Forests are landscape-embedded complex systems with fates determined by multitudes of changing and interacting factors that are sectoral and extra-sectoral, biophysical and political, predictable and chaotic. The diversity of forest states (e.g. secondary, degraded, fragmented, invaded and managed) and the fact that none of these states is permanent gives reason for hope; even deforestation need not be permanent. With so many forest values recognized to different degrees by different people, the future of tropical production forests is likely to represent an ever-changing mosaic of a gradient of forested-type landscapes. To assure that this future is as environmentally, socioeconomically and politically sound as possible, researchers need to synthesize and evaluate what is known and then build on that knowledge while they continue learning. There is a critical need for interdisciplinary research at appropriate scales with the best designs possible to capture the impacts of relevant silvicultural treatments on the full range of response variables

Tropical forests are an undervalued asset in meeting the greatest global challenges of our time—averting climate change and promoting development. Despite their importance, tropical forests and their ecosystems are being destroyed at a high and even increasing rate in most forest-rich countries. The good news is that the science, economics, and politics are aligned to support a major international effort over the next five years to reverse tropical deforestation. Why Forests? Why Now? synthesizes the latest evidence on the importance of tropical forests in a way that is accessible to anyone interested in climate change and development and to readers already familiar with the problem of deforestation. It makes the case to decisionmakers in rich countries that rewarding developing countries for protecting their forests is urgent, affordable, and achievable.

Bringing together leading scientists and professionals in tropical forest ecology and management, this book examines in detail the interplay between timber harvesting and wildlife, from invertebrates to large mammal species. Its contributors suggest modifications to existing practices that can ensure a better future for the tropics' valuable--and invaluable--resources.

This open access book addresses the way in which urban and urbanizing regions profoundly impact and are impacted by climate change. The editors and authors show why cities must wage simultaneous battles to curb global climate change trends while adapting and transforming to address local climate impacts. This book addresses how cities develop anticipatory and long-range planning capacities for more resilient futures, earnest collaboration across disciplines, and radical reconfigurations of the power regimes that have institutionalized the disenfranchisement of minority groups. Although planning processes consider visions for the future, the editors highlight a more ambitious long-term positive visioning approach that accounts for unpredictability, system dynamics and equity in decision-making. This volume brings the science of urban transformation together with practices of professionals who govern and manage our social, ecological and technological systems to design processes by which cities may achieve resilient urban futures in the face of climate change.

The global threats to climate, biodiversity and a healthy environment are mainly caused by the excessive use of non-renewable materials. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and Unique Consultancy, elaborated a Global Forest Sector Outlook 2050 to assess the capacity of wood supply to support a sustainable bioeconomy. The report presents a business-as-usual scenario, based on the Global Forest Products Model (GFPM), and a bioeconomy scenario based on the impact of increased consumption of two wood products consolidated in the market: mass timber and manmade cellulose fiber. The publication assesses the market outlook for demand for primary processed wood products, demand and supply of industrial roundwood, wood energy, and forest employment and investments. From a deman-driven perspective, it discusses the actual forest resource base and production needs to supply future demand by factoring in the use of wood residues and enhanced productivity in the forest sector, as well as the influence of megatrends and policy objectives.