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Topical Collection "Sustainable Forest Management: Past, Present, Future"

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A topical collection in Forests (ISSN 1999-4907).

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Editor

Prof. Dr. Heli Peltola

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Collection Editor

School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Yliopistokatu 7, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland
Interests: wind damage; wind damage risk modelling; interaction between wind and biotic disturbances; risk management; adaptive management under climate change
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Dear Colleagues,

Forests are globally significant carbon sinks and stocks, and provide many provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural ecosystem services, respectively. However, there is a pressure to increase the intensity of management and utilization of forest resources, to satisfy the increasing demand for wood for the growing bioeconomy. At the same time, the multiple needs and targets of forest owners and society as a whole must be sustained. Large uncertainties exist also in the expected climate change and its impacts on forests and forestry in different European regions, from boreal, to temperature and Mediterranean regions, respectively. Many abiotic and biotic risks to forests may also increase in different regions under the changing climate. In addition, the responses of forests to climate change may vary largely depending on the region, forest structure, management and severity of climate change. Intensified management and wood harvesting may increase the risk of some forest disturbances, too. Thus, there is an urgent need to adapt to the climate change, considering the increasing risk to forests and forestry. At the same time, climate change should be mitigated, e.g., by increasing simultaneously the carbon sinks and stocks of forests, and use of wood-based products and energy to substitute for fossil resources, respectively. Different adaptive management and harvesting strategies may also be needed in different regions, and depending on the severity of climate change and associated risks to forests, to ensure sustainable forestry. We encourage both experimental and simulation-based studies, to contribute to this Special Issue in order to promote knowledge on pre-conditions for sustainable forestry under changing operative environment, which is crucial for decision making in forestry.

Prof. Dr. Heli Peltola
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Forest management
Ecosystem services
Forest biomass production
Carbon sequestration
Biodiversity
Disturbances
Risk management
Climate change
Impacts of climate change
Adaptation to climate change
Mitigation of climate change
Sustainable forestry
Resource-efficient forestry
Climate-neutral forestry

Published Papers (4 papers)

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2022

Jump to: 2021, 2018

Open AccessArticle

Vegetation Characteristics Based Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of Temperate Forests of Western Himalaya

and

Forests 2022, 13(6), 848; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13060848 - 29 May 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1821

Abstract

Forests are under stress due to variety of climatic and non-climatic factors. Therefore for suitably managing the forests, vulnerability of the forests needs to be understood. The present paper attempts to estimate the vulnerability of various temperate forests of Western Himalaya due to climate change by analyzing the patterns of different taxonomical indices, based on primary data i.e., vegetation data. The paper presents a novel approach for climate change vulnerability assessment based on field data through a bottom-up approach. The vulnerability of the forests was assessed through the IPCC framework by suitably selecting indicators (taxonomy indices and climatic parameters) for the three dimensions of vulnerability i.e., exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The field data were collected from 17 different temperate forests distributed at the elevation “1600 to 3500 m” in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, India. Abundance and richness for each forest were collected by randomly laying ten quadrats of size 0.1 ha each. The analysis resulted into identifying the most and the least vulnerable temperate forests of the western Himalaya to climate change. The analysis showed that the Neoza Pine; Moist Deodar; Ban Oak and Dry Broadleaved and Coniferous forest were the most vulnerable forests in the Himalayan temperate forests due to climate change. Moreover, the variation in the levels of the vulnerability status of the selected forests was insignificant with elevational range as well as exposure to climate. The proposed method will serve for vulnerability estimation of forests due to climate change based on the actual realization of the species in the field. Full article

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2021

Jump to: 2022, 2018

Open AccessArticle

Availability and Environmental Performance of Wood for a Second-Generation Biorefinery

Cecilia Rachid-Casnati

Fernando Resquin

and

Leonidas Carrasco-Letelier

Forests 2021, 12(11), 1609; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12111609 - 22 Nov 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1361

