Innovative Management and Multifunctional Utilization of Traditional Coppice Forests

Dear Colleagues,

Coppice is the oldest form of the systematic and sustainable management and utilization of forests, contributing to rural livelihoods, the bioeconomy, environment and cultural heritage. It has declined since the industrial revolution, and many coppices have been abandoned or converted to high forest or other land uses. As acknowledged worldwide, there has recently been a resurgence of interest in coppicing in terms of production, either as fuel wood or manufactured products, as well as for ecological and cultural services. Coppice has been rediscovered because of its adaptive ecology, its stability and multiple benefits, most notably its protection function, contribution to biodiversity and as a source of renewable bioenergy. Coppicing could also be one option to increase the resilience of forests in the context of climate change. Furthermore, traditional coppice management should also be seen in the context of forest-dependent people. It is often combined with special ownership and user rights regimes (e.g., commons), which may be of interest for small forest owner governance (www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-1/10000/10300/10301/).

Unfortunately, coppice is hardly recognized in political documents and is neglected in many national forest policies. Consequently, there is not that much reliable data on coppice, as the system has received little attention lately, and knowledge on coppice is diminishing in both science and practice, leading to a lost opportunity for rural development (Coppice Forests in Europe 2018).

In this context, the Special Issue aims to fill this gap by bringing together international experts and stakeholders in order to exchange knowledge on coppice forestry. Innovative management and utilization concepts or techniques for multifunctional coppice management are among the main topics to tackle in this Special Issue, aiming to include:

• Novel findings in coppice silvicultural management;
• Novel findings in coppice conversion towards high forest;
• Novel harvesting techniques in coppice management;
• Novel and valuable end-uses of coppice wood;
• Novel findings in economics of coppice management.

Dr. Valeriu-Norocel Nicolescu
Dr. Sanja Perić
Guest Editors

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