Wood volume is overestimated in the Brazilian Amazon: Why not use generic volume prediction methods in tropical forest management?

The Amazon has a range of species with high potential for sustainable timber harvesting, but for them to be utilized globally, the merchantable wood volume must be accurately quantified. However, since the 1950s, inadequate methods for estimating merchantable timber volumes have been employed in the Amazon, and Brazilian Government agencies still require some of them. The natural variability of the Amazon Forest provides an abundance of species of different sizes and shapes, conferring several peculiarities, which makes it necessary to use up-to-date and precise methods for timber quantification in Amazon Forest management. Given the employment of insufficient estimation methods for wood volume, this study scrutinizes the disparities between the actual harvested merchantable wood volume and the volume estimated by the forest inventory during the harvesting phase across five distinct public forest areas operating under sustainable forest management concessions. We used mixed-effect models to evaluate the relationships between inventory and harvested volume for genera and forest regions. We performed an equivalence test to assess the similarity between the volumes obtained during the pre-and post-harvest phases. We calculated root mean square error and percentage bias for merchantable volume as accuracy metrics. There was a strong tendency for the 100% forest inventory to overestimate merchantable wood volume, regardless of genus and managed area. There was a significant discrepancy between the volumes inventoried and harvested in different regions intended for sustainable forest management, in which only 22% of the groups evaluated were equivalent. The methods currently practiced by forest companies for determining pre-harvest merchantable volume are inaccurate enough to support sustainable forest management in the Amazon. They may even facilitate the region's illegal timber extraction and organized crime.

Leakage of biodiversity risks under the European Union Biodiversity Strategy 2030.

The European Union Biodiversity Strategy 2030 (EUBDS) aims to regain biodiversity through enhanced forest conservation and protection, which may lead to increased timber harvest in non-EU countries. We aimed to identify the potential leakage of biodiversity risks as induced by the EUBDS. We created an indicator framework that allows one to quantify vulnerability of forest biodiversity. The framework is based on 26 biodiversity indicators for which indicator values were publicly available. We weighted single indicator values with countrywise modeled data on changed timber production under EUBDS implementation. Nearly 80% of the indicators pointed to higher vulnerability in the affected non-EU countries. Roundwood production was transferred to countries with, on average, lower governance quality (p = 0.0001), political awareness (p = 0.548), forest coverage (p = 0.034), and biomass (p = 0.272) and with less sustainable forest management (p = 0.044 and p = 0.028). These countries had more natural habitats (p = 0.039) and intact forest landscapes (p = 0.0001) but higher risk of species extinction (p = 0.006) and less protected area (p = 0.0001) than the EU countries. Only a few indicators pointed to lower vulnerability and biodiversity risks outside the EU. Safeguards are needed to ensure that implementation of EUBDS does not cause harm to ecosystems elsewhere. The EU regulation on deforestation-free supply chains might have limited effects because the sustainable management of existing and even expanding forests is not well considered. Sustained roundwood production in the EU is needed to avoid placing more pressure on more vulnerable ecosystems elsewhere. Decreasing species and habitat indicator values nevertheless call for global conservation and protection schemes. The EUBDS helped pave the way to the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework. Yet, lower values for the indicators mean governance and biodiversity engagement in non-EU countries suggest that this global framework might not sufficiently prevent leakage of risks to biodiversity. Effective land-use planning is necessary to balance conservation schemes with roundwood production.

