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Small-scale Forestry is an international peer-reviewed journal focused on pure and applied research into small-scale forestry.

ISSN: 1873-7617 print
ISSN: 1873-7854 electronic

28/09/2026

🌿 PUBLISHED: From Community Forestry to Buffer Zone Community Forestry: A Systematic Review of Governance Shifts, Socio-ecological Outcomes and Policy Challenges in Nepal

How effective is Nepal’s transition from Community Forestry (CF) to Buffer Zone Community Forestry (BZCF) in balancing biodiversity conservation and local livelihoods?

Our latest review by Joshi et al. (2026) synthesises evidence from 80 studies published between 2000 and 2026, following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, to examine how Buffer Zone Community Forests (BZCFs) have influenced forest conditions, local livelihoods, and community institutions under Nepal’s federal governance system.

Their findings reveal a mixed and highly context-specific picture. BZCFs have contributed to improved canopy cover, reduced forest fragmentation, and better forest health in some areas, while these ecological improvements have not necessarily translated into greater biodiversity. Conservation-related activities, particularly tourism, have generated additional income for some communities, but benefits remain uneven, and restrictions on forest-product use continue to affect forest-dependent households.

The review also highlights important institutional challenges. The transition to BZCFs has reduced community autonomy in many contexts, with greater decision-making authority shifting towards protected-area authorities. Overlapping budgets, ambiguous responsibilities, and conflicting benefit-sharing arrangements have further increased transaction costs and weakened local legitimacy.

The study calls for greater policy coherence across federal, provincial and local levels, transparent and equitable benefit-sharing, and meaningful community participation in co-management to better reconcile conservation and development objectives.

📖 Read the full Open Access article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09664-3

24/09/2026

🌳 PUBLISHED: Determination of Certain Ecosystem Service Values of Forests: The Case of the Murat River Basin in Türkiye🌲

Forests provide essential ecosystem services that underpin human well-being and sustainable development. Our latest study by Pehli̇van and Özden (2026) examines the economic value of carbon storage, oxygen production, and water production provided by forests in the Murat River Basin, Türkiye, using forest management inventory data and hydrological records from 2017–2021.

💰 In 2017, the estimated economic values were approximately:

• Carbon storage: USD 95 million
• Oxygen production: USD 319 million
• Water production: USD 1 billion

The study also reveals substantial changes in these estimates over the study period, particularly for oxygen and water production, partly reflecting fluctuations in exchange rates.
Importantly, the authors emphasize that the monetary estimates for oxygen and water production should be interpreted cautiously because of methodological and data limitations. In particular, the oxygen-production estimate is intended as an illustrative indicator rather than a market-equivalent economic value.

Overall, the study highlights the substantial ecological contributions of forests and provides a multi-year, basin-scale perspective on the economic significance of selected ecosystem services. The findings also contribute to ongoing discussions on integrating ecosystem-based approaches and the IPBES Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) framework into forest management and policy in Türkiye.

📖 Read the full article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09660-7

11/09/2026

🚁🌲 PUBLISHED: Standardizing UAS Economic Assessments in Forestry: A Cost-Accounting Framework for UAS Operations

Our latest study by Scudder (2026) tackles a major blind spot in UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) in forestry: only 8% of peer-reviewed studies provide rigorous cost-effectiveness assessments.

The paper introduces a standardized economic framework that accounts for equipment, labour, travel, planning, time value of money, technological obsolescence, and annual utilization—all expressed as cost per hectare.

📊 Based on nine UAS projects, the study identifies four key drivers of cost-efficiency:

🔹 Equipment costs
🔹 Survey scale
🔹 Operational complexity
🔹 Annual utilization

The message is clear: bigger surveys can dramatically reduce unit costs, while underused equipment can become an expensive burden.

A valuable framework for moving UAS forestry from “what drones can do” to “what drones are worth.”

📖 Read the full article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09655-4

08/09/2026

🔥🌲 PUBLISHED: Wildfire Impacts on Forest Soils: A Bibliometric-Guided Mechanistic Synthesis of Hydrological, Biogeochemical, and Microbial Responses

Wildfires are more than above-ground disturbances—they can fundamentally transform forest soils, influencing water infiltration, erosion, carbon dynamics, nutrient cycling, microbial communities, and ecosystem recovery.

Our latest review by Kothari and Mahecha (2026) analyses 1,938 Scopus-indexed publications (1977–2025) to trace the evolution of wildfire–soil research and identify emerging research priorities. The findings reveal a clear shift from early concerns about erosion and nutrient loss toward growing interest in pyrogenic carbon, microbial ecology, hydrological processes, and ecosystem resilience.

🌱 The study highlights how interacting physical, chemical, and biological processes determine post-fire soil recovery—and emphasizes the need for integrated, cross-disciplinary approaches to understand soil responses under changing wildfire regimes and climate conditions.

📚 Read the full article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09661-6

07/09/2026

🔥 PUBLISHED: Critical Thresholds and Vulnerability Indices for Post-fire Forest Management in Semi-arid Mediterranean Ecosystems: Evidence from the Chlef Forests of Northwestern Algeria

A new study by Kaci and Boukabcha (2026), from northwestern Algeria provides important insights into how climate change and increasing fire–drought interactions may undermine the recovery of Mediterranean forests.

