Afforestation, Land System Transition, and Agricultural Multifunctionality: Governance Pathways for Sustainable Development

Afforestation has become a key strategy for addressing climate change, ecological degradation, and sustainable development challenges under global carbon neutrality commitments. Beyond carbon sequestration and ecosystem restoration, afforestation increasingly influences land-use patterns, agricultural restructuring, and regional development processes. As afforestation and ecological restoration programs expand worldwide, they are reshaping land systems and altering interactions among natural resources, agricultural production, ecosystem service provisioning, and human well-being. Understanding these broader impacts is essential for evaluating the long-term sustainability of afforestation policies.Recent research has advanced knowledge of vegetation recovery, carbon dynamics, and ecosystem service provisioning. However, important gaps remain in understanding how afforestation interacts with land system transition and agricultural multifunctionality. Existing studies often focus on ecological outcomes while paying less attention to how afforestation influences land-use decision-making, resource allocation, agricultural production, and rural development. In many regions, ecological restoration initiatives generate both synergies and trade-offs among environmental conservation, food security, livelihood improvement, and economic development, raising critical questions regarding governance effectiveness and sustainability.Agricultural multifunctionality provides a useful framework for understanding the multiple roles of agriculture beyond food production, including ecological conservation, cultural services, landscape management, and rural livelihoods. As afforestation policies reshape land-use structures and landscape configurations, they may significantly influence the provision of these services. Exploring such interactions is crucial for identifying sustainable pathways that enhance ecosystem services while maintaining productive and resilient land systems.Advances in land system science, spatial analysis, remote sensing, and socio-economic modelling provide new opportunities to investigate afforestation activities within coupled human–environment systems. This Research Topic seeks to promote interdisciplinary research that connects afforestation, land system transition, and agricultural multifunctionality. Attention is given to governance mechanisms that balance ecological restoration objectives with agricultural sustainability and regional development goals.We welcome theoretical, empirical, methodological, and policy-oriented contributions addressing topics including, but not limited to:1. Afforestation and land system transition — Spatial-temporal patterns of land-use change driven by afforestation and ecological restoration programs, including farmland conversion, landscape reconfiguration, and trade-offs between forest expansion and arable land retention.2. Ecosystem services and agricultural multifunctionality — Quantifying synergies and trade-offs among carbon sequestration, biodiversity, water regulation, food provisioning, and cultural services as afforestation reshapes land-use structures.3. Afforestation, food security, and rural livelihoods — Impacts of ecological restoration on agricultural production, resource allocation, household income, and rural development, with attention to regional equity and livelihood resilience.4. Remote sensing, spatial analysis, and modelling of coupled human–environment systems — Application of remote sensing, land system science, and socio-economic models to monitor vegetation recovery, carbon dynamics, and land-use decision-making at multiple scales.5. Governance, policy, and sustainable pathways — Evaluating the effectiveness of afforestation governance mechanisms in balancing ecological restoration, agricultural sustainability, and regional development under carbon neutrality commitments.This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and methodological studies that advance understanding of forestation within evolving socio-ecological systems and contribute to sustainable land governance and agricultural development. Topic editors: Yifeng Tang, He Linbo, Mengcheng Wang, Dawei Cai Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81394/afforestation-land-system-transition-and-agricultural-multifunctionality-governance-pathways-for-sustainable-development