Multifunctional Forest Management Research Articles

Implications of forest management on the conservation of protected areas: A new proposal in Central Spain

Multifunctional forest management is a strategy increasingly shared by forest managers. In the drive towards multifunctionality, different policies are widely being developed to integrate timber production and biodiversity conservation into forest management. To achieve this aim, both segregated and integrated approaches have been used. Segregated approaches aim to provide different ecosystem services (ES) separately in stratified forest areas based on land-use zoning, whereas integrated or integrative approaches promote land-use sharing management. This type of approach has also led to the design of close-to-nature silvicultural alternatives, where different ES can be satisfied simultaneously. In the context of this new paradigm, we carried out a study to compare segregated versus integrated management strategies in Valsaín forest in Central Spain. Part of Valsaín forest was declared a protected area in 2013 and the whole forest could be declared a National Park in 50 years’ time. For the purposes of the study, we analyzed new biodiversity indicators and compared them to the traditional forest management indicators. The scenario modelling was resolved using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making techniques. Our results showed greater trade-offs between the two types of indicators when considering the forest as a whole rather than a zoning approach. Therefore, a shift from segregated to integrated management will be proposed once the whole area of Valsaín forest is declared as National Park.

Assessing the suitability of under-represented tree species for multifunctional forest management—an example using economic return and biodiversity indicators

Abstract A shifting focus in forest management from timber production to resilience and multifunctionality in the face of changing disturbance regimes might entail altering the species composition of forests. Although the conifers Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and silver fir (Abies alba) currently comprise only a small proportion of Central European forests, the prospect of widespread planting of these species as a climate adaptation measure is currently widely debated by forest managers. To inform this debate, objective assessments of the multifunctional value of these species are required. Here, we introduce Pareto frontiers to objectively assess the value of tree species under competing objectives and considering an uncertain future. Using these frontiers, we explore trade-offs between financial performance and biodiversity aspects of German tree species portfolios with and without these currently rare conifers. We compare several potential biodiversity indicators (related to herbivores, saproxylic beetles, and deadwood decomposition rates) that can be derived from standard forest inventory data. Our results indicate that optimizing the biodiversity indicators generates gradual decreases in financial performance at first, but after an inflection point soil rent declines sharply. Portfolios excluding Douglas fir and silver fir achieved comparable biodiversity levels, but much weaker financial performance, than portfolios that included these conifers. Our novel approach of generating Pareto frontiers that integrate uncertainty can offer useful insights into ecosystem services trade-offs in contexts where risk is unequally distributed across management alternatives.

Comprehensive Evaluation of the Design of a New National Park Using the Quintuple Helix Model

Protected areas serve as stepping stones for the preservation of biodiversity, and can provide economic and social benefits to communities. National parks aim to limit human intervention to safeguard natural communities and processes. This study analyzes the impacts of transforming the Křivoklátsko Protected Landscape Area into the proposed Křivoklátsko National Park in the Czech Republic, which is a program promoted by political parties. Using the quintuple helix model, it assesses the change from a sustainable development perspective. The analysis considers economic, social, and environmental aspects, including the impact on the local inhabitants, the economy, forestry, business activities, and regional development. The existing management in the Křivoklátsko region exemplifies sustainable multifunctional forest management. Based on the evaluation, the study finds insufficient arguments for declaring the Křivoklátsko National Park. The study emphasizes the need to balance the social demand for nature protection with the awareness of existing measures and specific area conditions. Nature protection should integrate itself into all human activities within the culturally and historically created landscape, rather than solely pursuing political goals. Participatory forestry management plays a crucial role in landscape transformation. The study highlights the importance of sustainable landscape development and the interactions between the university, government, industry, and civil sector actors with the environment.

Maintaining or building roads? An adaptive management approach for preserving forest multifunctionality

The sustainable management of forests is a critical global challenge that requires meeting human needs while also preserving forest ecosystems and the livelihoods they provide. To achieve this goal, forest management must encompass all goods and services provided by the forest, and increasingly, forests are being viewed as complex social-ecological systems that require adaptive and multifunctional management. One key aspect of sustainable and multifunctional forest management is the use of shared infrastructures, such as roads, to connect the capacity for production and multifunctional use. However, the provision of roads raises issues and dilemmas, particularly in contexts where different forest functions have conflicting objectives. Effective governance is essential to address these challenges. In this article, we propose a control problem framework with infinite horizon that integrates the role of roads and their governance into adaptive management. Our approach involves using a dynamical forest model that considers the roads related to forest functions as part of the mathematical viability theory problem. We distinguish between different scenarios of mono-functional and multifunctional forest management and examine the safe operating space of the exploited ecosystems for each scenario. Our results demonstrate the formalization of complex interactions within a multifunctional forest system and highlight how even small changes in infrastructure provision strategies can dramatically impact the safe operating space of the forest ecosystem. By incorporating shared infrastructures into adaptive forest management, we can ensure the sustainability of both the forest ecosystem and the human communities that depend on it.

