Global change poses considerable challenges for forests and their communities, both human and ecological, as well as to those managing them. Climatic and environmental change is increasingly altering the frequency and intensity of forest disturbance events, such as pest and disease outbreaks, wildfires, and windstorms. Interactions between human and environmental drivers amplify disturbance, posing challenges for management practices and biodiversity conservation priorities. At the same time, forest dependent communities are also evolving in response to progressive rural to urban migration and the changing socio-economic context. The result is increasing loss of traditional knowledge and this can alter how human communities value and prioritize the different ecosystem services associated with forests (e.g. production versus supporting services).
Assessing how different global phenomena are simultaneously impacting forests and their related communities has become pivotal for a clear understanding of the dynamics of forest socio-ecological systems in space and time. This requires multidisciplinary approaches to study the mutual interactions of forest and human communities. However, currently these techniques are not commonly used, despite being particularly important in encouraging forest practitioners and decision makers to adopt management strategies that can preserve forest resources, biodiversity, and safeguard forest dependent communities.
The goal of this research topic is to foster the development, adoption, and implementation of standardized quantitative parameters, combined with qualitative data, to enable a comprehensive understanding of the ongoing interactions characterizing human-nature forest systems. Although frameworks for assessing socio-ecological interactions exist (e.g. Ostrom's social ecological system framework), applications to detect spatio-temporal variability of drivers of forest change are, to date, limited. The inclusion of multidisciplinary perspectives, including socio-economic analysis, governance frameworks, and community dynamics is of paramount importance for integrating into decision making processes.
This is a research gap that needs to be addressed to effectively achieve the targets of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 15, particularly those related to use and restoration of forest ecosystems.
We welcome interdisciplinary contributions focusing on examining the complex cause-effect relationships and feedback cycles occurring in socio-ecological ecosystems, such as:
- How are changes in ecological processes perceived and understood by different stakeholder groups, such as local and Indigenous communities, and how does this influence policy formulation and sustainable forest management?
- How do traditional ecological knowledge and practice (rules in use) and regulations (formal rules) interact in human-forest coupled systems?
- How can traditional forest ecological knowledge be translated into innovative sustainable business models (e.g. social innovations or retro-innovations)?
- How can forests contribute to sustainable nature-based solutions that can be harnessed to tackle current societal challenges?
- How can traditional ecological knowledge be used to inform citizen science and environmental education projects to revitalize forests?
We are particularly interested in manuscripts dealing with contrasting human-to-nature forest systems changes such as: increasing fire activity versus rural landscape depopulation, biodiversity depletion versus rewilding, traditional ecological knowledge loss versus intensification of management (e.g. timber) or rural tourism from urban areas. Contributions can also cover natural capital accounting and carbon trading offsets, traditional use (harvest, management) of wild forest products and other cultural ecosystem services.
Global change poses considerable challenges for forests and their communities, both human and ecological, as well as to those managing them. Climatic and environmental change is increasingly altering the frequency and intensity of forest disturbance events, such as pest and disease outbreaks, wildfires, and windstorms. Interactions between human and environmental drivers amplify disturbance, posing challenges for management practices and biodiversity conservation priorities. At the same time, forest dependent communities are also evolving in response to progressive rural to urban migration and the changing socio-economic context. The result is increasing loss of traditional knowledge and this can alter how human communities value and prioritize the different ecosystem services associated with forests (e.g. production versus supporting services).
Assessing how different global phenomena are simultaneously impacting forests and their related communities has become pivotal for a clear understanding of the dynamics of forest socio-ecological systems in space and time. This requires multidisciplinary approaches to study the mutual interactions of forest and human communities. However, currently these techniques are not commonly used, despite being particularly important in encouraging forest practitioners and decision makers to adopt management strategies that can preserve forest resources, biodiversity, and safeguard forest dependent communities.
The goal of this research topic is to foster the development, adoption, and implementation of standardized quantitative parameters, combined with qualitative data, to enable a comprehensive understanding of the ongoing interactions characterizing human-nature forest systems. Although frameworks for assessing socio-ecological interactions exist (e.g. Ostrom's social ecological system framework), applications to detect spatio-temporal variability of drivers of forest change are, to date, limited. The inclusion of multidisciplinary perspectives, including socio-economic analysis, governance frameworks, and community dynamics is of paramount importance for integrating into decision making processes.
This is a research gap that needs to be addressed to effectively achieve the targets of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 15, particularly those related to use and restoration of forest ecosystems.
We welcome interdisciplinary contributions focusing on examining the complex cause-effect relationships and feedback cycles occurring in socio-ecological ecosystems, such as:
- How are changes in ecological processes perceived and understood by different stakeholder groups, such as local and Indigenous communities, and how does this influence policy formulation and sustainable forest management?
- How do traditional ecological knowledge and practice (rules in use) and regulations (formal rules) interact in human-forest coupled systems?
- How can traditional forest ecological knowledge be translated into innovative sustainable business models (e.g. social innovations or retro-innovations)?
- How can forests contribute to sustainable nature-based solutions that can be harnessed to tackle current societal challenges?
- How can traditional ecological knowledge be used to inform citizen science and environmental education projects to revitalize forests?
We are particularly interested in manuscripts dealing with contrasting human-to-nature forest systems changes such as: increasing fire activity versus rural landscape depopulation, biodiversity depletion versus rewilding, traditional ecological knowledge loss versus intensification of management (e.g. timber) or rural tourism from urban areas. Contributions can also cover natural capital accounting and carbon trading offsets, traditional use (harvest, management) of wild forest products and other cultural ecosystem services.