Evaluación de la fuga de riesgos para la biodiversidad bajo la Estrategia de la Unión Europea sobre Biodiversidad 2030 Resumen La Estrategia de la Unión Europea sobre Biodiversidad 2030 (EEUSBD) busca recuperar la biodiversidad por medio de mejoras en la conservación y protección forestal, lo que podría derivar en un incremento en la producción maderera en los países que no pertenecen a la UE. Buscamos identificar la posible fuga de riesgos para la biodiversidad inducida por la EEUSBD. Creamos un marco indicador que permita cuantificar la vulnerabilidad de la biodiversidad forestal. El marco se basa en 26 indicadores de biodiversidad cuyos valores están disponibles al público. Ponderamos los valores de los indicadores individuales con datos modelados por países sobre los cambios en la producción maderera tras la aplicación de la EEUSBD. Casi el 80% de los indicadores señalaron un aumento de la vulnerabilidad en los países afectados que no pertenecen a la UE. La extracción forestal se transfirió a países que en promedio tienen menor calidad de gobierno (p = 0.0001), conciencia política (p = 0.548), cobertura forestal (p = 0.034) y biomasa (p = 0.272) y con un manejo forestal menos sustentable (p = 0.044 y p = 0.028). Estos países tienen más hábitats naturales (p = 0.039) y paisajes forestales intactos (p = 0.0001) pero un riesgo más elevado de extinción de especies (p = 0.006) y un área menos protegida (p = 0.0001) que los países de la UE. Sólo unos cuantos indicadores señalaron una reducción en la vulnerabilidad y los riesgos para la biodiversidad fuera de la UE. Se requieren salvaguardas para asegurar que la implementación de la EEUSBD no dañe los ecosistemas en otras partes. La regulación de la UE sobre las cadenas de producción libres de deforestación podría tener efectos limitados pues no se considera correctamente el manejo sustentable del bosque existente o en expansión. También se requiere una extracción forestal sostenida en la UE para evitar una mayor presión sobre otros ecosistemas vulnerables en otras localidades. Sin embargo, la reducción en los valores de los indicadores de especies y hábitat exige esquemas mundiales de conservación y protección. La EEUSBD ayudó a trazar el camino para el Marco Mundial de Biodiversidad de Kunming-Montreal, sin embargo, los valores más bajos de los indicadores de gobernanza y compromiso con la biodiversidad en países no pertenecientes a la UE sugieren que este marco global podría no prevenir efectivamente las fugas de riesgos para la biodiversidad. Es necesario planear eficientemente el uso de suelo para balancear los esquemas de conservación con la extracción forestal.

监测区域保护的治理和管理有效性早已被视为实现国家和全球生物多样性目标和实现适应性管理的重要基础。然而, 保护行动者(包括受治理和管理系统影响的人们)在实施保护活动和计划, 以及收集和利用治理和管理数据为跨时空尺度的决策提供信息的过程中, 仍面临重重阻碍。本文探讨了当前和过去为评估治理和管理有效性所做的努力、行动者在使用产出数据时面临的阻碍, 以及为保护决策提供信息的洞见。为了帮助克服这些阻碍, 我们开发了Elinor这一免费开源监测工具, 该工具以诺贝尔奖获得者Elinor Ostrom的研究成果为基础, 旨在促进不同治理和管理类型区域跨空间尺度的环境治理和管理数据的收集、存储、共享、分析和使用。本文介绍了与保护科学家和实践者共同设计和试用Elinor的过程, 以及其评估和在线数据系统的主要组成部分。我们还考虑了Elinor如何对现有方法进行补充, 包括:在单一评估中高水平地处理不同类型区域保护的治理和管理问题, 为数据收集提供灵活的选择, 以及整合数据系统与评估来支持不同空间尺度的数据使用和共享, 包括对《全球生物多样性框架》的全球监测。虽然挑战持续存在, 但Elinor的开发过程和工具本身为克服系统性收集和使用治理与管理数据中面临的阻碍提供了切实的解决方案。随着Elinor被更广泛地采用, 它将在实现更有效、更包容和更长期的基于区域的保护中发挥宝贵作用。【翻译:胡怡思;审校:聂永刚】.

The role of social capital in forest conservation: An approach to deal with deforestation.

Understanding the position of social capital to coping with deforestation is very important. In this regard, the main goal of this study is to investigate the effect of social capital of rural households on forest conservation behavior (FCB) in Iran. The three specialized goals of this research include (1) the role of social capital of rural people in facilitating forest conservation measures (2) identifying the most effective factors of social capital influencing forest conservation (3) identifying the mechanism of social capital's effect on FCB. In this study, questionnaire survey method and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used. The statistical population included all the rural communities inside and on the edge of Arasbaran forests in the northwest of Iran. The results showed that the components of social capital (social trust, social networks and social engagement) can facilitate forest conservation measures and were able to explain 46.3 % of its variance. In addition, the findings indicated that these components affect protective measures through a specific mechanism, which means that they can affect protective behaviors by influencing the cognition of policies and increasing the awareness of rural communities. In general, the results of this research, in addition to improving the existing knowledge, provide new insights for the policy-makers and ultimately help the sustainable management of the forests in this region.

