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Forests are among the planet’s most important human life-supporting ecosystems. A variety of forest management concepts, such as sustainable forest management, ecosystem-based management, close-to-nature-forestry or multifunctional forestry have been developed to accommodate distinct social demands in different contexts.
Such forest management approaches are embedded in complex policy contexts, that build on a large variety of policies and initiatives. Governing and managing forests for multiple ecosystem services has for a long time been an important paradigm.
Furthermore, several factors that influence both forest policies and management originate from other sectors, such as agriculture, environment, energy, and rural development. At the same time, major global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss, rising demands for products and services due to global population and economic growth, and urbanisation affect the way how forests are and can be governed and managed.