Forests of Consumption: Postproductivism, Postmaterialism, and the Postindustrial Forest

Abstract

Symptoms of postproductivism are more clearly developed in forestry than in agriculture, but they have attracted less attention. The ‘postindustrial’ forest, in which the emphasis placed on timber production is reduced relative to that placed on environmental services (such as biodiversity and recreation), epitomises the character of postproductive forestry. In many parts of the industrialised world, forests have essentially become places of consumption (of amenity, recreation, and wildlife observation) by a largely urban population, rather than places of production (of timber) for a largely urban population. Changing forestry and forest policy in Britain, mainland Europe, and North America are reviewed in the light of a trend towards postproductivism, and some of the causal factors underlying this trend are explored.