(Silviculture is the tool to meet the forest management objectives of landowners and society (Helms, 1998). The objectives promoting transformation of even-aged plantations to alternative structures are related to the aesthetics of these structures and perceptions that they are unnatural. The process through which an even-aged stand is renewed is particularly
disliked by the public that views clear cutting as an
unethical and environmental disaster (Benson et al.,
1985; Magill, 1992; Salim and Ullsten, 1999). It is
therefore important to note that these demands for
transformation of even-aged forests to alternative
structures have become the result of social/political
factors in addition to ecological. Solutions to this
political challenge should therefore respond to these
political pressures and should not be ecological
reactions.