Forest Policy and Management Practices for the 21st Century

Dear Colleagues, 

Forests in the 21st century are facing new challenges, but also new opportunities, with growing global demand for wood products and recognition of the role of forests in addressing climate change. Society benefits from forest welfare effects and makes corresponding demands on the conservation and management of the forests. The forest product sector also generates considerable benefits in terms of income and job creation. With the change of people’s lifestyle, urban forests are gaining more importance as a means for supporting human wellbeing.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, forest policy and governance has been trying to cope with the emerging challenges for forestry in numerous activities on a national and international level (Krott, 2008). Important forestry issues are still handled by the state in a policy process, formulating binding programs and implementing them by partly binding means, but at the same time, an increasing number of forest policy instruments no longer fit into this concept, because they go beyond the domain of a single state authority (Krott, 2005). In European countries, forest policies have reformulated forest law and initiated wide-ranging reforms of the state forest services (Nichiforel et al., 2018; Nichiforel et al., 2020). Private forest ownership was re-established throughout countries in transition (Živojinovič et al., 2015). In addition, sustainable forest management certification spread in European countries, and National Forest Programs were initiated. On the international level, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development became the subject of global initiatives which were strongly reflected by the MCPFE and the EU.

1. Forest policy instrument implementation and evaluation;
2. The role of actors in forest policy (forest owners and their associations, policy-makers, public administration, NGOs, ENGOs, EU, UN, media, etc.);
3. International forest policy processes;
4. Urban forestry policy;
5. Urban forestry management for human wellbeing;
6. Innovations in forestry focusing on institutional and social aspects/ institutional or social aspects of innovations in forestry;
7. Novel forest management practices (PES, remote sensing, etc.);
8. Transforming forest management and policy practices in line with circular bioeconomy. 

Hetemäki, L. (2020). The Green Deal and the EU Forest Sector. doi.10.13140/RG.2.2.18617.52321.

Karsenty, A., Blanco, C., Dufour, T. (2003). Forest and climate change. Instruments related to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and their potential for sustainable forest management in Africa. FAO: Rome

Krott, M. (2008). Forest government and forest governance within a Europe in change. The Multifunctional Role of Forests Policies, Methods and Case Studies, 13. EFI Proceedings no. 55.

Krott, M. (2005). Forest policy analysis. Springer Science & Business Media. 323 p., ISBN 978-1-4020-3478-7

Nichiforel, L., Deuffic, P., Thorsen, B. J., Weiss, G., Hujala, T., Keary, K., ...  Górriz-Mifsud, E. (2020). Two decades of forest-related legislation changes in European countries analysed from a property rights perspective. Forest Policy and Economics, 115, 102146. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102146

Nichiforel, L., Keary, K., Deuffic, P., Weiss, G., Thorsen, B. J., Winkel, G., ... Mifsud, E. G. (2018). How private are Europe’s private forests? A comparative property rights analysis. Land Use Policy, 76, 535-552. doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.02.034

Živojinović, I., Weiss, G., Lidestav, G., Feliciano, D., Hujala, T., Dobšinská, Z., Lawrence, A., Nybakk, E., Schraml, U. (2015). Forest land ownership change in Europe. COST Action FP1201 FACESMAP Country Reports, Joint Volume. EFICEEC-EFISEE Research Report. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Vienna, Austria, 693.

Dr. Zuzana Dobsinska
Ms. Ivana Zivojinovic
Guest Editors

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• forest policy
• forest management
• sustainable forest management
• policy instruments
• management practices
• innovations
• forest ecosystem services
• bioeconomy