Public administration reform in the forestry sector

The purpose of the research was to determine and substantiate the content of public administration in the forestry sector of Ukraine on the basis of sustainable development with a balance of social, economic and environmental interests of the state in the study area. To achieve this goal, general scientific and special scientific methods of cognition were used, in particular, dialectical, logical-formal, analysis and synthesis, structural-systemic, legal-comparative, legal-formal and prognostic. Everything allows to conclude that, it is expedient to develop and adopt the Forestry Strategy of Ukraine, with a separate section on the definition of tools for improving fire safety in forests, based on the principles of the European Union Forestry Strategy, in particular: sustainable and multifunctional forest management, balanced use of various forest resources and services, ensuring the protection of forests; resource efficiency, optimizing the contribution of forests and forestry sector to rural development, economic growth and job creation; global responsibility for forests, promotion of sustainable (responsible) production and consumption of forest products.

Assessing forest accessibility for the multifunctional management of protected areas in Central Italy

Multifunctional forest management should provide the opportunity to create, conserve, modify or eliminate forest roads. Within protected areas, it is difficult to make a single assessment of the degree of accessibility to different forest areas, having to mediate among productive forestry, protection needs and other benefits deriving from forest stands. A GIS-based methodology, with the support of a Forest Information System (FIS) and available Forest Plans for the study area, were applied to create an accessibility map (based on the forest roads network) for the Abruzzo, Lazio, and Molise National Park (PNALM). Results were related to several FIS metadata, highlighting that accessibility in the study area was sufficient, but not optimal, in the productive management units, being rather poor in those where soil protection and biodiversity conservation are the main functions (only 38.8% of them were accessible). Forest roads density (28.5 m ha−1) was not homogeneously distributed within the study area and the ratio between forest road length (199.4 km) and planned forest surface (13,355.3 ha) is only 14.9 m ha−1. In contrast to what is commonly found in forest accessibility works, the innovative element of this study was the involvement of PNALM’s technical office in evaluating the results and exploring the opportunity to adopt a different policy for forest roads network management.

Effects of Forest Fragmentation on the Volume of Wood Resources in Managed, Pine-Dominated Forests in Poland

Forest fragmentation is a widespread phenomenon that directly or indirectly affects the processes that take place both in forest ecosystems and in their immediate surroundings. So far, many studies confirm its negative effects, especially on biodiversity. On the other hand, there are few studies that address the effects of forest fragmentation on the amount of accumulated biomass or carbon, as well as on the characteristics of wood resources in managed forests. Therefore, issues related to timber production, which are important from the point of view of multifunctional forest management, are omitted. The aim of our research was to add to the knowledge in this area. In particular, we focused on assessing the impact of forest fragmentation on wood resources based on an analysis of edge effects in forest patches (units formed by combining forest fragments characterized by structural connectivity). Vector data describing the topography of forest fragments in Poland and the results of the National Forest Inventory (NFI) from 2015–2019 were used as material for solving this problem. The results of our research showed that the effects of fragmentation on managed pine stands depend on the age of the stand and the fertility of the habitat. In young stands growing on barren or strongly barren habitats, growing stock volume turned out to be significantly higher in the edge zone. In older stands, especially on moderately fertile habitats, significantly higher resources were found in the interior zone of forest patches. Habitat quality also had a significant effect on the amount of carbon accumulated. In strongly barren habitats, higher carbon mass was found in edge zones, while in moderately fertile habitats, stands had higher carbon volume in the interior zone. Our results illustrate that forest fragmentation is a very complex process that can increase or reduce wood resources, depending on the age of the stand and the quality of the habitat. From the standpoint of measurable benefits, it was concluded that protection from the negative effects of fragmentation should focus primarily on older stands and more fertile habitats.

