A review of forest innovation: Technologies and sustainable practices for environmental conservation

Abstract

Abstract

Forests play a crucial role in climate regulation, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service provision, and sustainable socio-economic development. However, increasing deforestation, climate change, habitat fragmentation, and unsustainable resource exploitation continue to threaten forest ecosystems worldwide. The objective of this review is to determine the ecological, economic, and governance conditions under which specific forest innovations translate into measurable sustainability outcomes, and to synthesize these conditions into coherent, evidence-based pathways applicable across different regional contexts. Framed through a social-ecological systems (SES) and resilience lens, this review critically examines recent advances in forest innovation by integrating sustainable forest management practices with emerging technological developments, including precision forestry, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), LiDAR, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), digital forestry, biomass utilization, and forest-based bioeconomy approaches. Unlike conventional narrative reviews, this study applies a common five criterion evaluation framework comprising ecological effectiveness, technological maturity, economic feasibility, governance requirements, and regional applicability to comparatively evaluates the strengths, limitations, implementation challenges of these innovations across diverse ecological and socio-economic contexts, thereby moving beyond the largely descriptive, single-domain coverage of prior forest technology and forest governance reviews to an explicitly cross-domain, comparative synthesis. The review further explores the contributions of community-based forest management, climate-smart forestry, carbon management strategies, ecosystem services, green infrastructure, and innovative forest-derived products toward achieving long-term environmental sustainability. The analysis demonstrates that technological innovations alone cannot ensure sustainable forest management unless supported by effective governance, equitable community participation, adequate financial investment, and adaptive policy frameworks. The review identifies critical knowledge gaps related to technology adoption, institutional capacity, climate resilience, and long-term monitoring, and derives four specific, evidence-anchored integrated pathways that combine ecological, technological, economic, and governance innovations. This review provides a comprehensive, deliberately broad-scope synthesis of contemporary forest innovation and offers practical recommendations for researchers, policymakers, and forest managers working toward resilient forest ecosystems and the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 15 (Life on Land).