Small-scale Forestry

Small-scale Forestry 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

📢 We are delighted to share that the 2025 CiteScore has officially been updated by Scopus, and Small-scale Forestry has ...
04/06/2026

📢 We are delighted to share that the 2025 CiteScore has officially been updated by Scopus, and Small-scale Forestry has achieved a CiteScore of 4.2, up from 3.5 last year! 🌱📈

With this achievement, the journal is now ranked 39th among 181 Forestry journals, placing it in the 78th percentile.

We sincerely thank all of our authors, reviewers, and editors for their continuous support and valuable contributions. Your dedication has played a vital role in this progress.

We look forward to continuing this growth and further strengthening the impact of Small-scale Forestry in the years ahead.

🌲PUBLISHED: Impact of Forest Intervention Zones on Landowners’ Property Rights, Land Use Evolution and Fire Occurrence i...
29/05/2026

🌲PUBLISHED: Impact of Forest Intervention Zones on Landowners’ Property Rights, Land Use Evolution and Fire Occurrence in Portugal 🔥

Can collective forest management reduce wildfire risks while protecting landowners’ rights? Our latest study by Rimoli et al. (2026) on Portugal’s Forest Intervention Zones (ZIFs) explores this critical question.

Established in 2005, ZIFs were designed to improve forest management, reduce wildfire risks, and encourage smallholders to collaborate under shared forest management plans. By 2022, 267 ZIFs covered more than 1.9 million hectares across Portugal.

The study examined the policy’s impact on:
✅ Land use and wildfire incidence
✅ Forest owners’ property rights
✅ Forest managers’ perceptions of implementation

Key findings reveal that while ZIFs introduced restrictions on forest owners’ property rights, their overall impact on reducing wildfires was limited. Researchers highlight insufficient state financial support and overly broad management plans as major challenges affecting policy effectiveness.

📖 Read the full Open Access article here - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09638-5

🌳 PUBLISHED: Farmers’ Knowledge of Morphological Features, Constraints, and Determinants of Shea Tree Preservation in No...
27/05/2026

🌳 PUBLISHED: Farmers’ Knowledge of Morphological Features, Constraints, and Determinants of Shea Tree Preservation in Northern Ghana 🌱

How do farmers identify and preserve valuable shea trees? Our latest study by Anyomi et al. (2026) exploring shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) production in northern Ghana reveals the deep indigenous knowledge farmers use in selecting shea trees based on fruit traits, fruiting period, leaves, and nuts.

The research also highlights the multiple benefits of shea trees—from shea butter production and food to medicine and fuel—while identifying major challenges such as limited transportation, lack of finance, inadequate processing equipment, and insufficient protective clothing.

Importantly, farmers are actively adopting preservation strategies including nurturing seedlings, pruning, creating fire belts, and preventing indiscriminate tree cutting. The study further shows that factors such as age, education, participation in conservation programs, and community location significantly influence shea tree preservation practices.

These findings underscore the urgent need for greater awareness, support, and sustainable management initiatives to strengthen shea conservation, germplasm selection, and improved variety development for future generations.

📖 The full article can be accessed here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09635-8

🌿 PUBLISHED: Unlocking Access to Social Forestry Through Leadership for Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural Indonesia 🌿Can ...
25/05/2026

🌿 PUBLISHED: Unlocking Access to Social Forestry Through Leadership for Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural Indonesia 🌿

Can formal social forestry rights truly improve community livelihoods? Our latest study by Herdhaningtyas et al. (2026) from Indonesia reveals that tenure recognition alone is not enough — leadership dynamics within social forestry groups play a critical role in determining who gains meaningful access to forest-based opportunities.

Using the Theory of Access and the Full Range Leadership model, this research explores how transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles shape access, innovation, participation, and livelihood diversification across social forestry groups.

🔍 Key findings include:
✅ Transformational leadership fosters innovation, adaptive capacity, and access to higher-value opportunities like ecotourism;
⚠️ Passive transactional leadership maintains procedural access but limits trust, participation, and diversification;
❌ Laissez-faire leadership contributes to weak coordination and symbolic tenure rights with minimal livelihood benefits;

The study further highlights that external facilitation can either empower communities through collective learning or reinforce dependency and centralized control.