Interpreting wind damage risk\u2013how multifunctional forest management impacts standing timber at risk of wind felling

Landscape multifunctionality, a widely accepted challenge for boreal forests, aims to simultaneously provide timber, non-timber ecosystem services, and shelter for biodiversity. However, multifunctionality requires the use of novel forest management regimes optimally combined over the landscape, and an increased share of sets asides. It remains unclear how this combination will shape stand vulnerability to wind disturbances and exposed timber volume. We combined forest growth simulations and multi-objective optimization to create alternative landscape level forest management scenarios. Management choices were restricted to 1) rotation forestry, 2) continuous cover forestry, and 3) all regimes allowed over a harvest intensity gradient from completely set aside landscapes to maximal economic gain. Estimates for the stands’ structural and environmental characteristics were used to predict the stand level wind damage probability. We evaluated averaged wind-exposed standing timber volume and changing forest structure under management scenarios. Intensive rotation forestry reduced tree heights and wind damage risk, but also reduced landscape multifunctionality. Conversely, continuous cover forestry maintained multifunctionality but increased wind damage probability due to taller trees and higher thinning frequency. Overall, continuous cover forestry lowers the total volume of wind exposed timber at any given time compared with rotation forestry. Nevertheless, a selective application of rotation forestry contributes to high economic gains and increases landscape heterogeneity. A combination of management approaches across landscapes provides an efficient way to reduce the amount of wind-exposed timber volume while also increasing habitat for vertebrate and non-vertebrate species and satisfying high timber demands.

Impacts of Site Conditions and Stand Structure on the Biomass Allocation of Single Trees in Larch Plantations of Liupan Mountains of Northwest China

Understanding the determinants of tree biomass allocation patterns among organs is crucial for both predicting the rate and potential of forest carbon sinks and guiding future multifunctional forest management. However, it is still not clear how the site conditions (e.g., elevation) and stand structure (e.g., tree dominance, stand density) affect the biomass allocation of single trees in forests. This study was implemented in the Liupan Mountains of the Loess Plateau of Northwest China by collecting the related information of biomass data of 110 sample trees with different dominance and influencing factors within 23 sample plots of larch plantations set up along the elevation gradient. Based on these data, the response tendency and functions of biomass allocation of single trees to individual influencing factors of site conditions and forest structure were analyzed. Moreover, the results illustrated that the ratio between root biomass and aboveground biomass decreased significantly with rising stand age and tree density, but increased significantly with rising elevation, and there was no significant relationship with the dominance of individual trees. The results of this study revealed the importance of considering the influencing factors of site conditions and stand structure when developing dynamic models of tree biomass allocation. The results and research methods used in this study provide useful tools for quantifying the biomass allocation and carbon storage partitioning in the study area and other similar regions.

Individual-tree growth models for Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) in Iceland

Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is one of the main tree species used in forestry in Iceland, growing well in all parts of the country. In view of the importance of Sitka spruce in Iceland, there is need for a reliable growth model that will support multifunctional forest management and planning. This study developed growth models for Sitka spruce using data from permanent sample plots established by the Icelandic Forest Service between 1970 and 2020. The measurement interval on the plots varied from 3 to 16 years. To deal with irregular measurement intervals, an optimization approach was used to recover models for annual diameter increment and survival rate. The aim was to find parameters for diameter increment and survival models that would minimize the difference between the measured and simulated diameter distributions of the plots at the end of the measurement interval (when the simulation begins from the diameter distribution at the beginning of the interval). To enable the simulation of stand development, models for dominant height development and tree height were also developed.

Current Status and Recent Stand Structure Dynamics in Mixed Silver Fir—European Beech Forests in Croatian Dinarides: Are There Differences between Managed and Unmanaged Forests?

The environmental, social and economic potential of Dinaric uneven-aged forests along with the complex stand dynamics influenced by different long-term management approaches and environmental factors require comprehensive forest monitoring. This study aimed to explore differences in the current status and recent past dynamics of stand structures between unmanaged and managed mixed fir-beech forests in the Croatian part of the Dinaric Alps using large-scale data from an established monitoring system. From the 74 permanent sample plots distributed within the forest type measured in 2008 and re-measured in 2019, we stratified four strata (types of management regimes): (1) forests out of regular management and tree harvest for at least 30 years, (2) managed state forests on carbonate bedrock, (3) managed state forests on non-carbonate bedrock and (4) managed private forests. In each sample plot, 34 structural attributes were computed to assess indicators of their current status and recent past dynamics of stands in the studied forests. An increasing Q shape diameter distribution with a high number of large and very large trees characterize unmanaged forests and managed forests on non-carbonate bedrock. In managed state forests and private forests, variable (rotated sigmoid) and constant (negative exponential) results were obtained, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) distinguished managed and unmanaged forests with decreasing harvest volume and recruitment, increasing basal area, number of very large trees, average diameter at breast height (DBH), crown defoliation of firs and basal area of died beech trees. The current structure, recent and expected stand dynamics in the unmanaged forests (accumulation of standing volume, increase of large diameter trees and large snags, large share of beech, large mean DBH) can be recognized as old-growth attributes. The differences between the studied forest types, potential of both unmanaged and state managed fir-beech forests and approaches to sustain multifunctional forest management in the Dinaric region were discussed.

