Using a forest productively is not easy. Selective logging is IMHO sustainable, but you need all sorts of equipment for it (and training as otherwise it can be quite dangerous). And if you ask someone to do it for you, then basically there is no profit left. That is why often entire large tracks of forest are felled in one go and then re-planted as this is more or less the only way an forest owner can outsource the work and still make a profit. Of course this is highly damaging to the forest and it basically becomes a tree plantation with little resemblance of a forest afterwards.
this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
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Thank you, a friend of mine told me basically the same so thanks for confirming that's not the way for me!
Mushroom farming if there is a demand in your local markets. There are a lot of guides out there on how to prepare logs and set everything up. Depending how logs are sourced it might not be the most "sustainable" depending on your definition.
ideally it would be ecologically sustainable and beneficial and still turn a small economical profit.
What do you think how large should such a forest be and how many people does this require?
I don't have experience in doing mushroom farming myself, I just had an interested once upon a time when I was thinking what to do with a wooded area on a property I lived on. I would do some research on the topic if I were you, there is lots of videos out there on the process. I imagine it could be done by a single person and some basic equipment though based on what I've seen.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_gardening
Starting to get popular in the Netherlands, where they often have a social and educational function as well. Tho plots are generally very small. See here for some examples (in Dutch, translate works well ): https://www.voedselbosbouw.org/
Are you looking for this to be passive income? Or a full time job? Clear cutting a half or full hectare and doing intensive market gardening can almost always turn a profit. But it's a hard industry requiring lots of knowledge and tons of work/time (think 6 days a week for at least half the year).
You can utilize the rest of the forest as sustainable forestry, using the cut wood for wood chips for the farm, and interplanting critical native wildflowers to boost pollinators.
Plenty of space to do an apiary (bee keeping) for extra income selling the honey.
And on the side you can do mushrooms like the other commentor said. It can be a relatively low amount of work once you've mastered the technique.
And all of this can be a net benefit to the land. Losing a few trees can open up a forest to allow better long term growth, increase top soil over time (via organic no-till gardening) and support native pollinators via human-maintained wild spaces.
A food forest maybe?
What exactly do you mean?
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