More conservation-oriented forest management practices have been implemente
d recently in the Nordic countries. The goal of this ecological forest land
scape management is to reconcile the commercial harvesting of boreal forest
s with biodiversity conservation. Management aims at maintaining viable pop
ulations of the full array of naturally occurring species in an area while
still keeping the timber flow as maximal as possible. Basic ecological tool
s of managing landscape for biodiversity are (1) to mimic natural disturban
ce regimes, (2) to set aside areas in permanent or temporary nature reserve
s, and (3) to enhance dispersal of organisms by creating habitat corridors
and stepping stones. The ecological basis of this management system is not
well founded, and much more empirical and theoretical research is needed to
justify and further develop forest landscape management. It has also prove
d difficult to assess the economic consequences of more conservation-orient
ed forest management because the market economy largely fails to give value
to forest products other than fibre. Considerable methodological developme
nt in the valuation of non-timber goods has occurred in recent years, but t
here is still much controversy over the justification of the valuation proc
edure in principle. It seems that both economic and moral approaches to the
issue of valuation are inseparable from the choices and decisions we have
to make about ecological systems. Perhaps the most fruitful outcome can be
achieved by using moral and economic arguments in parallel.