Proposal Paper containing different definitions of the forest, an analysis of the conflicts between forest and other land uses, with special focus on the economic and environmental impacts of increased use of land for agriculture.
Discussion in this Proposal Paper on the forest and on the different socioeconomic dimensions of forest management is conducted along three main lines. First, is considered the problematic existence of forest areas in relation to other uses of land. This point discusses the conflict of the rationales underpinning the conservation of forest areas and growing urbanization, as well as the progression of farm land (leading to deforestation). Second, is examined the economic and environmental impacts of the growth of forest areas, i.e. the effects of the extension of forests on the economic organization of our societies. Third, is an attempt to give a complex account in political and economic terms of the existence of urban and suburban forest areas, which are factors in country planning as well as in the symbolic constitution of the landscape. Each of these chapters offers proposals and comments on them.