Linking forest ecosystem processes, functions and services under integrative social-ecological research agenda: current knowledge and perspectives.

The integrity of forest ecosystems is essential to human well-being, but people's activities are causing rapid changes in forest ecosystems and environmental conditions. Forest ecosystem processes, functions and services are dissimilar concepts in biology and ecology, but they are not naturally disconnected and cannot be disconnected from people's interactions in the concepts of interdisciplinary environmental sciences. This review aims to explore how people's socioeconomic conditions and activities impact forest ecosystem processes, functions and services, and ultimately, human well-being. While there has been an increase in studies on linking forest ecosystem processes and functions in the last two decades, few have explicitly considered their links to people's activities and forest ecosystem services. The current literature on the impacts of people's activities on forest ecosystem conditions (i.e., forest area and species richness) has mostly focused on deforestation and environmental degradation. To better understand the social-ecological consequences on forest ecosystem conditions, it is essential to examine the direct and indirect impacts of people's socioeconomic conditions and activities on forest ecosystem processes, functions, services and stability which should be based on more informative social-ecological indicators. In doing so, I outline the current research knowledge, challenges, limitations and future research directions with conceptual models for linking forest ecosystem processes, functions and services with people's activities and socioeconomic conditions under integrative social-ecological research agenda. This updated social-ecological knowledge would aim to better guide policymakers and forest managers on how to manage and restore forest ecosystems sustainably to meet the needs of current and future generations.

From tree-related microhabitats to ecosystem management: A tree-scale investigation in productive forests in Estonia.

A diversity of microhabitats has been suggested to play a key role in mediating the co-occurrence of trees with specific tree-inhabiting biodiversity, which may further influence ecosystem functioning. However, this triple relationship between tree characteristics, tree-related microhabitats (TreMs), and biodiversity has not been described explicitly enough to set quantitative targets of ecosystem management. The two major approaches directly targeting TreMs in ecosystem management are tree-scale field assessment of TreMs and precautionary management, which both require insights into the predictability and magnitude of specific biodiversity-TreM relationships. To obtain such insights, we analysed tree-scale relationships between the diversity of TreM development processes (four classes: peculiarity; pathology; injury; emergent epiphyte cover) and selected biodiversity variables based on 241 live trees (age range 20-188 years) of two species (Picea abies, Populus tremula) in hemiboreal forests in Estonia. We addressed the diversity and abundance of epiphytes, arthropods, and gastropods; their specific response to TreMs was disentangled from tree age and tree size effects. We found that a relatively small improvement in the biodiversity responses studied was attributable solely to TreMs, and that such contribution was more frequently observed in young trees. Unexpectedly, several age- or size-independent effects of TreMs were negative, suggesting trade-offs with other factors of biodiversity relevance (such as tree foliage suppression due to injuries that created TreMs). We conclude that tree-scale microhabitat inventories have only limited potential to resolve the general problem of providing diverse habitats for biodiversity in managed forests. The basic sources of uncertainty are that microhabitat management is mostly indirect (managing TreM-bearing trees and stands rather than TreMs themselves) and that snapshot surveys cannot address various time perspectives. We outline a set of basic principles and constraints for spatially heterogeneous and precautionary forest management that includes TreM diversity considerations. These principles can be further elaborated through multi-scale research on functional biodiversity links of TreMs.

Too much, too soon? Two Swedish case studies of short-term deadwood recruitment in riparian buffers.

Forested riparian buffers are retained along streams during forest harvest to maintain a number of ecological functions. In this paper, we examine how recently established riparian buffers along northern Swedish streams provide deadwood, a key objective for riparian buffer management in Sweden. We used observational and experimental data to show that the investigated buffers provided large volumes of deadwood to streams and riparian zones shortly after their establishment, likely jeopardizing continued recruitment over the long term. Deadwood volume decreased with increasing buffer width, and the narrowest buffers tended to blow down completely. Wider buffers (~ 15 m) provided similar volumes of deadwood as narrow buffers due to blowdowns but were, overall, more resistant to wind-felling. It is clear from our study, that wider buffers are currently a safer strategy for riparian management that aims to sustain provision of deadwood and other ecological objectives continuously on the long term.

