The solution requires a coordinated, global effort. At issue is how the biological diversity of forest ecosystems can be maintained or enhanced while providing for human economic values. Deliberate forest management must play a key role in conserving biological diversity. Definition Biological diversity refers to the variety and abundance of species, their genetic composition, and the communities, ecosystems, and landscapes in which they occur. It also refers to ecological structures, functions, and processes at all of these levels.
Biological diversity occurs at spatial scales that range from local through regional to global.
Our view of biological diversity is a snapshot in time, taken from a slow-moving motion picture of the natural processes that modify biological diversity over extended time. Both natural processes and human activities affect biological diversity, and both have eliminated species. Human activities that threaten biological diversity are largely caused by economic development, and by the adoption of simplified production systems that specialize in a single plant or animal species. The challenge for foresters is to balance economic development and biological diversity. Resource managers must help societies fulfill economic values while simultaneously conserving biological diversity to maintain biological and social values over the long term.