Local Wild Edible Plants (WEPs) for Biodiversity, Food Systems, and Sustainable Development
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Food".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 45
Special Issue Editor
Interests: food science; wild edible plants; edible weeds; biodiversity; species identification; climate change; sustainable development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
As the Guest Editor, I invite you to submit manuscripts, including research articles, reviews, communications, and concept papers, on a topic relevant to this Sustainability Special Issue.
The theme of this Special Issue, “Local Wild Edible Plants (WEPs) for Biodiversity, Food Systems, and Sustainable Development”, brings sustainable development into the lives of both authors and readers. If ordinary citizens learn to use local WEPs, they can save money and promote wellbeing, a healthy environment, and sustainability. Indeed, the best WEPs are weeds, which are widely distributed. As such, learning to use local weeds gives readers the knowledge to find healthy raw material for delicious meals practically everywhere, except in the tropical vegetation zone. WEPs provide ecosystem services for those who know them and how to use them. Many “harmful” invasive species belong to WEPs. As such, WEPs can offer raw materials for healthy food even during harvest failures, e.g., famine caused by war. By starting to forage and use local WEPs to promote health (and ensure a good life), local biodiversity, food systems, and sustainability will result, allowing ordinary citizens to contribute to sustainability in an effective way. For researchers who intend to write an article for this Special Issue, please contact the Guest Editor as soon as possible, as I may be able to facilitate your work.
Prof. Dr. Mauri Åhlberg
Guest Editor
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.
Keywords
- wild edible plants (WEPs)
- wild edible weeds
- ecosystem services
- species identification
- biodiversity
- food systems
- good environment
- sustainability
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