Impact of plot size on tropical forest structure and diversity estimation / Impacto del tamaño de la parcela en la estructura y estimación de la diversidad de los bosques tropicales

Abstract Introduction: Inventories are essential for forest management, but, in the Amazon region, the absence of standardization produces information loss, low accuracy, and inconsistent measurements. This prevents valid comparisons and compromises the use of information in networks and software. Sampling unit size is of key importance in the inventory of native forests, particularly regarding accuracy and costs. Objective: To identify a plot size that provides adequate precision for dendrometric parameters in the Amazon. Methods: In Cotriguaçu, Mato Grosso, Brazil, we tested four plot sizes with six repetitions each: 2 500, 5 000, 7 500, and 10 000 m². We measured diameter at breast height, population density, basal area, and biomass. We applied Shannon and Jaccard indexes; Weibull 2P and Gamma functions to fit the diametric distribution; and the Akaike Information Criterion for the best model. Results: There was a directly proportional relationship between plot area and population similarity, but diversity did not indicate significant alterations. Plot size did not affect dendrometric attributes and diametric distribution. Larger plot areas led to lower coefficients of variation and smaller confidence intervals. The Gamma function was the best model to represent the distributions of different plot sizes. Conclusions: For similar forests, we recommend the 2 500 m² plot to evaluate diameter at breast height, population density, basal area, and biomass.

Resumen Introducción: Los inventarios son fundamentales para la gestión forestal, pero en la Amazonía la ausencia de estandarización produce pérdida de información, baja precisión y mediciones inconsistentes. Esto impide comparaciones válidas y compromete el uso de información en redes y programas. El tamaño de la unidad de muestreo es de importancia clave en el inventario de bosques nativos, particularmente en lo que respecta a la precisión y los costos. Objetivo: Identificar un tamaño de parcela que proporcione una precisión adecuada para los parámetros dendrométricos en la Amazonía. Métodos: En Cotriguaçu, Mato Grosso, Brasil, probamos cuatro tamaños de parcela con seis repeticiones cada una: 2 500, 5 000, 7 500 y 10 000 m². Medimos diámetro a la altura del pecho, densidad de población, área basal y biomasa. Se aplicaron los índices de Shannon y Jaccard; Funciones Weibull 2P y Gamma para adaptarse a la distribución diametral; y el Criterio de Información de Akaike para el mejor modelo. Resultados: Hubo una relación directamente proporcional entre el área de parcela y la similitud poblacional, pero la diversidad no indicó alteraciones significativas. El tamaño de la parcela no afectó los atributos dendrológicos y la distribución diametral. Las áreas de parcela más grandes dieron lugar a coeficientes de variación más bajos e intervalos de confianza más pequeños. La función Gamma fue el mejor modelo para representar las distribuciones de diferentes tamaños de parcela. Conclusiones: Para bosques similares, recomendamos la parcela de 2 500 m² para evaluar diámetro a la altura del pecho, densidad de población, área basal y biomasa.

Delivering forestry courses online: experiences, lessons learned, and future of forestry online education in the Asia Pacific.