Variation of carbon density components with overstory structure of larch plantations in northwest China and its implication for optimal forest management

Information about the variation of carbon density components of larch plantation (LP) with changing overstory stand structure is lacking, which limits multifunctional forest management. This study sought to address these components in the Liupan Mountains of northwest China. It showed that stand age, tree density, tree biomass, and canopy density are important stand structure parameters influencing the amplitude and composition of carbon density. The results showed that, with rising stand age, the carbon density of both overstory tree and humus layers increased, the carbon density of the understory vegetation layer (shrubs and herbs) decreased, and the carbon density of soil layer (0–100 cm) first increased and then slightly decreased. However, the total ecosystem carbon density increased with rising stand age. With rising tree density and canopy density, the overstory carbon density increased, up to the thresholds of about 1800 trees/ha and 0.7 respectively, but after that increased very slowly; while the understory vegetation carbon density decreased continuously with rising tree density, but decreased with rising canopy density, first very slowly up to the range of 0.6–0.7 and after that very quickly. With rising overstory tree biomass, the humus layer carbon density increased, while soil layer carbon density first increased to a certain threshold, then leveled off or slowly decreased. With rising canopy density, the humus and soil carbon density first increased to the threshold of 0.7 and 0.67, respectively, then decreased. Therefore, the optimum canopy density of 0.7 maintains the highest total ecosystem carbon density with its highest or relatively higher components. Such a tradeoff among the carbon components informs multifunctional forest management since every carbon component is related to specific functions/services of the LP ecosystems.

ACCESSIBILITY OF TOURIST OBJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE TRANSCARPATHIAN REGION (ON THE BASIS OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH)

The development of all spheres of life leads to the formation of new challenges of accessibility (physical, social, informational, etc.) facing people, including people with disabilities. Taking into account the development of the tourism sector in Transcarpathia, the study of accessibility of this environment for people with disabilities becomes relevant. The purpose of the article is to present a sociological section of the issue of accessibility of tourist infrastructure in the Transcarpathian region. To achieve this goal, the following research methods were used: analysis of scientific sources on the state of the problem; presentation of the results of the sociological research "Forests for society − forests without barriers&quot. The article presents the results of the project Forests for Society − Forests without Barriers (FOR SOC), which was implemented by partners from Ukraine, Slovakia and Norway under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism Program of Cross-Border Cooperation Priority. The project aims to establish a cross-border partnership to support tourism development and the promotion of tourist attractions, in particular in forest areas, together with capacity building in multifunctional forest management to provide social functions and offer services to forest visitors and tourists, including people with disability opportunities. The result of the analysis was the identification of the main problems in terms of accessibility of the tourism environment and the feasibility of using mechanisms (financial, information) in improving the opportunities for people with disabilities to visit these facilities. It has been established that the main obstacle in visiting the forest for all age groups of respondents is their limited opportunities and uncleared cluttered forest. It is important to take into account foreign experience in providing the tourism industry with modern information and communication technologies to improve opportunities to visit tourist sites. Ensuring «accessibility» is crucial and social, as it directly affects the use of the full range of human rights by persons with disabilities and other low-mobility groups; plays a key role in creating an inclusive society in which people with disabilities can participate in everyday life.

