New Challenges towards More Effective Integration of Tropical Forest Restoration and Conservation

Dear Colleagues,

With forest degradation increasing in the tropics, forest restoration is being employed as an effective and recognized management strategy. Reforestation and afforestation are two distinct methods being used. They are often considered for their biophysical aspects and for their environmental benefits (e.g., carbon sequestration, watershed management, biodiversity).

Technical skills are necessary for implementing both forest restoration and afforestation, but they are not enough for the success of restoration programs. Understanding the social and economic aspects is essential if restoration activities are to be effective. Reforestation and afforestation should be meaningful and beneficial to indigenous people and other local communities living in or near these degraded forests or landscapes. Benefits can be increased by local participation in decision making, improved financial return, strengthened land use rights, and better market opportunities.

This Special Issue of Forests aims to identify and better understand the social and economic issues (challenges and benefits) of forest restoration programs in the tropics and their contribution for the success of restoration programs. Submitted manuscripts should not have been published or submitted elsewhere. Through case studies and more global contributions, they should illustrate the importance of considering bottom-up approaches in forest restoration.

Dr. Plinio Sist
Dr. Manuel Boissière
Guest Editors

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.