Yes to that all. Our one acre is mostly in a forest of huge old Sitka spruces, surrounded by other parcels which back into a common wild area. By wild I mean sitka deer, eagles, and Kodiak bears, although the last two are off salmon fishing elsewhere right now.
Mollison did say that it is not a good idea to build a house in a forest, but rather to grow a food forest up around the house. We bought an existing house and are trying to develop the near zones with the least cutting of shrubs and trees possible. In my zone 5, at the back, we only walk occaisionally, and we do talk loudly or sing, in case the bears are back from fishing.

We have not had too many problems with bears (I almost hit one when it ran in front of my car on a mountain road), but sometimes people in this area do have problems. Bears come off the mountains (Sandia, South Mountain and the Manzanitas) when food is scarce. A few days ago a bear was shot by a homeowner. The bear had taken to invading the yard and home and there was no choice. Last year a woman was killed in her home (the bear broke in) in the north central part of the state. I am thankful that we have them anyway. There were Grizzly Bears on Sandia Mountain once, but they were hunted till gone. We have the occasional eagle and plenty of owls, hawks, and falcons. There are plenty of deer (thankfully not in the garden or orchard) and even flocks of wild turkey. The population density in the state (New Mexico) is low and wildlife is still common. There is a lack of upper level predators though. I have only seen 2 wolves since I moved out here 11 years ago. The mountain lion population is also not what it should be. Plenty of coyotes live here. They are so adaptable.

We do have the meadow and orchard between the house and the forest. Wildfires are an issue here too. A house in the forest is nearly impossible to save and the firefighters will just move on to a house they can save. Good reason not to build right in the woods.

Fireraven9
Gutta cavat lapidem (Dripping water hollows out a stone) - Ovid

We do here in the city because we live next to a ravine. Unfortunately, it is covered in ivy, holly, knotweed, black locust, and laurel, invasive plants all, and the house at the outflow is on top of the stream so we get no salmon. But at least there's no lawns and buildings. And I have seen deer, bald eagles, great blue herons, bats, and flickers among the feral cats, english sparrows, and starlings.