Protection forest

Protection forests are forests that mitigate or prevent the impact of a natural hazard, including a rockfall, avalanche, erosion, landslide, debris flow or flooding on people and their assets in mountainous areas. A protection forest generally covers the sloping area between a hazard potential (e.g. an unstable rock cliff or an avalanche release zone) and the endangered or exposed assets. In the Alps, protection forests are increasingly considered equal to engineered mitigation measures against natural hazards. In French, German and Italian, protection forests are called respectively, Forêt de protection, Schutzwald and foreste di protezione.

See also

• List of types of formally designated forests
• Protected forest
• Forest protection

References

• Brang, P., et al. (2001). "Forests as Protection from Natural Hazards". In The Forests Handbook, ed. J. Evans. Blackwell Science Ltd.
• Dorren, L.K.A., et al. (2004). "Integrity, stability and management of protection forests in the European Alps," Forest Ecology and Management 195: 165-176.