Economic Assessment Research in Agroforestry Products, Environmental, and Renewable Resources Issues

For researchers in the forestry field, a holistic, multi-dimensional perspective undoubtedly represents the most compelling approach for analyzing modern forestry production and development. In forestry-related research, forestry should not be simplistically viewed as merely a process of tree production and processing, but rather as a complex, integrated system that incorporates elements such as climate, soil, water resources, industrial economics, regional governance, and livelihood development into a comprehensive research framework. Such a broad perspective allows researchers to capture the multiple feedback loops and interdependencies that characterize real-world forestry systems. Without this integrative view, critical interactions between natural and social systems can easily be overlooked. Against the backdrop of global climate change, increasing biodiversity loss, and rapid socio-economic transformation, the boundaries between forest ecosystems and human social systems have become increasingly blurred, making it essential to explore their interactive relationships from an integrated perspective. Based on nine representative studies, this review systematically synthesizes research findings on modern forestry across various dimensions—including economic forest cultivation, industrial structure, digital empowerment, timber processing, ecological efficiency, carbon sequestration benefits, green technologies, community governance, and livelihood protection—providing a comprehensive understanding of the interaction mechanisms between forest ecosystems and socio-economic systems. Each of these dimensions offers a unique lens through which the complexity of modern forestry can be better understood, and together they form a coherent analytical framework.

This Special Issue covers nine related studies, focusing on revealing the impact of soil and climate conditions on economic forests, the evolution of regional forestry industrial structures, the empowering role of the digital economy on non-wood forestry, the driving effect of foreign investment on timber industry exports, the distorting effect of carbon emissions on forestry ecological efficiency, the trade-off relationship between forest carbon sink projects and biodiversity, the differentiated impacts of green technologies on forest carbon storage, the enhancing role of community knowledge transfer in comprehensive forest management, and the profound effects of natural forest conservation on the livelihoods of forest residents. Together, these topics span natural, economic, technological, and social domains, reflecting the full complexity of contemporary forestry challenges. The study areas encompass Portugal, multiple provinces in China, and economies at varying development levels, with research perspectives extending from natural ecology to industrial economics, digital technologies, and social governance, comprehensively illustrating the common patterns and regional disparities in modern forestry development across the global context. These studies cover both typical forest ecosystems in the Mediterranean region and rapidly developing forestry industries in emerging economies, forming a multi-scale and multi-scenario research system that provides a solid foundation for promoting global forestry sustainability. It is precisely this diversity in geographic and disciplinary coverage that makes the collection particularly valuable for a broad audience of forestry researchers and policymakers, as it enables cross-regional learning and comparative analysis.

Mata et al. [1] analyzed the effects of soil and climatic factors and forest stand density on cork yield, thickness, price, and revenue in the Alentejo region of Portugal. As a typical economic forest with high ecological and economic value, cork oak forests play a vital role in regional economic development and ecological protection. In this context, understanding how environmental and management factors interact to determine cork production outcomes is of both scientific and practical importance. The study found that increased forest density enhances yield but reduces cork thickness; soil pH and the content of clay and silt particles in the C layer significantly influence yield and quality; both precipitation and rising temperatures promote cork growth, providing valuable insights for addressing climate change and promoting sustainable forestry development. This research clarifies the quantitative relationship between environmental factors and economic benefits, offering practical guidance for the scientific management and precise regulation of economic forests. Such quantitative insights are especially relevant as climate conditions continue to shift across Mediterranean ecosystems, where cork oak woodlands hold both cultural and economic significance.

Zeng et al. [2] took China’s Jiangsu Province as the study subject to analyze the evolution patterns of the three sectors of forestry. Jiangsu, as a region with scarce forest resources but a strong forestry industry, has become a typical model for high-quality development of modern forestry. This apparent contradiction between resource endowment and industrial output makes Jiangsu a particularly instructive case for other regions facing similar resource constraints. The results demonstrated that consumption upgrading and industrial transformation drove the enhancement of ecological product value, with flower cultivation, economic forest products, wood processing, furniture manufacturing, forest tourism, and ecological services successively becoming dominant sectors. Mo et al. [3] based on provincial panel data from China, found that the digital economy provides a new pathway for the coordinated development of the non-wood forestry economy and ecological conservation—specifically, it effectively promotes the balanced growth of the non-wood forestry economy and the ecological environment while generating positive spatial spillovers in neighboring regions, though the effects were weaker in central and northeastern China. This spatial heterogeneity suggests that regional characteristics significantly moderate the impact of digitalization on forestry outcomes, implying that one-size-fits-all policies may be ineffective. Human capital and digital infrastructure can amplify empowerment effects; therefore, advancing green technological innovation and industrial transformation, implementing differentiated development strategies, and accelerating industry standardization are crucial.

