ABSTRACT
On 20 December 2006, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) declared that 2011 would be the International Year of Forests. It stated that ‘concerted efforts should focus on raising awareness at all levels to strengthen the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current and future generations.’ The background for such a statement is the recognition that forests are threatened worldwide. In spite of such discursive claims of ‘concerted efforts’ at the level of international organizations, enormous socio-environmental struggles and conflicts around forests, trees and forestlands will persist. Though conflicts and struggles over forest resources are not new phenomena, there are two unique components today. First, tree biomass and the biophysical processes of forests play a critical role within the emerging climate change regime. Second, an energy transition away from fossil fuels involves increasing extraction of energy from forest biomass. Forest companies, shaped by the capital accumulation process and finance, largely influence the appropriation of forests. As a consequence, highly industrialized and mechanized forest sectors pursue constant increases in productivity and use of forest resources. Thus, forest crises are at the center of social-environmental conflicts.
