The publication of this issue of Unasylva coincides with two important events for forests. The 196 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have just convened at the Paris Climate Change Conference to broker a game-changing agreement on climate change. Also in Paris, the Global Landscapes Forum 2015 is hosting high-level discussions on the research and policy behind land-use issues. Forest and landscape restoration is a key piece in the puzzle. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “restoration” as the “action of restoring a thing to a former state or position”. Forest and landscape restoration (FLR), however, invests the word with a far greater role than that of simply returning to a past state

Mediterranean forests are interwoven with the lives of the people of the region. They provide wood, cork and other products, as well as being a source of income for many. They contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, capture and store carbon, protect soil and water, and offer areas for recreation. Yet they are under increasing pressure. This includes pressures from humans, whose needs are growing and shifting, and stresses due to climatic changes including temperature increases, reduced rainfall and prolonged periods of drought

Vast expanses of dense forest may not be a typical Mediterranean image - Mediterranean forests account for a mere 1.5 percent of the total wooded surface of the planet-but forests of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea have played, and continue to play, a key role in the development of local civilizations. Just as they do elsewhere, forests in the Mediterranean contribute to the production of products that are crucial to economic activity, although timber here plays a less predominant role and many different products, such as fruit, bark (cork), rubber, resins and fodder, contribute towards a diversified economy

In recent years, the attention focused on challenges facing the tropical forests has intensified dramatically. However, nearly the totality of this attention has been directed toward the forests of the humid tropics. Even in technical documents, it is not uncommon to find statistics on the extent of tropical forests and the rates of loss or alteration followed by narrative that deals almost entirely with tropical rain forests. Much less - in fact, almost negligible - attention has been focused on the challenges of forest resource management in arid and semi-arid areas.

Most anthropologists estimate that humans have been able to produce fire for some 20000 years, and have "kept" and controlled naturally occurring fire for more than 500000 years. Initially used for warmth, cooking and stimulating the growth of various forest products for food, fire soon became an indispensable adjunct to the clearing of forest land for agriculture and animal husbandry. As such, throughout history, in nearly every culture worldwide, fire has been used as a management tool. For example, during Carthaginian domination of the Mediterranean in the sixth century B.C., the plants and trees in Sardinia, Italy, were burnt to facilitate agricultural production. With the use of fire as a tool in the preparation of land for agricultural use came the realization that if fire spread out of control, the negative secondary effects often far outweighed the anticipated benefits

This issue of Unasylva focuses on Africa. A large part of the continent has been overrun by drought in successive years, and millions of people are exposed to hunger and malnutrition. In many African countries, cultivation is because of hunger - rapidly expanding into forest land and areas of low rainfall. This process, coupled with necessarily unmanaged exploitation for fuelwood, fodder and other basic goods and services that forests and trees provide, has led to a progressively increasing rate of deforestation. That has brought about general environmental degradation and instability and, in their wake, depletion of the resource base and even desertification over vast areas of land

This issue of Unasylva focuses on Africa. A large part of the continent has been overrun by drought in successive years, and millions of people are exposed to hunger and malnutrition. In many African countries, cultivation is because of hunger - rapidly expanding into forest land and areas of low rainfall. This process, coupled with necessarily unmanaged exploitation for fuelwood, fodder and other basic goods and services that forests and trees provide, has led to a progressively increasing rate of deforestation. That has brought about general environmental degradation and instability and, in their wake, depletion of the resource base and even desertification over vast areas of land