© 1976 by Institute of Chartered Foresters
Nature Conservation in Relation to a National Forest Policy1
The scope of the contribution to the national economy and welfare that has come to be expected from forests has grown substantially this century. Forest policy declarations in many countries have not kept up with the times in this respect.
A few countries have avoided inflexibility (e.g. Britain and Australia) and have policy statements that are broad enough, or open-ended enough, to allow sufficiently wide interpretations, to accord with society's changes in expectations. In these countries the main problems are how to interpret the declared aims and translate the policy into operational terms.
Forest policy is being interpreted in relation to nature conservation in Britain through consultation between the Forestry Commission and the Nature Conservancy Council. Sites of high conservation importance have been selected on ecological premises and conservation objectives receive precedence when deciding their use.
Future interpretation, with national welfare as its goal, will depend on the development of wider criteria for nature conservation and other non-commercial aspects.