AICE Environmental Management Paper 2 Practice Exam

Sustainable forest management aims to keep forests healthy and productive over the long term by balancing ecological health with timber needs. Selective logging, where only certain trees are removed, preserves most of the forest’s structure, habitat, and soil stability. When this is combined with replanting or natural regeneration, new trees grow back to replace the harvested ones, maintaining forest cover, biodiversity, and carbon storage while still providing timber. This approach minimizes disruption to ecosystems and supports ongoing forest services, which is why it best represents sustainable practice.

Other options fail for similar reasons: removing large swaths of forest in clear-cutting causes soil erosion and habitat loss; polluting a river damages water quality and aquatic life; and clearing forests for urban expansion removes the forest’s ecosystems and long-term benefits.