Continuous cover forestry

Continuous cover forestry (commonly referred to as "CCF") is an approach to the sustainable management of forests whereby forest stands are maintained in a permanently irregular structure, which is created and sustained through the selection and harvesting of individual trees. The term "continuous cover forestry" does not equate exactly to any one particular silvicultural system, but is typified by selection systems. For example coppice with standards and Reiniger's Target diameter harvesting are also continuous cover forestry. Different existing forest stands may require different silvicultural interventions to achieve a continuously productive irregular structure. Crucially, clearcutting and other rotational forest management systems are avoided. The term continuous cover forestry has been widely adopted in British forestry practice following the creation of the Continuous Cover Forestry Group in 1991. It is also a widely used term in Ireland where continuous cover forestry is actively supported by a dedicated woodland improvement programme administered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). Currently the UK Forestry Standard and the guidelines of the silvicultural-systems UK Woodland Assurance Standard call for wider use and application of CCF in British forestry, as there is evidence that continuously productive irregular structured woodlands are more robust and resilient in response to climate change, and forest health threats in addition to a wide range of other social and environmental benefits. However, there remains some lack of understanding of the definition and practice of CCF among forestry professionals in Britain, and Ireland. CCF is an approach to forest management which respects the characteristics and processes inherent to the site, and will normally involve a mixture of tree species and ages. In French, it is referred to as sylviculture irrégulière, continue et proche de la nature (SICPN) (i.e., continuous, irregular and close to nature silviculture), and in German as Dauerwald, or naturgemässe Waldwirtschaft (close to nature forestry).