Forest Landscape Conservation Planning

Dear Colleagues,

Forests have contributed to human wellbeing and to national economies by providing multiple ecosystem services. Spatial and temporal knowledge concerning landscape patterns enables us to identify these dynamics, along with their environmental consequences. Landscape ecology, a more holistic trend in the study of these landscapes, has facilitated their study, analysis, and understanding, which will in turn improve their conservation. It is important to remember that the historical study of this cultural heritage often allows us to understand the reason for the existence of current biodiversity, how it has evolved over the years, and what the future may hold, as well as traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) practices and systems to ensure the sustainable utilization and conservation of ecosystem services. This involves both public and private lands using both traditional and innovative approaches to plan a sustainable forest management and improve forest management practices (i.e., diversity of forest tree species and forest structure, thinning, grazing, etc.), including new bioeconomy value chains for maximizing wood and non-wood forest products and services while improving biodiversity and resilience.

 

The Convention on Biological Diversity identified restoration as key to delivering essential ecosystem services. Landscapes are large, heterogeneous, and multifunctional environments that provide diverse services and values to multiple stakeholders. Landscape restoration therefore refers to restoration of natural processes within burned lands. Such restoration projects are typically complex, covering a mosaic of habitats and species ranges and affecting a wide range of people in many different ways. They may also cross political boundaries and involve a large number of private and public landowners working in often complex partnerships. Consequently, restoration success at such scales is commonly dependent upon a wide range of interacting cultural, social, political, and economic factors, in addition to ecological considerations.

Prof. Dr. Diego Varga
Guest Editor

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