Climate-Smart Forestry: Problems, Priorities and Prospects

Dear Colleagues,

The world economy requires economic transformation targeted towards decarbonization, in accordance with the goals of global environmental policy for sustainable development. The role of the forest sector in climate change, adaptation and mitigation, as well as new opportunities provided by emerging forest bio-economy, emphasize the integration of domestic policies in global climate policy. Improved forest management can sustain or increase carbon absorption and stock in forests, while the reduction of deforestation and forest degradation decrease greenhouse gas emissions. There is a need for new, more efficient approaches to forest management, governance, and planning. Climate-smart forestry (CSF) methodologies could be a useful approach for combining climate change mitigation actions with adaptation activities and through increasing forest resilience and providing ecosystem services, which respond to the needs of growing populations and improving human wellbeing. This Special Issue plans to provide an overview of the most recent achievements in studies devoted to climate change, its effects on forest ecosystems, and the challenges of carbon balance assessment. It aims to provide selected materials on achievements in the reduction or prevention forest disturbances, which can help to convert the carbon balance of forests from being sources of greenhouse gas emissions to net carbon absorbers. We invite papers based on studies in forest ecology and management, advanced silviculture, tree improvement and breeding, carbon polygons, forest conservation biology, dendrochronology, etc. Interdisciplinary studies are especially appreciated.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

1. Adaptation to climate change in forestry: key challenges and opportunities.
2. Actual issues in the use, restoration, and protection of forests.
3. Methods and approaches to the assessment of greenhouse gas uptake by forests.
4. Forest climate projects: barriers, markets, methodologies, participants.
5. Climate-smart forestry as a way to adapt to and mitigate climate change.
6. Activities in scientific and technical policy, environmental management, climate change, and maintenance of carbon farming.

Prof. Dr. Konstantin V. Krutovsky
Prof. Dr. Natalia V. Yakovenko
Dr. Alexander Gusev
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.