The theme of this year’s International Day of Forests: ‘Forests and Innovation: New solutions for a better world’, is perhaps deliberately provocative: the forestry sector is not widely seen as one of the world’s most innovative. Indeed, there’s a perception among many that it’s instead rather conservative and opaque.

But it’s time for that perception to be updated – and for governments, funders, and investors to rally behind the array of innovations that hold potential to create positive change in the sector, and contribute to many other sectors, too. Our lives literally depend on forests: there is no escaping the rapidly changing context and worst impacts of the climate, food, and biodiversity crises without successfully adapting and innovating to better protect, restore, and manage the planet’s forests.

So what do we mean by innovation? Well, it’s not just about new technologies – it’s also about new policies, institutions, and forms of governance. And there are three main types of innovations to consider: incremental, transformative, and disruptive.