Tao et al. [4] systematically examined the impact of foreign direct investment on the export performance of China’s wood processing industry. As a major producer and exporter of wood-based panels in the world, China’s wood processing industry is deeply integrated into the global supply chain. This deep integration means that fluctuations in international capital flows can have pronounced domestic consequences, affecting everything from employment to regional economic growth. The study found that FDI alleviates export constraints by improving the efficiency of timber resource utilization; however, in recent years, the withdrawal of foreign capital has led to a decline in the export volume of China’s forest products. This conclusion reveals the important role of international capital flows in the development of the forest products trade and provides a reference for formulating targeted investment attraction policies to stabilize the global supply chain of forest products. Such policy implications are increasingly relevant in an era of shifting global trade patterns and investment realignments, where maintaining stable supply chains has become a strategic priority for many nations.

In research on forest carbon sinks, some scholars have employed the DEA model and the ML index to assess the impact of carbon emissions on provincial forestry efficiency and total factor productivity in China. The results indicate that ignoring carbon emissions leads to an average overestimation of forestry efficiency by 7.7% and total factor productivity by 1.6%, suggesting that increases in forestry productivity primarily stem from efficiency improvements rather than technological innovations [5]. This finding challenges conventional assumptions about the drivers of productivity growth in forestry systems, where technological progress is often presumed to be the dominant factor. Additionally, another study based on county-level data from Sichuan Province used a multi-period difference-in-differences model and found that the implementation of carbon sink projects reduces the value of biodiversity ecosystem services, particularly in regions under significant agricultural and livestock pressure, with negative spatial spillover effects [6]. Such unintended ecological consequences highlight the need for careful project design and landscape-level planning that fully accounts for potential trade-offs. Linh et al. [7] employed moment quantile regression analysis, demonstrating that bioenergy enhances forest carbon stocks across all quantile levels, whereas green agricultural technologies negatively impact carbon stocks due to their promotion of farmland expansion. These studies reveal the complex trade-offs and synergies between forest carbon sequestration, ecological protection, and economic development. Recognizing these trade-offs is a necessary first step toward designing interventions that balance multiple environmental and development objectives, and each study contributes a critical piece to this larger puzzle.

Community knowledge transfer has emerged as a pivotal pathway for enhancing comprehensive forest management. It significantly strengthens integrated forest management capabilities by improving collective action efficiency, reinforcing institutional compliance, and optimizing conflict resolution mechanisms, with a greater impact on local residents than on migrant populations. This differential effect underscores the importance of tailoring knowledge transfer approaches to specific community subgroups, as a uniform strategy may fail to reach those most in need of capacity building. This approach holds substantial practical value for integrating traditional ecological knowledge with modern management practices [8]. Yu et al. [9], utilizing six-year tracking data from state-owned forest areas in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia, found that the livelihood capital of families involved in natural forest management generally showed an upward trend, though regional disparities were pronounced; deep integration into conservation systems exerted a negative effect on livelihood capital, while excessive involvement restricted income diversification. Optimizing participation mechanisms and balancing ecological protection with livelihood improvement constitute essential prerequisites for achieving sustainable forestry development. These insights from China’s state-owned forest regions offer lessons that may be applicable to other contexts where forest conservation and local livelihoods intersect, such as in parts of Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America facing similar governance challenges.

We extend our sincere gratitude to all authors for their contributions to these pivotal research topics. The aforementioned studies elucidate the operational mechanisms and practical challenges of modern forestry systems across ecological, industrial, technological, carbon sink, and livelihood dimensions, clearly demonstrating the multifaceted impacts of natural processes and human activities on forest ecosystem functions. By integrating natural ecological laws with socio-economic development rules, these studies enrich the theoretical system of modern forestry research and provide actionable solutions for real-world management. These findings provide robust scientific support for the high-quality and sustainable development of global forestry, and also offer important references for balancing ecological protection, industrial upgrading, and livelihood improvement in forestry development worldwide. Taken together, the collection demonstrates that a holistic, multi-dimensional perspective is not merely a theoretical ideal but a practical necessity for addressing the complex challenges facing forests and forest-dependent communities around the world. It is our hope that this synthesis will inspire further integrated research and inform evidence-based policy making in the years ahead.