Strategic Forest-Based Sector Planning and Management in the Era of Bioeconomy, 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

The global transition to a sustainable bioeconomy has positioned forest ecosystems and the forest-based sector as linchpins of low-carbon development, circular resource use, and rural livelihood resilience. In response to this critical need, the first volume of “Strategic Forest-Based Sector Planning and Management in the Era of Bioeconomy” was published as a collection, uniting interdisciplinary research to address the sector’s role in advancing bioeconomic goals while safeguarding ecological integrity.

In order to proceed the academic influence and practical significance of this topic and consolidate the cutting-edge theories and new achievements of global forestry researchers, environmental policy makers, and forest managers, we established the Special Issue “Strategic Forest-Based Sector Planning and Management in the Era of Bioeconomy, 2nd Edition”.

The inaugural Special Issue, ‘Strategic Forest-Based Sector Planning and Management in the Era of Bioeconomy’ (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/special_issues/8ZZA9W3BDR), established a foundational framework for understanding the forestry strategies in bioeconomic planning and management. These findings explored the innovation processes in the forest-based sector, the interaction between different stakeholders, and the strategies for achieving sustainable development in the bioeconomy era.

Building on these successes, this second edition continues to seek to address unresolved questions, emerging trends, and urgent new challenges that have reshaped the forest–bioeconomy nexus since the first volume. Key research directions for the second volume include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Climate-Smart Forest Bioeconomy Planning: Studies on integrating forest carbon sequestration, bioenergy, and adaptation into national climate commitments (e.g., NDCs); assessing the role of forests in negative emissions technologies (NETs) within bioeconomic frameworks; or modeling the climate impact of alternative forest product pathways (e.g., wood vs. fossil-based materials).
• Equity and Inclusion in Forest Bioeconomy Governance: Research on empowering marginalized stakeholders (e.g., Indigenous communities, smallholder foresters) in bioeconomic decision-making; addressing gender gaps in access to bioeconomy markets; or evaluating the social justice implications of large-scale forest-based bioenergy projects.
• Circularity and Innovation in Forest Value Chains: Contributions on advancing circularity (e.g., upcycling forest residues into high-value bioproducts, designing closed-loop systems for wood waste); leveraging digital technologies (e.g., AI for demand forecasting, IoT for supply chain traceability); or innovating low-impact harvesting techniques for bioeconomic feedstocks.
• Risk Mitigation and Resilience: Analyses of how forest-based bioeconomies can adapt to global shocks (e.g., pandemics, market volatility, extreme weather); assessing trade-offs between bioeconomic growth and forest health (e.g., preventing deforestation from expanded biomass production); or developing resilience metrics for forest-bioeconomy systems.
• Cross-Border and Transdisciplinary Collaboration: Studies on harmonizing international standards for sustainable forest bioeconomy (e.g., certification schemes, carbon accounting) or transdisciplinary approaches that integrate local knowledge (e.g., traditional forest management) with scientific innovation to design context-specific bioeconomic strategies.

We hope that this Special Issue will equip policymakers with tools to design inclusive strategies, managers with scalable models, and researchers with a roadmap for future inquiry, and contribute to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable forest-based bioeconomy—one that harnesses the power of forests to address climate change, support livelihoods, and drive long-term prosperity.

Dr. Nikolay Neykov
Prof. Dr. Mariana Sedliačiková
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• bioeconomy
• sustainable forest management
• strategic forest sector planning
• data envelopment analysis
• forest policy
• technological innovations
• forest biomass value chain
• forest governance
• rural economic development (forest bioeconomy-driven)