Innovation in forestry education is needed to address changing contexts of the positionality of forests. This is particularly significant in the Asia-Pacific region, where deforestation and degradation are high. However, the accessibility of high-quality forestry education to address changing regional and global contexts is lacking. A series of innovative sustainable forest management (SFM) open education resource (OER) courses were developed and implemented to improve the accessibility of SFM education to enhance teaching quality, curriculum, and research capacity of universities in the Asia-Pacific Region. To evaluate the SFM-OER program in terms of student experiences, this study investigated student achievement, perceived success of the pedagogical approach and instructional design, and perceived effectiveness of the learning activities in promoting active and transformative learning through the assessment of a 1,191-course feedback survey between 2018 and 2020, including the global pandemic. This study revealed that the program attracted diverse student demographics, including a higher proportion of female students majoring in forestry, ecology, and other environmental studies. Their primary motivation to participate in the courses was to gain international experience, followed by the flexibility of online learning, mandatory course requirements, and earning course credits. Students were satisfied with the Canvas learning management system. Most students spent less than 5 to 10 h of their weekly time in the course and agreed or strongly agreed that the workloads were manageable. Students reflected positively on various learning activities and assignments, such as watching lecture videos, taking quizzes, reading and summarizing, having discussions, and peer review writing. However, they did not clearly prefer specific learning activities, signifying the importance of using diverse learning activities to satisfy diverse individual learning styles in online settings. This analysis contributes to the further development of student-centered pedagogical development for online learning and provides insight into the ways forward for online higher forestry education, while repurposing existing OER courses in a post-Covid-19 era.

How do terrestrial wildlife communities respond to small-scale Acacia plantations embedded in harvested tropical forest?

To offset the declining timber supply by shifting towards more sustainable forestry practices, industrial tree plantations are expanding in tropical production forests. The conversion of natural forests to tree plantation is generally associated with loss of biodiversity and shifts towards more generalist and disturbance tolerant communities, but effects of mixed-landuse landscapes integrating natural and plantation forests remain little understood. Using camera traps, we surveyed the medium-to-large bodied terrestrial wildlife community across two mixed-landuse forest management areas in Sarawak, Malaysia Borneo which include areas dedicated to logging of natural forests and adjacent planted Acacia forests. We analyzed data from a 25-wildlife species community using a Bayesian community occupancy model to assess species richness and species-specific occurrence responses to Acacia plantations at a broad scale, and to remote-sensed local habitat conditions within the different forest landuse types. All species were estimated to occur in both landuse types, but species-level percent area occupied and predicted average local species richness were slightly higher in the natural forest management areas compared to licensed planted forest management areas. Similarly, occupancy-based species diversity profiles and defaunation indices for both a full community and only threatened and endemic species suggested the diversity and occurrence were slightly higher in the natural forest management areas. At the local scale, forest quality was the most prominent predictor of species occurrence. These associations with forest quality varied among species but were predominantly positive. Our results highlight the ability of a mixed-landuse landscape with small-scale Acacia plantations embedded in natural forests to retain terrestrial wildlife communities while providing an alternate source of timber. Nonetheless, there was a tendency towards reduced biodiversity in planted forests, which would likely be more pronounced in plantations that are larger or embedded in a less natural matrix.

The Shifting Cultivation Juggernaut: An Attribution Problem.

Shifting cultivation entails clearing a delimited land and transforming it into arable land. Owing to its complexity, this system has been a subject of debate and intervention since the colonial-era, and is often considered as the "tropical deforestation culprit." Shifting cultivators are often labeled as "forest eaters" and are considered backward and primitive. Opponents of shifting cultivation often attribute the loss of forest cover to shifting cultivation, and favor intensification, claiming that commercial plantations are more productive. However, attempts to replace it have often failed due to inadequate understanding of the system and the decision-making processes involved. On the other hand, a growing body of literature provides evidence that shifting cultivation is an ecologically and economically efficient practice. After a careful review of the literature, the authors conclude that the dichotomy of opinions is the consequence of the attribution problem. The authors also argue that the management of forest ecosystems will be challenging if policy and practice are not based on careful understanding of the power of this age-old practice. Hence, there is a need for a careful diagnosis of this system and a rethink before claiming that the system is unsustainable and attempting to replace it with practices such as plantations.

Effect of coppice conversion into high forest on soil organic C and nutrients stock in a Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) forest in Italy.

