'forest-conserving' is a compound of the noun 'forest' and the present participle 'conserving'. 'Forest' ultimately comes from Old French 'forest' (from Medieval Latin 'forestis'), and 'conserving' derives from Latin 'conservare' ('con-' meaning 'together' or 'with' and 'servare' meaning 'to keep'). Japanese: 「forest-conserving」は名詞 'forest' と現在分詞 'conserving' の複合語である。'forest' は古フランス語 'forest'（中世ラテン語 'forestis'）に由来し、'conserving' はラテン語 'conservare'（'con-' は「ともに／共に」、'servare' は「保つ」）に由来する。

'forest' entered English via Old French 'forest' from Medieval Latin 'forestis'. 'Conserve' and its participle forms entered English from Latin 'conservare' via Old French/Medieval Latin and Middle English, eventually forming compounds with nouns (e.g. 'forest-conserving') in modern usage.

The components originally meant 'a wooded area' ('forest') and 'to keep or preserve' ('conserving'); combined in modern English to mean 'having the purpose or quality of preserving forests'—a compound sense formed by straightforward composition rather than a major semantic shift. Japanese: 構成要素は元来それぞれ「 wooded area（森林）」と「保つ・保存する（保全する）」を意味し、現代英語では合成により「森林を保護・保全する性質」を表す語句になった。