacy of timber harvesting.