Climate-smart forestry: a review of research trends and implementation approaches

Abstract Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) was introduced as a prescriptive framework to guide forest management under climate change, aiming to integrate climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives into forest planning and practice. While the concept has gained increasing international attention, its on-ground implementation and integration into national and regional strategies remain limited. The lack of evidence-based synthesis on CSF strategies and global applications further exacerbates this challenge. This study employs a bibliometric analysis and systematic review to synthesise existing literature on CSF, examining its role in sustainable forest management, enhancing forest resilience, and climate adaptation and mitigation. Using Web of Science metadata ( n = 86), we assess the temporal, thematic, and geographic evolution of CSF research, alongside its development and collaboration networks. We also review datasets from multiple databases to examine different CSF approaches, policy contexts, and regional applications. Our findings indicate that CSF gained formal recognition around 2017, with publications increasing sharply after 2020, largely driven by European policies and institutional contributions. Europe accounts for nearly 45% of the CSF publications, although the United States leads in overall research output. Despite this growth, we observe substantial research and implementation gaps, especially in developing regions. CSF research fosters stronger regional collaborations than international partnerships, reflecting the geographic concentration of studies. We categorise CSF strategies into key areas, discussing both their trade-offs and opportunities. We also analyse how aligning climate and forestry policies can support more robust, integrated, and effective approaches. However, the current carbon-centric focus must be balanced with ecological and socio-economic dimensions to ensure sustainability. CSF strategies should also incorporate local knowledge, community-led models, and context-specific solutions, while promoting policy coherence across scales to maximise implementation.