What is forest resilience?
Forest resilience is the ability of forests and society to recover and adapt to environmental, climatic and societal changes. It combines three interconnected aspects: forests' capacity to endure short-term challenges like seasonal weather fluctuations (engineering resilience), their ability to adapt naturally to long-term impacts such as climate change, fires, or pest outbreaks through shifts in species composition (ecological resilience), and the role of societies in responding to shocks like natural disasters or economic changes while still promoting sustainable outcomes (social-ecological resilience). Strengthening resilience requires actions like diversifying tree species and adapting forest management strategies to balance environmental and societal needs.
Most recent scientific advances include developing concrete steps to apply the concept in practice.
Hierarchy of commonly used resilience concepts. Modified from Nikinmaa et al. 2020.
Further reading
Lloret et al. 2024. ORF, an operational framework to measure resilience in social–ecological systems: the forest case study. Sustainability Science 19, 1579–1593.
Related content
How are forest soils monitored and what are the challenges?
Forest soil monitoring uses repeated sampling and indicators to assess carbon storage, soil health and ecosystem change.
- Resilient forests
What is genetic monitoring and is it important for forest(ry)?
Genetic monitoring is the measurement of changes in genetic variation & structure within populations over time, based on selected genetic…
- Resilient forests
What is the Genetic Conservation Unit (GCU) Network?
Europe’s forest genetic diversity is safeguarded by the Pan-European GCU network through designated Genetic Conservation Units.
- Resilient forests