In forest ecosystems, a variety of abiotic and biotic soil forming factors drives soil organic matter (SOM) and nutrients cycling with a profitable outcome on climate change mitigation. As a consequence, type and intensity of forest management, through its impact on carbon (C) and nutrient soil stocks, can be considered as an additional soil forming force. In this study, we investigated the influence of the coppice conversion into high forest on pedogenesis and on soil C and nutrient (N, P, Ca, Mg, and K) stocks, fifty years later the beginning of the conversion-cycle. The trial was established in a Turkey oak forest historically managed under the coppice system in central Italy. Specifically, we considered tree population density (natural evolution - control, moderate thinning, heavy thinning) where soil samples were collected according to genetic horizon to estimate C, N, and P stocks both in the forest floor and at fixed depth intervals (0-30, 30-50 and 50-75 cm). Further, the stocks of exchangeable Ca, Mg, and K were also assessed for the mineral layers. The results showed that litter and the upper layer of mineral soil (0-30 cm) contained a similar quantity of C (about 74-83 Mg ha-1), independently of the trials and no differences were observed also in the whole soil stocks (about 192-213 Mg ha-1). The comparison of the mean stocks calculated per 1-cm of thickness of organic (O), organo-mineral (OM), and mineral (M) layers, although it did not display any difference among trials (excepted for P and Mg), showed a similar capability of the organo-mineral horizons to store C and nutrients compared with the organic ones (e.g., about 6-12 Mg ha-1, 0.3-0.5 Mg ha-1 and 0.5-1.5 kg ha-1 for C, N and P, respectively). Our findings showed that thinning operated on Turkey oak coppice did not affect soil capacity to store C and nutrients. These results suggested that the forest ecosystem itself is the main soil forming force and this is consistent with the target of adopting forest management able to control the global C cycle through the storage of SOM in the mineral soil rather than in forest floor, where SOM turnover is faster.

Aesthetic preferences for deadwood in forest landscape: A case study in Italy.

In the last decades, the structural and functional role of standing dead trees and lying deadwood in forests has been widely recognized by scientific community and forest managers. However, a large amount of deadwood in forests can have negative impacts on recreational forests by reducing the aesthetic value and site attractiveness. The aims of the present study are to investigate whether deadwood in forests is truly perceived negatively by people and whether socio-demographic characteristics influence the respondents' perception. To achieve these aims, the study was implemented by submitting an online questionnaire to a sample of 1292 Italian citizens. The results show that 73.4% of respondents have previous knowledge of the concept of deadwood in forests, while 26.6% have never heard this concept. For most of the respondents, standing dead trees and lying deadwood have a negative aesthetic effect on the landscape (52.2% and 42.9%), while for only 7.5% and 23.0% of respondents standing dead trees and lying deadwood have a positive effect on forest landscape. The results show that for all six forest stands proposed (Old European beech coppice, Mediterranean maquis, Norway spruce high forest, simple sweet Chestnut coppice, European beech high forest, black pine high forest) the respondents prefer the situation without deadwood. Finally, the results show that deadwood - both standing dead trees and lying deadwood - in forests is on average more appreciated by male (rather than female), young people (rather than old people), and people with a low level of education (rather than people with a high level of education).

Moving towards the ecological intensification of tree plantations.

The growing demand for timber and the boom in massive tree-planting programs could mean the spreading of mismanaged tree plantations worldwide. Here, we apply the concept of ecological intensification to forestry systems as a viable biodiversity-focused strategy that could be critical to develop productive, yet sustainable, tree plantations. Tree plantations can be highly productive if tree species are properly combined to complement their ecological functions. Simultaneously considering soil biodiversity and animal-mediated biocontrol will be critical to minimize the reliance on external inputs. Integrating genetic, functional, and demographic diversity across heterogeneous landscapes should improve resilience under climate change. Designing ecologically intensified plantations will mean breaking the timber productivity versus conservation dichotomy and assuring the maintenance of key ecosystem services at safe levels.

Conservation perspectives of small-scale private forest owners in Europe: A systematic review.

Private forest owners are the main forest ownership group within Europe, and important conservation values have been found on their land. Yet, small plot sizes, societal heterogeneity, and structural changes impede developing and implementing effective conservation programs in private forests. We present a systematic literature review focusing on small-scale private forest owners and their perspectives on nature conservation by synthesizing research approaches, social-ecological drivers, and policy recommendations. Conservation perspectives were positively related to female gender, higher levels of education, formalized forest management, an active relation to the forest, and ecological values of the property. In contrast, high age, rural orientation, economic forest management factors, large parcel size, and economic and sentimental property values negatively influenced conservation perspectives. Applying a natural resource conflict management framework, we synthesized recommendations covering three dimensions: substance, procedure, relationship. Considering perspectives of small-scale private forest owners in current forestry decision-making has great potential to strengthen sustainable forest management that integrates nature conservation and resource use.

