Silviculture is a practice which comes from the millenary interdependence between forest and man. The knowledge accumulated over the millennia has been consolidated in the silviculture as a scientific discipline, developed around the need of integration between the protection of ecosystem functionalities and forest practices, to fulfil the wide ranging demands of society.

The multiple functions provided by forest environments are essential for the well-being of society: some of them can be guaranteed by untreated forests, but many others require silvicultural intervention.

Woodlands are a landscape component with highly peculiar features: both from the emotional and the material point of view, they not only influence the well-being of the communities of the territory but also go beyond the idea of "land ownership": to some extent the forest is always for the "common good".

The management of the forest, no matter if private, public or collective, is the way in which communities can try to ensure the protection of this common good. The silvicultural available options also include “passive management”, as in the case of the integral natural reserves. Management is the way to protect forests in an appropriate manner, even when cutting trees for timber and firewood is a practice of interest to the community as well as having benefits from non-wood forest products or recreational use.