New Roads towards Sustainability: Analytical Approaches for Assessing and Futuring the Effects of Human Activities on Tropical Forests

Dear Colleagues,

Tropical forests are the most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems on Earth and provide a variety of ecosystem services. They have important functions as habitats, as well as for climate control and economic development. However, their integrity is increasingly threatened by human activities, including logging, hunting, mining and expansion of agricultural land. Deforestation and forest degradation are major drivers of biodiversity loss, climate change and deterioration of social-ecological systems.

This Special Issue will collect papers (original research articles and review papers) that focus on the following three main topics: first is the use of state-of-the-art remote sensing and AI technologies to monitor and analyse the effects of human activities on tropical forests. Second is the application of participatory approaches that combine stakeholder engagement and modelling for the development of future sustainable development pathways of tropical forest regions. Third is the possible integration of such approaches in the governance of tropical forests.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

(1) Remote sensing and AI methods for the monitoring of human impacts on tropical forests;
(2) Modeling land-use change, nutrient, carbon and water dynamics of tropical forests;
(3) Scenario analysis and participatory modelling for sustainable future developments;
(4) Governance of tropical forests: management of natural resources and restoration and conservation;
(5) Agricultural development and food security in tropical regions;
(6) Tropical forests and climate change.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Prof. Dr. Ruediger Schaldach
Dr. Regine Schönenberg
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Land 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.

• monitoring and modelling human impacts on tropical forests
• stakeholder engagement
• governance of tropical forests
• sustainable development of tropical regions
• social-ecological systems