Sustainability Assessment of Forest Systems in the Brazilian Amazon

The Amazon is holder of large biodiversity and carbon stocks under pressure of land use conversion. A sustainable development in this region requires land use planning based in sustainable production alternatives, such as forestry. Therefore analyses of forest production systems are of major importance. In this book, the sustainability of plantations and natural managed forests have been analyzed. The ecological and economic sustainability of the forest systems were studied based on the "emergy" concept. The social sustainability study included forest workers labor conditions as well as forest beauty perception of locals. Both, ecological-economic and social sustainability assessment carried out provide information on the effectiveness of the methodologies used as well as technical information for forest planning in the Amazon region.