Moving Towards Coordinated Reforestation: Reflections from the 2025 Reforestation Summit

David Saah ,
David Saah
Elizabeth R Pansing ,
Elizabeth R Pansing
Joseph AE Stewart ,
Joseph AE Stewart
Joshua L Sloan ,
Joshua L Sloan
Thomas J Whitham ,
Thomas J Whitham
Malcolm P North ,
Malcolm P North
James H Thornes ,
James H Thornes
Michell A Jeffries ,
Michell A Jeffries
Aalap Dixit ,
Aalap Dixit
Zack Wurtzebach ,
Zack Wurtzebach
Charles M Truettner Orcid logo ,
Charles M Truettner
Jordan Combs ,
Jordan Combs
Teal Richards-Dimitrie ,
Teal Richards-Dimitrie
Carrie R Levine ,
Carrie R Levine
Robert Lawson ,
Robert Lawson
Brian C Morris ,
Brian C Morris
Benjamin Rushakoff ,
Benjamin Rushakoff
T Ryan McCarley ,
T Ryan McCarley
Kendall DeLyser
Kendall DeLyser

Published: 01.12.2024.

Volume 0, Issue 19 (2025)

pp. 1-7;

https://doi.org/10.21750/refor.19.01.122

Abstract

On January 15, 2025, American Forests and Planscape convened the 2025 Reforestation Summit at the Google.org offices in San Francisco, California, U.S. This collaborative event combined American Forests’ decades-long experience in post-fire reforestation planning and implementation with Planscape’s innovative, community-driven forest restoration planning platform. The objective of the summit was to initiate the development of an integrated reforestation tool(s) to support an end-to-end pipeline approach to post-fire reforestation. The summit brought together more than ninety leading scientists—both in-person and virtually—from across the United States to advance the state of reforestation science and practice (Figure 1). We first provide a brief summary of the 2025 Reforestation Summit, then describe the decision support tools (DSTs) that were discussed at the summit, and lastly discuss the next steps and challenges for building out an integrated reforestation tool(s).

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