Given these trends, the goal of this special issue in Forest Ecology and Management is to review the scientific data and experiences of more than twenty-five years of research relating to the ecology and management of native tree species and second growth forests in order to inform reforestation and land restoration activities in the tropical South Asian region. The papers
within this special issue cover largely ecological and silvicultural topics of reforestation and restoration. The issue is dedicated to Professors Savithri and Nimal Gunatilleke of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Building on the rich tradition of village home garden woodlands in their nation, Sri Lanka, they with their students have applied continuing research, into the landscape ecology and historical biogeography of its rich wet zone flora, in path breaking experiments on forest restoration in the context of the contemporary village economy