FORESTS AND NATIONAL SECURITY

Abstract

The article deals with the relationship between forests and national security with the aim of contributing
to raising the awareness of the authorities linked to National Security and Defense in order to increase
their commitment and quality of participation in the objectives of conservation and sustainable use of
forest biodiversity. From the reflection it is concluded that national security is the situation in which the
State has guaranteed its independence, sovereignty and integrity, and the population the fundamental
rights established in the Constitution. It is therefore a complex and multidimensional concept that goes
beyond the reduced vision of threats to territorial integrity and addresses various considerations, including
environmental dimensions. Forests are related to national security from the perspective of human security
(food, water, health, energy, climate and economic) and management (territorial, environmental, disaster
risk reduction and socio-environmental conflicts). Despite significant progress in terms of conservation and
sustainable use of forests, there are still major problems such as the loss of forests as a result of direct
and structural factors, which constitutes a threat to national security. Beyond technical, legal or market
solutions, it is important to explore other options such as biodevelopment proposals that place respect for
all living manifestations (human and non-human) as the axis of human thinking, feeling and acting, that is,
to incorporate biopluralist perspectives that overcome the anthropocentric paradigm that has dominated.