Relevance of Soil Science to Governance of Sustainable Forest Bioenergy Systems.

International processes have consistently identified soil conservation as one of the most significant criteria defining sustainable forest bioenergy systems. Furthermore, all mandatory and voluntary guidelines for sustainable forest management include provisions for protecting soil values. The policy mandate requiring credible and validated input from soil scientists could not be stronger that exists today. However, the scientific basis for sustainably managing forests for production of bioenergy feedstocks lags behind the immediate needs of most actors involved in energy and forest sectors and representing the perspectives of land owners, professional organizations, industry, the public and NGOs. This suggests a need for the soils community to focus on the policy needs of the rapidly emerging bio-economy and renewable energy sector and to direct resources required to establish the scientific basis for sustainable management practices.