Forest and Human Well-Being
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Forestry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 11
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The relationship between forests and human well-being has deep historical roots. For centuries, forests have been crucial for human survival, providing essential resources such as food, shelter, and materials for tools and fuel.
In the modern era, as industrialization and urbanization accelerated, the significance of forests for human well-being became more complex. The negative impacts of deforestation on the climate, water resources, and biodiversity became apparent, highlighting the importance of forests in maintaining ecological balance, which is fundamental to human health and prosperity. Since the 20th century, scientific research has increasingly focused on quantifying the benefits of forests for human physical and mental health.
This Special Issue aims to comprehensively explore the multifaceted connections between forests and human well-being. It seeks to bridge the gap between different disciplines, including forestry, ecology, public health, psychology, economics, and sociology, to provide a holistic understanding of this relationship.
The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, research on how forests contribute to physical health through providing clean air and water, climate regulation, and medicinal resources. Regarding economics, we are interested in studies on the value of forest-related ecosystem services for human well-being and how sustainable forest management can support local livelihoods; and regarding social factors, the role of forests in fostering community cohesion, cultural identity, and social equity will be explored.
Dr. Geonwoo Kim
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- forest ecosystem services
- nexus of ecosystem and human well-being
- sustainable forest management
- climate change adaptation
- forest policy
- community forestry
- forest biodiversity and human welfare
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