The forest environmental frontier in Russia: Between sustainable forest management discourses and 'wood mining' practice.

With 20% of the world's forests, Russia has global potential in bioeconomy development, biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. However, unsustainable forest management based on 'wood mining' reduces this potential. Based on document analysis, participant observations and interviews, this article shows how non-state actors-environmental NGOs and forest companies-address forest resource depletion and primary forest loss in Russia. We analyse two key interrelated forest discourses driven by non-state actors in Russia: (1) intensive forest management in secondary forests as a pathway towards sustained yield and primary forest conservation; (2) intact forest landscapes as a priority in primary forest conservation. We illustrate how these discourses have been integrated into policy debates, institutions and practices and discuss their relation to relevant global discourses. The article concludes that despite successful cases in conserving intact forest landscapes, there is still a frontier between sustainable forest management discourses and forestry practice in Russia.

Sustainable Community Forest Management in Mexico: An Integrated Model of Three Socio-ecological Frameworks.

The sustainability of management practices in forest ecosystems should provide ecosystem services and maintain the livelihoods that largely depend on the benefits directly derived from forests; but this goal requires various theoretical and analytical approaches. This research aims to develop a conceptual model for sustainable forest management based on the integration of three conceptual frameworks founded on the society-ecosystem interaction: socio-ecological systems, sustainable forest management, and ecosystem services. The results offer a methodological, analytical, organizational, and operational route to integrate a scientific model at the material, causal, and dynamic levels, considering theoretical and empirical information; it uses grounded theory methodology to select the interactions between variables and socio-ecological dynamics of forest ecosystems under community management. For example, it integrates social components (local knowledge, governance, and social organization) and ecological components (diversity and composition of plant species, carbon pools, and nutrient dynamics) to understand their interactions through management practices and the magnitude of the ecosystem services provided according to the local contexts. We illustrate this process by analyzing the influence of governance, decision-making, resource use, and management practices on forest management and ecosystem services; this exemplifies the factors, interactions, and effects on socio-ecological systems based on experience in forest communities. These integrated frameworks provide steps through which our understanding of specific socio-ecological approaches produces better outcomes for sustainable forest management, preserves ecosystems services and benefits livelihoods in Mexican temperate forests.

What does FSC forest certification contribute to biodiversity conservation in relation to national legislation?

Forest certification has emerged as a voluntary, market-driven tool for sustainable forest management (SFM). Its legitimacy depends on its ability to achieve its objectives and to retain the support of stakeholders such as NGOs and the companies that adopt it. This study presents a novel approach for assessing the contributions of forest certification to biodiversity conservation, based on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification in four northern European countries (Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia). In each case, national FSC certification requirements related to specific biodiversity targets were compared with requirements in national legislation. Nearly 80% of the assessed certification requirements were more prescriptive than the national legislation. One-third of these requirements (3-8 per country) were assessed to have a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation, whereas four requirements (up to 2 per country) were assessed to have a low positive contribution. FSC requirements to protect Woodland Key Habitats were identified as having a positive contribution in all four countries, whereas requirements regarding live tree retention in harvests and preserving dead wood had a positive contribution in three countries each. Despite often prescribing similar measures, the other requirements with positive contributions varied between countries depending on the national legislative baseline. The remaining requirements could not be assessed through expert evaluation, indicating the need for additional empirical research to evaluate how the normative requirements translate to impacts in the field, and how the national context may affect their implementation. The approach is globally applicable, repeatable, and provides a basis for designing systematic empirical assessments of the certification impact.

COVID-19 lockdown and the forestry sector: Insight from Gandaki province of Nepal.

