Forests in Protected Areas: Removing Threats and Improving Preservation

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 1029

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University, Brașov, Romania
Interests: forest certification; standardisation; sustainability; corporate social responsibility; forest management; management of protected area; forest products; quality of forest products; wood quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University, Brașov, Romania
Interests: forest economy; forest policy and regulation; protected areas management; forest certification; forest institutions; ecosystem services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Protected areas, the backbone of biodiversity conservation, have gained global attention and increased interest in the last decades. The focus on biodiversity conservation has slowly widened and now includes more complex topics like socio-ecologic dynamics and human community wellbeing. Forests, an essential part of most of the PAs, are seen as a very important part of the answer to an increasing demand for qualitative and qualitative benefits from PAs due to their recognized capability to provide a wide range of services. In this context, the proper management of forests within PAs is of great importance both because of their contribution to the effectiveness of the PAs and because they can serve as an excellent model for forests outside the boundaries of PAs.

However, even for forests in protected areas, new challenges have arisen in recent times. Altered climatic conditions shift biotic communities over large areas causing biodiversity loss and complex socio-ecologic changes. In these conditions, protected forest management has become more complex, and seeking solutions for optimizing the multifunctionality of these forests has become a priority. Improved management and policy approaches for the better preservation of forests within the PAs are now urgently needed alongside ongoing efforts aimed at stopping deforestation and restoring the vitality of forests, in general. This issue is widely recognized, and the scientific community, forest, and protected area managers, and policymakers are now required to cope with the challenges while providing ecosystem services in an approach that is both sustainable and consistent with the primary biodiversity objectives. It is also necessary to monitor and coordinate these efforts in order for global, national, and local policymaking to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This Special Issue's goal is to investigate novel approaches for sustainable forest management in PAs, emphasizing solutions for improving biodiversity and adjusting to changing climatic circumstances in a harmonized socio-ecological system. Research articles, empirical work, reviews, and case studies that show successful examples from the field are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Aureliu-Florin Hălălișan
Prof. Dr. Bogdan Popa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • forests
  • protected areas
  • management
  • policy
  • communities
  • biodiversity
  • land use
  • sustainability
  • policy

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 7473 KiB  
Article
Guardians of the Forest: The Impact of Indigenous Peoples on Forest Loss in Chile
by Robin Vocht and Eduardo Dias
Forests 2024, 15(7), 1208; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15071208 - 12 Jul 2024
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Abstract
The objective of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of forest cover loss patterns and the protection role of Indigenous peoples in the forests of Araucanía, Chile. Previous research indicated lower rates of forest cover loss in land managed by Indigenous [...] Read more.
The objective of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of forest cover loss patterns and the protection role of Indigenous peoples in the forests of Araucanía, Chile. Previous research indicated lower rates of forest cover loss in land managed by Indigenous peoples; however, this was primarily focused on tropical forests. This paper focuses on the temperate forests in the region of Araucanía and hypothesizes that there will be a similar trend, with lower rates of deforestation in areas owned by Indigenous peoples. A logistic regression model was used which included multiple underlying drivers that have shown to impact deforestation rates. The results of this study corroborated the hypothesis that lands owned by Indigenous peoples have lower rates of deforestation, and that protection status, agricultural function, and railway proximity have a strong influence on forest clearing, while slope, elevation, and proximity to urban areas demonstrated a minimal impact. Full article
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15 pages, 7923 KiB  
Article
Identifying Key Locations of the Ecological-Barrier System to Support Conservation Planning: A Study of the Sanjiangyuan National Park
by Chen Wen, Yue Qiu and Luqi Wang
Forests 2024, 15(7), 1202; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15071202 - 11 Jul 2024
Viewed by 290
Abstract
The establishment of the Sanjiangyuan National Park (SNP) system indicates a higher requirement for refining management practices, especially for protecting the ecological barrier system (EBS) that supports national ecological security and biodiversity. However, it is still understudied how planners can identify the key [...] Read more.
The establishment of the Sanjiangyuan National Park (SNP) system indicates a higher requirement for refining management practices, especially for protecting the ecological barrier system (EBS) that supports national ecological security and biodiversity. However, it is still understudied how planners can identify the key areas for maintaining EBS in addition to functional zoning. This study took the SNP as an example and built a comprehensive analytical framework, including fragmentation analysis, landscape morphology analysis, and connectivity analysis based on graph theory. The study found that the ecological patches of the Lancang River Source sub-park are relatively complete, while those of the Yangtze River Source sub-park and the Yellow River Source sub-park are more fragmented according to different indicators. The study then identified key nodes and edges of sources for maintaining the EBS. These areas are located mostly near core zones of habitat patches. Furthermore, the study analyzed key patches for maintaining landscape connectivity using two indicators DN (degree of nodes) and dIIC (the delta integral index of connectivity), which respectively quantify the number of neighbors of a habitat and its impact on the whole connecting EBS. Last, the study identified areas with dense landscape corridors in the EBS for suggesting key protection areas. Full article
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