New Forests https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-018-9644-6 1 3 Production, restoration, mitigation: a new generation of plantations Luis Neves Silva 1  · Peter Freer-Smith 2,3  · Palle Madsen 4 Received: 5 December 2017 / Accepted: 20 April 2018 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Forests provide a wide variety of ecosystem services and international con- ventions and national policies for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conserva- tion recommend forest protection and restoration. However, global forest cover continues to decline, and recent evidence suggests deforestation rates are accelerating. Against this background the area of planted forests has increased globally. Recognizing the substantial potential of well-managed forest plantations, the new generation plantations (NGP) plat- form was launched in 2007. NGP encourages well-managed planted forests in the right places to conserve biodiversity and meet human needs. Here we describe the NGP approach and analyze data and information from NGP participants and others over 10 years. This shows that NGP participants are responsible for c.11.1 million ha of land, much of it previ- ously degraded or abandoned; 43% is managed as timber plantations, with the remainder being wildlife reserves, restored natural forest, grassland and agriculture. NGP case studies illustrate a range of biodiversity, conservation and socio-economic achievements. These achievements, considered together with future projections of timber demand and of the land available for restoration to tree cover, demonstrate the potential of well-managed plan- tations to protect natural forests, provide timber, conserve biodiversity and mitigate climate change. The NGP concept works in a variety of countries and contexts; participants have shown that it is possible to produce timber while maintaining and enhancing ecosystems * Peter Freer-Smith pfreersmith@ucdavis.edu 1 IUFRO Task Force Sustainable Planted Forests for a Greener Future, New Generation Plantations Platform Lead, WWF-Brazil Forest Practice, SGCV Lt 15 Salas 319 e 421, Guará, Brasília, DF 71215-650, Brazil 2 IUFRO Task Force Sustainable Planted Forests for a Greener Future, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California at Davis, 3154 Wickson Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA 3 Forest Research, Forestry Commission, Alice Holt Lodge, UK 4 IUFRO Task Force Forest Adaptation and Restoration Under Global Change, Forest and Landscape College, IGN, University of Copenhagen, Nødebovej 77A, 3480 Fredensborg, Denmark Author's personal copy