📖 The full article can be accessed here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09640-x

🔥 PUBLISHED: Spatio-Temporal Forest Fire Risk Assessment in Huichuan District, China: Integrating Combustible Load, Topo...
25/05/2026

🔥 PUBLISHED: Spatio-Temporal Forest Fire Risk Assessment in Huichuan District, China: Integrating Combustible Load, Topography, and Anthropogenic Factors🌲

Forest fire risks are escalating globally, making fine-scale spatial assessments more critical than ever. Our latest study by Wang et al. (2026) conducted in Huichuan District, Guizhou Province, China, provides an in-depth township-level forest fire risk analysis using 16 standardized risk indicators and multi-source data integration.

📊 Key findings:
▪️ 43.67% of forest sub-compartments were classified as high risk;
▪️ 56.30% were medium-high risk;
▪️ Medium-high to high risks covered 64.18% of standardized grids;
▪️ 93.67% of township-level assessment areas fell into the medium-high risk category.

The study highlights urgent priorities for:
✅ Fuel load reduction;
✅ Optimized fire prevention resource allocation;
✅ Targeted management interventions during critical fire seasons.

These spatially explicit insights provide valuable guidance for policymakers, forest managers, and disaster prevention agencies working toward sustainable wildfire risk mitigation.

📖 Access the full article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09639-4

22/05/2026

Healthy ecosystems support food systems, clean water, livelihoods, climate resilience and the well-being of people everywhere 🌿

Protecting biodiversity today means investing in a more sustainable and resilient future for generations to come 🌍

Today, act for nature. Tomorrow depends on it.

🌲PUBLISHED: Socio-economic Dimensions and Marketing Efficiency of Pinus gerardiana Wall. ex D. Don (Chilgoza pine) Culti...
22/05/2026

🌲PUBLISHED: Socio-economic Dimensions and Marketing Efficiency of Pinus gerardiana Wall. ex D. Don (Chilgoza pine) Cultivation in Himachal Pradesh, India 🌲

A new study by Kumar et al. (2026) highlights the alarming decline of Pinus gerardiana (chilgoza pine) in the western Himalayas and its implications for biodiversity, traditional knowledge systems, and rural livelihoods.

The research reveals that the traditional community-based chilgoza collection system is rapidly eroding due to:
🍎 Expansion of commercial apple cultivation;
🌿 Unsustainable harvesting practices such as branch lopping;
❄️ Climate change and declining winter snowfall.

Although chilgoza contributes a smaller share to household income today, it remains crucial for livelihood diversification among tribal communities in Kinnaur and Pangi.

The study emphasizes the urgent need for:
✅ Sustainable harvesting practices;
✅ Value addition and market efficiency;
✅ Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs);
✅ Stronger institutions for Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs).

Balancing conservation with economic resilience is essential to protect both Himalayan ecosystems and indigenous livelihoods.

📖 The full article can be accessed here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09636-7

🌲 PUBLISHED: Effect of an Innovative Thinning Method on the Mechanical Stability of an Artificial Black Pine (Pinus nigr...
12/05/2026

🌲 PUBLISHED: Effect of an Innovative Thinning Method on the Mechanical Stability of an Artificial Black Pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) Stand: The Case Study of Pratomagno, Tuscany, Italy🌲

Reforested and afforested forests are essential for ecosystem services, environmental protection, and socio-economic sustainability. Our recent study by Plutino and Lasina (2026) from Italy examined the mechanical stability of artificial black pine forests following two different thinning techniques: selective thinning and thinning from below.

Interestingly, the study found no significant difference in forest stability between the two approaches. Researchers suggest that a 2017 windthrow event may have acted as a form of “natural thinning,” influencing the results.

The findings highlight the importance of future research on optimizing thinning intervals while balancing timber profitability and ecosystem services such as soil protection.

📖 Read the full Open Access article here - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09637-6

🌳 PUBLISHED: Assessment of Carbon Storage and Monetary Valuation of Teak Forests in the Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests o...
11/05/2026

🌳 PUBLISHED: Assessment of Carbon Storage and Monetary Valuation of Teak Forests in the Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests of Adilabad District, Telangana, India 🌿

Our latest study by Anish et al. (2026) from teak-dominated forests in Telangana, India shows that these tropical dry deciduous forests hold substantial amounts of carbon in both vegetation and soil. Across 49 sample plots, total carbon stock ranged from 192.8 to 243.7 t C ha⁻¹, with the highest values recorded in Utnoor division. Soil organic carbon was also notably higher in the surface layer than in deeper soil.

At a carbon price of US $90 per t CO2e, the estimated economic value of these forests ranged from US $63,637 to US $80,434 per hectare.

These findings highlight the critical role of teak forests in climate change mitigation, carbon storage, and forest-based carbon market strategies in India.

📖 The full article can be accessed here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11842-026-09634-9

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