Climate Smart Forestry (CSF): An investigation into the adoption of CSF policy and practice innovation in the commercial forestry sector

Climate Smart Forestry (CSF) has recently been promulgated and supported as a collection of strategies and management actions that increase the carbon storage benefits from forests. The CSF model is currently being debated in the literature and by forestry stakeholders. While approaches to design, establishment and funding

differ, all share a common main commitment to ensuring that forests are better at both mitigating/adapting to climate change. However, there is currently a lack of research into how best to promote adoption of the set of practices associated with CSF within commercial forestry operations. The aim of this research is to undertake a

comparative analysis of the different approaches to CSF in the UK, USA and Sweden in order to (a) unpack the concept of CSF and its benefits (b) to explore how CSF is currently understood and being advocated within the forest science communities in these different jurisdictions (c) to analyse the extent to which CSF is currently being adopted and

practiced in different commercially managed forests in these countries and the impacts this is having on stakeholders and their values. By focusing on one case study in Scotland to conduct field work, the research will examine how commercial forestry companies address climate change whilst maximizing economic production.

The PhD will examine how CSF is understood in three domains - policy, science and practice. Stakeholders that impact commercial forestry companies will be analysed.