Almost all countries have imposed large-scale mobility restrictions (or lockdown) to stop the spreading of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The mobility restriction has disrupted all types of business; causing a devastating impact on countries' economies; and pushing millions of people into extreme poverty. Scientists have been assessing the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on various fronts but there is limited scholarship in the forestry sector. We navigated the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the forestry sector by taking Gandaki Province (21,974 km2) of Nepal as a case. Employing semi-structured interviews (n = 62) with all ten stakeholder groups, literature review and media analysis, our study revealed that the COVID-19 lockdown suspended all types of forestry and ecotourism businesses; obstructed research and monitoring activities; halted capacity development and extension services; impacted forest development work; and increased incidences of illegal logging and poaching and trafficking of wildlife. Because of the complete shutdown of businesses, the forestry sector of Gandaki province lost 9.6 million USD and 3.2 million man-days of employment during the lockdown period. The economic cost of the lockdown was 1.73 million USD for NTFPs traders, 1.26 million USD for ecotourism entrepreneurs, 0.55 million USD for the community forest user groups and 0.24 million USD for the smallholder or private forest owner. We suggested four post-COVID recovery pathways, including sustainable forest management, nature-based tourism, improvement of forest products value chain and community-based natural resource management to bounce back from the loss. As the current pandemic is most likely to derail the Sustainable Development Pathways of several countries, including Nepal and necessitates the need for an immediate response, the finding and recommendation of our study may inform decision-makers to reimage post-pandemic recovery and leverage sustainable development.

The Abundance and Structure of Deadwood: A Comparison of Mixed and Thinned Chinese Fir Plantations.

The sustainability of coniferous monoculture plantations is facing challenges with respect to yields, ecology, and biodiversity. Conversion of monocultural coniferous plantations into mixed stands using thinning or direct mixed planting is widely considered to be a key strategy for overcoming these challenges and transforming the characteristics of plantations on a regional scale. Substantial amounts of deadwood may be produced in mixed forests (MFs); this material is important for evaluating and modifying forest management methods, understanding the dynamics of forest stands, and achieving biodiversity conservation. We assessed the quantitative characters and diameter distributions of deadwood in mixed and thinned Chinese fir [Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.] forests over one rotation. We used the g(r) function and spatial parameters to analyze the spatial structure of deadwood, and used logistic regression and Hegyi's competition index (HCI) to explore competition and mortality. Our results indicate that: (1) Chinese fir dominated in all groups of deadwood (snags, broken wood, and fallen wood), and the abundance, volume, and mortality rates of deadwood were much lower in the thinning forest compared to the MF. (2) Later coming populations (LCPs) comprised the majority of the small diameter classes in the thinning forest, but only accounted for a small proportion of the MF. (3) Broken wood in the thinning forest was randomly distributed, while the other types of deadwood were clustered at most spatial scales. In contrast, the spatial patterns in the MF were random at most spatial scales. (4) Total deadwood in both stands was in a status of intermediate and was randomly surrounded by its four nearest neighbors. All types of deadwood were highly mixed in the thinning forest and moderately mixed in the MF. Our case study suggests that thinning and mixing result in different stand development processes and thus influence the type, amount, and structure of deadwood. Thinning significantly reduces competition, which is the main driver of tree mortality. Converting pure Chinese fir plantations into mixed stands by thinning should be taken in future. Understanding tree mortality after conversion is essential to select appropriate silvicultural treatments and achieve ultimately sustainable forest management.

The Impact of Climate Change on Forest Development: A Sustainable Approach to Management Models Applied to Mediterranean-Type Climate Regions.

Forest ecosystems are divided into three major groups: boreal, temperate, and tropical. These can be subdivided according to the particularities of each type due to its relative location (littoral, mountain, etc.), climatic conditions, or even geological substrate. Climate change affects each type of forest ecosystem differently. However, it seems to affect temperate forests in Mediterranean-type climate regions more intensely. These regions are located over several continents, with major impacts of increased temperature during summer and decreased precipitation during winter. This situation affects Mediterranean forest ecosystems by increasing the risk of fires, which arise more frequently and are more severe. In addition, the emergence of pests and the spread of invasive species are well-known problems affecting these ecosystems. All of these conditions contribute to losses of productivity and biodiversity. To avoid the destruction of forest resources, and since Mediterranean-type climate regions are considered climate change hot spots with increased vulnerability to disturbances, the implementation of adaptive forest management models could contribute to increasing the resilience of such forests, which could also contribute to mitigating climate change.