Forest Restoration for Resilient Landscapes and Enhanced Ecosystem Services

Dear Colleagues,

Forests are indispensable to planetary health, underpinning biodiversity, climate stability, and human well-being through their multifunctional roles. Yet, deforestation, degradation, and climate disruptions threaten these ecosystems and the services they provide. This Special Issue, “Forest Restoration for Resilient Landscapes and Enhanced Ecosystem Services”, calls for cutting-edge research and actionable insights to restore degraded forests and amplify their resilience and service delivery in a rapidly changing world.

We seek contributions that bridge ecological science, socioeconomic dynamics, and policy innovation. Submissions may explore diverse restoration strategies—from natural and assisted regeneration to afforestation—while integrating traditional ecological knowledge with emerging technologies. A core focus lies in understanding how restoration bolsters landscape resilience to climate extremes, disturbances, and anthropogenic pressures, thereby safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem stability.

Critical to this discourse is the quantification of ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, water security, soil health, and cultural heritage, alongside analyses of trade-offs and synergies between these services. We emphasize socio-ecological linkages, including community-driven restoration models, governance frameworks, and the economic/cultural co-benefits of revitalized forests. Additionally, advancements in monitoring tools (e.g., remote sensing, AI-driven models) and evaluation metrics are vital to assess restoration success and inform adaptive management.

By fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, this issue aims to catalyze scalable, equitable solutions that align forest restoration with global sustainability agendas. We welcome empirical studies, global case comparisons, methodological innovations, and critical reviews to advance science, policy, and on-ground practice.

Dr. Cong Wang
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.