page_title: Forestry
section_title: Early modern forestry development
hierarchical_section_title: Forestry / History / Early modern forestry development
caption_attribution_description: Hans Carl von Carlowitz (Hannß Carl von Carlowitz, 1645-1714), german superintendent of mines (head of the Royal Saxon Mining Department), financier and author. With his ideas of "sustained yield forestry" and "sustainable development" he became the „father of German forestry sciences“ / Hans Carl von Carlowitz (Hannß Carl von Carlowitz, 1645-1714), deutscher Kameralist und Oberberghauptmann. Er schrieb mit der Sylvicultura oeconomica, oder haußwirthliche Nachricht und Naturmäßige Anweisung zur wilden Baum-Zucht (1713) das erste geschlossene Werk über Forstwirtschaft und gilt als Schöpfer des forstlichen Nachhaltigkeitsbegriffs
context_page_description: Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, using, conserving, and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. The science of forestry has elements that belong to the biological, physical, social, political and managerial sciences.
  Modern forestry generally embraces a broad range of concerns, in what is known as multiple-use management, including:
  The provision of timber
  Fuel wood
  Wildlife habitat
  Natural water quality management
  Recreation
  Landscape and community protection
  Employment
  Aesthetically appealing landscapes
  Biodiversity management
  Watershed management
  Erosion control
  Preserving forests as "sinks" for atmospheric carbon dioxide
  A practitioner of forestry is known as a forester. Other common terms are: a verderer, or a silviculturalist. Silviculture is narrower than forestry, being concerned only with forest plants, but is often used synonymously with forestry.
  Forest ecosystems have come to be seen as the most important component of the biosphere, and forestry has emerged as a vital applied science, craft, and technology.
context_section_description: Systematic management of forests for a sustainable yield of timber began in Portugal in the 13th century when Afonso III of Portugal planted the Pinhal do Rei near Leiria to prevent coastal erosion and soil degradation, and as a sustainable source for timber used in naval construction. His successor Dom Dinis continued the practice and the forest exists still today.
  Forest management also flourished in the German states in the 14th century, e.g. in Nuremberg, and in 16th-century Japan. Typically, a forest was divided into specific sections and mapped; the harvest of timber was planned with an eye to regeneration. As timber rafting allowed for connecting large continental forests, as in south western Germany, via Main, Neckar, Danube and Rhine with the coastal cities and states, early modern forestry and remote trading were closely connected. Large firs in the black forest were called „Holländer“, as they were traded to the Dutch ship yards. Large timber rafts on the Rhine were 200 to 400m in length, 40m in width and consisted of several thousand logs. The crew consisted of 400 to 500 men, including shelter, bakeries, ovens and livestock stables. Timber rafting infrastructure allowed for large interconnected networks all over continental Europe and is still of importance in Finland.
  Starting with the 16th century, enhanced world maritime trade, a boom in housing construction in Europe, and the success and further Berggeschrey (rushes) of the mining industry increased timber consumption sharply. The notion of 'Nachhaltigkeit', sustainability in forestry, is closely connected to the work of Hans Carl von Carlowitz (1645–1714), a mining administrator in Saxony. His book Sylvicultura oeconomica, oder haußwirthliche Nachricht und Naturmäßige Anweisung zur wilden Baum-Zucht (1713) was the first comprehensive treatise about sustainable yield forestry. In the UK, and, to an extent, in continental Europe, the enclosure movement and the Clearances favored  strictly enclosed private property. The Agrarian reformers, early economic writers and scientists tried to get rid of the traditional commons. At the time, an alleged tragedy of the commons together with fears of a Holznot, an imminent wood shortage played a watershed role in the controversies about cooperative land use patterns.
  The practice of establishing tree plantations in the British Isles was promoted by John Evelyn, though it had already acquired some popularity. Louis XIV's minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert's oak Forest of Tronçais, planted for the future use of the French Navy, matured as expected in the mid-19th century: "Colbert had thought of everything except the steamship," Fernand Braudel observed. In parallel, schools of forestry were established beginning in the late 18th century in Hesse, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Sweden, France and elsewhere in Europe.
caption: Hans Carl von Carlowitz, German miner
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