From Book News, Inc.
On the surface, natural management sounds like one of those oxymorons used in advertising and politics. Garfitt is not concerned with the surface however, but with the understories, the fractal layers of vegetation and wildlife, light and shadow, beneath a continuous forest canopy. There, he says, the warp of the natural ecosystem and the weave of human intervention can both maintain a sustainable environment and produce valuable timber that is financially viable. A practical guide for forest managers or owners of small wood lots who would like to harvest without clearcutting. Some of the chapters are adapted from published articles. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

The publisher, John Wiley & Sons
Drawing on his 45 years of practical forestry expertise, ranging from a tropical rain forest in Malaysia to the woodlands of England's imposing estates, Garfitt provides established techniques and down-to-earth guidance for the conversion of woodlands to a more natural state which offers permanent cover and where woods are never clear-felled. He describes how it is possible in such woods for the conservation of wildlife and landscape to coexist with the production of valuable timber.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

There is now great awareness of trees and the importance of tree-cover. In this book the author, Ted Garfitt, reviews methods of silvicultural practice that maintain forest cover, and so could make clear-felling of trees a thing of the past. His 45 years of practical forestry experience covering a range from tropical rain-forest in Malaysia to the gracious woodlands of England's stately homes, enable him to offer practical solutions towards the conversion of woodlands to a more natural state in which there is permanent cover and where woods are never clear-felled. In such woods the conservation of both wildlife and landscape will go hand-in-hand with the production of valuable timber, which alone can make tree-growing financially viable. Owners and managers of woodland, practical conservationists, land planners, and students of forestry, botany, soil science and town and country planning, will all find useful the ideas and methods presented in this book.

FROM THE CRITICS

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