Using data from 52 fire events (2015–2024), researchers developed a quantitative framework to assess post-fire forest resilience in Chlef wilaya.

Key findings include:

🌲 Strong field validation: Satellite-derived regeneration metrics showed strong agreement with ground measurements (r = 0.89).

💧 A critical water-stress threshold: Regeneration systematically fails when the Post-Fire Water Stress Index exceeds 6.48 ± 0.31.
⏳ Long recovery times: Mean post-fire recovery was estimated at 31.3 years, with 21% of sites requiring longer than historical fire-return intervals.

🌡️ A concerning climate outlook: Under the SSP2-4.5 scenario for 2041–2060, approximately 94% of the study area is projected to exceed the critical water-stress threshold—suggesting widespread regeneration failure without targeted management intervention.

The study demonstrates how remote sensing, climate data, statistical modelling, and field validation can be combined to provide practical decision-support tools for prioritizing post-fire restoration and climate adaptation in data-limited Mediterranean ecosystems.

📖 Read the full article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09659-0

03/09/2026

We are pleased to share the September issue of Small-scale Forestry — our third issue of 2026.

Volume 25, No. 3 features 18 articles, including one review article and four open-access (OA) articles.

📖 Access the articles (read-only) here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ibRRr2E4Q0n1d0jOUTsLsdOBeCHgrpj4/view?usp=share_link

We hope you enjoy exploring the latest research and insights featured in this issue.

Happy reading! 📚

31/08/2026

🌲 PUBLISHED: Does Forest Rights Mortgage Credit Involve Elite Capture? An Empirical Analysis in Collective Forest Areas of Liaoning, China

Can forest rights mortgage credit (FRMC) really help overcome financial exclusion among rural farmers—or does it risk reinforcing existing inequalities?

A new study by Guo et al. (2026) examines elite capture in China’s forest rights mortgage credit system, drawing on survey data from 460 farmers in Liaoning Province. Using alternative econometric models, the study investigates whether elite capture contributes to the unequal distribution of forestry credit and how this affects farmers’ production decisions.

🔎 Key findings:
• Elite farmers are more likely to obtain FRMC, revealing a structural imbalance in access to forestry credit.
• Credit captured by economic elites increases their production inputs.
• For political elites, FRMC increases hired labour but reduces material expenditures.
• The findings highlight how unequal access to forestry finance can shape production behaviour and reinforce existing advantages.

💡 Why does this matter?
Forest finance can play an important role in supporting rural livelihoods and sustainable forestry. However, without appropriate safeguards, credit programmes may disproportionately benefit already influential groups. The study offers important policy insights for reducing elite capture and making forestry finance more equitable and inclusive.

📖 Read the full article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09658-1

20/08/2026

🎉🌳 The September Issue of Small-scale Forestry is now out! 🌳🎉

This issue (Volume 25, No. 3) features 18 articles, including one review article and four open-access (OA) articles.

📖 Explore the issue online here:
https://link.springer.com/journal/11842/volumes-and-issues/25-3

20/08/2026

🌳PUBLISHED: Effects of Converting Chinese Fir Plantations to Oak Plantations on Soil Bacterial Communities 🌿

Long-term monoculture of Chinese fir can contribute to soil degradation and declining forest productivity. A new study by Huang et al. (2026) from China explores whether alternative oak plantations can help reshape belowground soil microbial communities.

🔬 Comparing a 20-year-old Chinese fir plantation with four 5-year-old oak plantations, the study found that:

🌱 Oak conversion increased soil available phosphorus and potassium and altered bacterial community composition and structure.
🦠 Acidobacteria remained the dominant bacterial group across forest stands.
📈 Some oak plantations increased bacterial richness and diversity, while stochastic processes played an important role in bacterial community assembly.
🔗 Oak plantations generally showed positive microbial co-occurrence relationships, with one oak type (QF) exhibiting the most complex and stable bacterial network.
♻️ Potential microbial functions also differed among forest types, including changes related to fermentation, iron reduction, nitrogen fixation, carbon cycling, and organic pollutant degradation.

Forest conversion is not simply about replacing one tree species with another—it can substantially reshape the soil microbial ecosystem. Selecting alternative tree species based on local site conditions and forest management objectives may be critical for maintaining soil health and long-term forest productivity.

📖 Read the full articled here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09657-2

14/08/2026

🌳🔊 PUBLISHED: Contribution of Urban Street Trees to Traffic-Induced Noise Attenuation: Evidence from Chattogram Metropolitan City, Bangladesh

Rapid urbanization and growing traffic are making noise pollution an increasingly serious environmental challenge in cities. A new study by Emon et al. (2026) from Chattogram metropolitan city, Bangladesh, highlights the important role that urban street trees can play in creating quieter and more livable urban environments.

The study found that vegetated street sides reduced traffic noise by up to 4.64 dBA at the street edge and 10.19 dBA at a 30 m setback compared with non-vegetated areas. Importantly, dense and double-line tree plantings provided the greatest noise attenuation, with vegetation contributing up to 10.38% additional reduction in source noise.

🌿 The findings provide valuable evidence for urban planners and policymakers to consider site-specific street characteristics, traffic conditions, vegetation density and planting patterns, and local climatic factors when designing urban green infrastructure.

📖 Read the full article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09656-3

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