Integrating traditional forestry and modern carbon markets: a systematic review of silviculture, geospatial technologies, and jurisdictional REDD+ in the climate change era

Abstract

Climate change presents urgent challenges for forests but also creates new opportunities through carbon markets. This systematic review, conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, synthesizes 60 studies across four themes: climate change impacts, forest management and technologies, carbon market dynamics, and jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+). The findings indicate that climate impacts are already severe: rising temperatures have increased forest mortality, disturbance frequency, and carbon sink degradation. Advances in geospatial technologies including remote sensing, LiDAR, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and artificial intelligence (AI), now enable accurate, cost-effective, and near-real-time forest carbon monitoring, supporting jurisdictional accounting. Carbon markets are evolving rapidly, demand for high-integrity credits is projected to exceed supply in near future, creating significant opportunities for forest-rich developing countries. J-REDD+ under ART TREES marks a paradigm shift by addressing systematic leakage, permanence, and over-crediting. The study underscores the importance of early readiness, governance reform, technological capacity, and strategic investment to achieve resilient and equitable forest outcomes.