An Infrastructure Perspective for Enhancing Multi‐functionality of Forests: A Conceptual Modeling Approach

AbstractMany forest resource systems depend heavily on shared and coupled infrastructures in applying their management strategies. Addressing a question of sustainability for relevant contemporary social‐ecological systems (SES) can be tackled by understanding how these shared infrastructures mediate the interaction between human and ecological environment. Shared infrastructures, which are mainly composed of roads (accessibility utilities), highlight the relation between the performance of ecosystem services and the multifunctional use of the forest. However, dilemmas associated with road provision pose some problems when applied in a forest multifunctional management context, because roads potentially diminish or enhance forest functions in a complex way. In this context, maintaining, fostering, and improving multifunctional management where the development of an ecosystem function can affect the performance of others is challenging. We propose to develop a mathematical model based on a recent study that links multifunctional forest management to the multifunctionality of forest roads by using the SES and robustness frameworks. With this model, we analyze the evolution of the forest system and three key forest functions (wood production, tourism, and nature conservation) when impacted by decisions of road provision. We then examine how governance provision strategies can affect the performance of functions and how these strategies can potentially foster forest multifunctionality. This approach allows us to derive conditions of sustainability in which decisions of shared infrastructure provisions can play an important role in the functionalities and performance of the forest.

Suitability Evaluation and Dominant Function Model for Multifunctional Forest Management

Multifunctional forest management is a common topic and hotspot of forestry research in recent years. Evaluating the suitability of forest land for multifunctional management is the first and most important step for realizing sustainable and multifunctional forest management. This research aims to explore the suitability and forest dominant function evaluation model for multifunctional forestry management in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. Using the model proposed in the paper, we expect to provide decision-making information for forest multifunctional management. The study incorporated the distance of the ridge lines extracted by the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data into the evaluation index, and established the ecological status index (IE) and the forest productivity index (IF). Moreover, a nonlinear multifunctional site quality evaluation model (MSQEM) was constructed to evaluate the suitability of multifunctional forest management. A multifunctional management dominant function orientation model (MDFOM) was constructed by Principal Component Analysis, and divided each subcompartment into one of the four resource subgroups, such as timber production function, water conservation function, water and soil conservation function, and other functions. The MDFOM model was used for Rongshui County’s forest resource by 11 factors, which were selected because of their easy availability. The factors contain slope, soil thickness, altitude, average age, etc. The results showed that the number of small classes with multifunctional site index larger than 0.5 was 20,841 (56.87%), and the multifunctional suitable area was in clustered distribution, which was consistent with the reality. The result of subcompartment dominant function evaluated by MDFOM was compared with the planning forest species, the overall accuracy was 61%, and the accuracy rate of timber production function was 94.2%. The number of subcompartments with good and above multifunctional management status was 9174 (44.20%), with an area of 48,963.41 hm2 (51.24%). The multifunctional management status of subcompartments in the study area is at the middle and lower level. Thus, it is urgent to further improve the multi-functional management level of each subcompartment in this area and formulate scientific reasonable and multifunctional forestation measures.

Why Protect Ancient Woodland in the UK? Rethinking the Ecosystem Approach

AbstractSites of ancient woodland in the United Kingdom (UK) are diminishing rapidly and the multifunctional forest management system with its fragmented approach fails effectively to protect such woodland. In the face of reports on the destruction of ancient woodland, the HS2 High-Speed train project in the UK signifies the extent of trade-offs among the key stakeholders. Such large infrastructure projects typically come with high environmental and social costs, including deforestation, habitat fragmentation, biodiversity loss, and social disruption. This article examines the protection of ancient woodland in the UK and assesses the challenges in applying the ecosystem approach, an internationally recognized sustainability strategy, in the context of such protection. A better understanding of the ecosystem approach to manage ancient woodland is critical for promoting sustainable forestry practices in the UK and informs the discussion in this article of the importance of conserving ancient woodland globally. Lessons learned from UK woodland policies and certification schemes include the need to have in place strong regulatory frameworks, introduce clear indicators, and recognize pluralistic value systems alongside economic considerations. The article concludes that the protection of ancient woodland in the UK requires distinct and strong laws that reflect multiple values of this resource, acknowledge the trade-offs among stakeholders, and adopt an inclusive approach to reduce power asymmetries.

