The Role of the Forest Resources in the Socioeconomic Development of the Rural Areas

Abstract The daily reality shows that the anthropic intervention is direct both during the stages of creation of these types of ecological systems through the actual removal or total elimination of the components of the natural ecosystems and by the influence on some physical and chemical systems and especially on the bio-geo-chemical mechanisms starting with the sowing or plantation stages, species amelioration, fertilization, fighting pests etc., without which the ecosystems are practically disconnected from the functional hierarchy called environment. Consequently, the primordial task the research and especially the specialists with expertise in economy and ecology have is the creation of a vision as widely accepted as possible on a sustainable society in the long run, which would be capable not just of offering prosperity in the conditions of significant biophysical constraints of the real world, in a way that would be correct and equitable, for as many as possible, namely for the largest part of the biosphere, starting from the human communities and ending with the most insignificant species, many of them not yet researched. A session on the competitiveness of the forestry sector examined the actual contribution of the wood and other forest products to the European economy and employment, on examples coming from France, Romania and the United Kingdom. The conclusion showed that this competitiveness encourages managerial innovation, stimulates the formation of partnerships and lies at the basis of the common efforts of making the forest economically and ecologically viable and that the consolidation of the capabilities is an essential factor for success. The participants continued by examining the need for efficient supply chains and the local forest-related governance strategies from different areas. This session clearly highlighted the fact that, in order to be able to contribute to the socioeconomic development of the rural areas, the rural companies in charge with wood collection need price policies that have to adapt to the conditions of the local market. Sustainable forest exploitations occupy an important place in the future of the common agricultural policy and someday the support offered to the forest by the European Union in the long run should focus more on the adoption of sustainable production methods able to reconcile the economic, social and environmental interests.