As a counter measure of deforestation and forest degradation, there are many forest restoration practices with area exclosures. However, these restoration interventions are not yet scientifically evaluated weather successes or not. Thus, this study is to evaluate the impacts of forest restoration with area exclosures on vegetation and soil property changing aspects. The method followed concept of forest restoration based on selected indicators and comparing against best practices. For this purpose, three districts in three agro-ecologies were selected. In each district one exclosures, adjacent church forest and adjacent grazing land were selected. Then vegetation data were collected and analyzed by using different diversity indices. Biomass was computed by using allometric equations developed for forests of dryland tropical Africa. The soil sample were collected from the main quadrates at 5 points in three different depth and then composite. Data was analyzed by using one-way ANOVA via vegetation qualities and selected soil parameters in different land uses and agro-ecologies. The soil result was compared with critical values. There was significant difference in vegetation composition, biomass and soil attributes across land uses and agro-ecologies (p < 0.03). Exclosures showed intermediate values between Church forest and grazing land in vegetation composition, biomass and some soil attributes. Therefore, forest restoration with area exclosures is the better tool for degraded forest restoration. Further research is required to understand ecosystem services of area exclosures and trajectory of successional changes in vegetation composition and soil parameters of the area exclosures.

In the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, uneven-aged stands of fir and beech are very important from the economic and ecological point of view. A major practical lack of information on the simple structure of stands is that they cannot be used to draw valid conclusions about the spatial distribution of woody species, the position and dimensions of trees and this is one of the bases for sustainable management of mixed and uneven-aged forests. In four mixed uneven-aged fir and beech stands and one pure fir stand on the Borja mountain, the basic elements of tree growth were measured and the data needed to determine the indicators of the spatial stand structure were determined. According to the index of aggregation of Clark and Evans, when all trees are observed, on average there is a tendency towards a uniform spatial distribution of trees in the stand. When only fir trees were selected as reference trees, it is evident that there is a tendency to group fir trees in the stand. The diameter differentiation index shows that the average tree diameter differentiation is on all sample plots. The determined values ​​of the Weber’s height competition index by stands are approximately the same, ie it can be stated that there is no significant difference between stands in terms of competition between trees when it comes to vertical structure of stands.

The supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is a green methodology that allows the solvent to be easily removed by simply reducing the system’s pressure or temperature. An interesting compound to be separated through SFE is the clove’s essential oil, which contains 75.5% (m/m) of eugenol and shows many food and biomedical applications, like antibacterial and antifungal activities, and use as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and for asthma and allergy relief. Herein, we simulated the operation of a SFE plant with two 400 L-extractors using CO₂, and performed the economic analysis based on real purchase costs from large scale exportation suppliers. Our results show that this is not only a process that results in minimum harmless emissions, consuming low amounts of utilities; but it is also an investment with excellent economic indicators, which is viable even if there are increases of 56% on clove’s purchase costs. A fixed capital expenditure (CAPEX) of 347,000 USD is required, leading to a high net present value (NPV) of 8,600,000 USD after the project’s lifetime (40 years), with a payback of 18.67 years and internal rate of return (IRR) of 7.29%.

[Aim and scope] To promote sustainable timber and forest biomass utilization, technically feasible and economically viable availability should be estimated considering forest regeneration. Therefore, this study calculated incomes and expenditures such as silvicultural and harvesting as well as stumpage prices on the Japanese cedar, cypress, pine, and larch forests using the silvicultural prescriptions set based on the regional forest plans and operation systems set based on topographic conditions such as slope angles and height differences with GIS. [Methodology] This study acquired the forest GIS for private and communal forests from prefectures and national forests from the Forestry Agency of Japan. Then, this study estimated the availability of unused materials for woody biomass power generation plants under operation with FIT at the end of June 2020 as the supply potential from the profitable subcompartments. [Novelty] Most of existing studies estimated them as a unit of municipality or a 1 km mesh whereas the present study estimated them as a subcompartment, which was an actual forest management unit. [Results] Supply potentials of used and unused materials were estimated at 65,490,336 m³/year and 13,098,067 m³/year, respectively whereas those availabilities were estimated at 31,080,672 m³/year and 6,216,134 m³/year respectively. Therefore, the rate of the availabilities to the supply potentials was 47.5%. Furthermore, the rate of the availabilities to the demands was 71.6%. Considering the subsidy rate of 100% to secure the reforestations, the availabilities met the demands in Japan as a whole. [Conclusions] The present study imply that subsidies play an essential role in the profitability of forestry operations as well as the supply of timber and forest biomass resources in Japan. The results obtained in the present study can contribute to the effective utilization of forest resources under sustainable forest management.

Pitch canker is a tree disease caused by the fungus Fusarium circinatum (teleomorph = Gibberella circinata), known to affect mainly conifers, namely susceptible Pinus species and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). This fungal phytopathogen is usually transported from infected trees to susceptible healthy pines by water (e.g., rain), wind or vectored by bark beetles, and induces damping-off, resin-streaming cankers on main stems and lateral branches, shoot dieback, needle chlorosis or discoloration, cone death, and increased tree mortality. Severity of the disease is heavily dependent on the pine host and biotic and abiotic conditions, such as temperature, humidity, soil properties, insect pathogens, etc. A much higher incidence is detected at pine nurseries and plantations than on wild pine stands. In nurseries, pest management focuses on proper hygiene and phytosanitary measures that can include the use of insecticides and fungicides for direct control. Nevertheless, many active biocides have been recently withdrawn in Europe, which prompted research on natural compounds, such as essential oils (EOs). These complex mixtures of secondary metabolites are mainly comprised of terpenes and phenolic compounds, and can show very high biologic activities. The present work reviewed the available literature on EOs analyzed against Fusarium circinatum. The use of EOs in fungicidal formulations against pitch canker is still preliminary. The EOs from 62 plant species were reported against this pathogen, with over 50% of plants belonging to the Myrtaceae, Compositae and Apiaceae families. The highest activities (lowest minimum inhibitory concentrations) were obtained for the EOs of Cinnamomum verum, Cymbopogon citratus, Foeniculum vulgare, Syzygium aromaticum and Thymus vulgaris. Nevertheless, few reports detail EO chemical composition, which hinders the assessment of structure-activity correlations. A higher investment on the screening of natural compounds as eco-friendly fungicides against pitch canker is necessary to promote more sustainable disease control measures.