A social assessment of forest resource based on stakeholders’ perception: an application in three Balkans rural areas

ABSTRACT : An inclusive and transparent participatory process in the Balkan region can facilitate information’s exchange between decision-makers and local community, and increase social acceptance of forest management outcomes. The study – developed in the “FOR Balkans” project – has two main objectives: stakeholders’ engagement in forest management scenarios’ development and implementation of a Spatial Decision Support System to enhance sustainable and multifunctional forest management. To achieve them, a face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted in three study areas in the Balkans: Shkrel district (Albania), Rugova valley (Kosovo), Knjaževac municipality (Serbia). The questionnaire – provided as a digital application – was administered to a sample of stakeholders in each study area. Stakeholders’ opinions towards ecosystem services and forest management practices were investigated. Results show that in Rugova provisioning services are the most important ecosystem services, that can be enhanced through a greater use of wood residues for energy purposes. In Shkrel, stakeholders consider supporting services as the most important category of ecosystem services that they can be maintained and improved through the implementation of sanitary fellings. In Knjaževac, stakeholders emphasize cultural services’ importance, which can be enhanced by promoting mixed forests and improving recreational facilities.

Climate change induces multiple risks to boreal forests and forestry in Finland: A literature review.

Climate change induces multiple abiotic and biotic risks to forests and forestry. Risks in different spatial and temporal scales must be considered to ensure preconditions for sustainable multifunctional management of forests for different ecosystem services. For this purpose, the present review article summarizes the most recent findings on major abiotic and biotic risks to boreal forests in Finland under the current and changing climate, with the focus on windstorms, heavy snow loading, drought and forest fires and major insect pests and pathogens of trees. In general, the forest growth is projected to increase mainly in northern Finland. In the south, the growing conditions may become suboptimal, particularly for Norway spruce. Although the wind climate does not change remarkably, wind damage risk will increase especially in the south, because of the shortening of the soil frost period. The risk of snow damage is anticipated to increase in the north and decrease in the south. Increasing drought in summer will boost the risk of large‐scale forest fires. Also, the warmer climate increases the risk of bark beetle outbreaks and the wood decay by Heterobasidion root rot in coniferous forests. The probability of detrimental cascading events, such as those caused by a large‐scale wind damage followed by a widespread bark beetle outbreak, will increase remarkably in the future. Therefore, the simultaneous consideration of the biotic and abiotic risks is essential.

Forest Management Based on the Principles of Multifunctional Forest Use

ABSTRACT Effective forest management is based on the multipurpose use of existing forest resources and its ecological functions. The principle of multifunctionality is focused on sustainable forest management, taking into account environmental, economic, and social factors. The purpose of the research is to analyze development patterns of multifunctional forest management in order to identify the priorities in the forest sector development. The paper defines indicators affecting the level of forestry activities and designates territory zones depending on their qualitative and quantitative characteristics. The analysis of forest use for wood production showed that the annual underutilization of the allowable cut is due to a decrease in the total volume of timber cutting, depressed demand for hardwood of a low commercial quality, insufficient transport development of forests, and the lack of enterprises engaged in advanced processing of semi-subsistence deciduous forest stand. During the studies, it was found that areas, which location is economically advantageous, are more suitable for recreation purposes, as they are better provided with natural resources and are closer to waterbodies (rivers, lakes, reservoirs), possess unique forestland and are more attractive for investments. The paper identifies the problems and promising areas of multifunctional forest management.

Multifunctionality of Forests: A White Paper on Challenges and Opportunities in China and Germany

Both in Germany and in China, there is strong expertise regarding the different aspects of forest management, as well as forest products management. Nevertheless, forestry in both countries is facing challenges, some of which are regional, but many of which are shared. Therefore, experts from both countries (Technical University of Munich Germany; Northwest A&F University Yangling, China; Forestry Academy of Shaanxi, China; Thünen Institut, Germany; FEDRC GIZ Forest Policy Facility (Forestry Economics Development and Research Center of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH), Germany; and Center for Natural Forest Protection in Shaanxi, China) met to share their knowledge and deduce recommendations for future multifunctional forest management for the temperate zone. The workshop, held at the Northwest A&F University in September 2018, included presentations and intensive discussions, as well as a field tour. The results of the workshop that are summarized in this white paper are meant to provide an overview of the multi-faceted nature of the topic for interested scientists and forest practitioners, describe tools that can be used to analyze various aspects of multifunctionality and, in an exemplary fashion, highlight gathered experience from long- and short-term experiments. Included are social demands, economic goals, and scientific baselines. The topics reach from economic evaluations of forest ecosystem services over forest management practices, including afforestation, restoration, and preparations to face climate change, to wood/forest products utilization and participation of local people for poverty reduction. Overall, an optimistic picture emerges, showing that by using adapted forest management practices, which try to embrace the concept of multifunctionality, various use schemes and demands can be integrated at single sites, allowing us to achieve both environmental protection and productive forests, including societal demands, as well as aspects of tradition and national identity.