How Do Forest Management Cooperatives Impact Ecosystems and People?

The United Nations International Day of Cooperatives takes place on 2 July, with this year’s slogan being ‘Cooperatives Build a Better World’.

As forests continue to become fragmented, managing these ecosystems sustainably becomes more and more challenging, due to many societal and economic factors. In contrast, cooperative working can help to overcome these challenges, bringing together stakeholders and balancing their needs with the sustainable management of material resources. Forest management cooperatives can provide a way of balancing the needs of local societies with the needs of the forest ecosystem, helping fight environmental degradation while generating jobs and sustaining local communities.

It is in this spirit that Frontiers is launching a new article collection to coincide with this UN day. This occasion not only offers an opportunity to acknowledge the importance of forest management cooperatives, but also to consider the ways in which these can improve the lives of local people and communities.

This Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Research Topic aims to address the People and Forests and Forest Management-specific dimensions of this UN day, highlighting the importance of forest management cooperatives and considering how these can help meet the human and environment-focused Sustainable Development Goals. Topics may include, but are by no means limited to:
• Agroforestry and silvicultural forest cooperatives
• Impacts of forest management cooperatives on forest ecosystem health
• Ways forest management cooperatives can improve environmental resilience
• Ways forest management cooperatives can help sustain human communities.

Keywords: forest management cooperatives, forest management, forest cooperatives

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.