Abstract

The current global climate change, the 2030 Agenda, and the planetary boundaries have driven new development strategies, such as the circular economy, bioeconomy, and biorefineries. In this framework, this study analyzes the potential availability and sustainability of the wood supply chain for a small-scale biorefinery aiming at producing 280–300 L of bioethanol per ton of dry biomass, consuming 30,000 t of dry biomass per year harvested in a 50 km radius. This wood production goal was assessed from Eucalyptus grandis stands planted for solid wood in northeastern Uruguay. Moreover, to understand the environmental performance of this biomass supply chain, the energy return on investment (EROI), carbon footprint (CF), and potential soil erosion were also assessed. The results showed that the potential wood production would supply an average of 81,800 t of dry mass per year, maintaining the soil erosion below the upper threshold recommended, an EROI of 2.3, and annual CF of 1.22 kg CO

_{2 - e q}

^{- 3}

(2.6 g CO

_{2 - e q}

^{- 1}

). Combined with the environmental performance of the bioethanol biorefinery facility, these results would show acceptable values of sustainability according to EU Directive 2009/28/ec because the bioethanol CF becomes 1.7% of this petrol’s CF. Full article

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2018

Jump to: 2022, 2021

Open AccessArticle

25 Years of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management: How Intergovernmental C&I Processes Have Made a Difference

and

Forests 2018, 9(9), 578; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9090578 - 18 Sep 2018

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 10725

Abstract

Growing concern about forest degradation and loss, combined with the political impetus supplied by the Earth Summit in 1992, led to the establishment of eleven intergovernmental, regional, and international forest-related processes focused on the use of criteria and indicators (C&I) for sustainable forest management (SFM). Up to 171 countries have participated in these processes to apply C&I frameworks as a tool for data collection, monitoring, assessment, and reporting on SFM and on achieving various forest-related UN Sustainable Development Goals. Based on an expert survey and literature analysis we identify six interlinked impact domains of C&I efforts: (1) enhanced discourse and understanding of SFM; (2) shaped and focused engagement of science in SFM; (3) improved monitoring and reporting on SFM to facilitate transparency and evidence-based decision-making; (4) strengthened forest management practices; (5) facilitated assessment of progress towards SFM goals; and (6) improved forest-related dialog and communication. We conclude that the 25-year history of C&I work in forestry has had significant positive impacts, though challenges do remain for the implementation of C&I and progress towards SFM. The work should be continued and carried over to other sectors to advance sustainability goals more broadly. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

25 Years of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management: Why Some Intergovernmental C&I Processes Flourished While Others Faded

and

Forests 2018, 9(9), 515; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9090515 - 25 Aug 2018

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 9374

Abstract

The use of criteria and indicators (C&I) for data collection, monitoring, assessing and reporting on sustainable forest management (SFM) has been growing since the Earth Summit in 1992, supported by eleven intergovernmental, regional and international forest-related C&I processes. The initial effort led to varying levels of implementation across countries. Several processes never went much beyond the adoption of a first set of C&I while others have made substantial progress. In recent years, interest in C&I for SFM has again increased. In light of the Sustainable Development Goals and emerging global challenges the contribution of C&I to monitor, assess and report on forest conditions and trends is increasingly important. We compare and analyse the structure, activities and progress of the intergovernmental C&I processes. The work is based on document analysis and questionnaires sent to the secretariats of the processes and C&I experts. We found many similarities but also major differences in the structure and content of the C&I sets. The results provide a context for discussing and understanding why some of the C&I processes are successful in their work while others have stalled. Finally, we propose the required ingredients for success for the future activities of the forest-related intergovernmental C&I processes. Full article

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Topical Collection "Sustainable Forest Management: Past, Present, Future"

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Published Papers (4 papers)

2022

Jump to: 2021, 2018

2021

Jump to: 2022, 2018

2018

Jump to: 2022, 2021

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