Digitalization has transformed various sectors, including forestry, by introducing specialized digital tools and ICTs. This study explores the impact of digitalization on the Italian forestry sector, focusing on socio-economic indicators. Data on these indicators were gathered from the “National Forest Information System” (SINFor), while the digitalization level in Italian regions came from previous studies. The methods used included correlation analysis between digitalization and socio-economic indicators, along with linear regression models. The study also presents three digital progress scenarios, predicting significant socio-economic improvements with increased digitalization. The results show a strong correlation between digitalization and forestry indicators such as employment, value creation, and certification. These findings highlight the transformative potential of digitalization for sustainable forest management, emphasizing the need for further investment in digital infrastructure to boost productivity, inclusivity, and environmental conservation. The study also discusses challenges in fully understanding the effects of digitalization and suggests future research directions to examine specific technological features and broader industry impacts.

The digitalization of processes is a priority objective on the agenda of the Italian National Government. The forestry system could benefit from its introduction, both for the purposes of administration, management, monitoring and governance of the national forest heritage. The authors, through questionnaires and interviews, defined the degree of digitalization of the forestry sector. While the computerisation phase has been completed, at the beginning of 2021, forest digitalization is still in the early stages, except for some realities that represent excellence.

The integration of digital technologies into forest management is crucial for the European Union’s Green Deal, the Forestry Strategy 2030, and Italy’s national forestry strategy, aiming to enhance governance and efficiency. However, sustainable forest management’s administrative aspects are often overlooked, despite the potential for digital tools to significantly improve environmental performance. Through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for a case study in the Umbria region, the research quantifies CO₂ emissions associated with over-threshold forestry administrative procedures under both current and future digitalisation scenarios. Data were collected from legislative documents, interviews with forestry professionals, and emissions calculated according to ISO standards. The findings reveal a considerable reduction in CO₂ emissions through digitalisation, from 75.07 kgCO₂ to 38.14 kgCO₂, with the implementation of the LIFE FOLIAGE project’s digital platform. This underscores digitalisation’s role in climate change mitigation, highlighting the significant, albeit modest per procedure, of the cumulative national impact. The main findings support further digitalisation in forest management as a method of increasing resource efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, thus contributing to the Green Deal’s and Italy’s forest sustainability goals.

Using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, environmental benefits in terms of CO₂ stored in chestnut wood in Italy have been calculated. Using one of the methodologies proposed under the LCA umbrella, a physical and formal balance sheet of CO₂ has been built. Chestnut forests (Castanea sativa Mill.) are one of the most critical forest types in Europe. They cover an area of 800,000 hectares in Italy, most of which are managed as coppices. Chestnut wood’s high-quality physical-chemical and mechanical characteristics and medium-long durability explains its widespread uses. In this case study a section of a public forest in Central Italy (Lazio Region) has been considered. In the section, during the rotation, two types of intervention were carried out: thinning at 19 years of age, and final cutting at the age of 32. A production of 416 and 93 m³ha⁻¹ for final cutting and thinning, respectively, was recorded. The global amount of 507 m³ is the functional unit, which has stored 547,875 kgCO₂. The combination of forest management and sawmill processing produces semi-finished chestnut timber products for 125 m³, which have a physical storage of 135,210 kgCO₂. Using the formal balance sheet of CO₂, total emissions from processing were recorded for a total of 27,766 kgCO₂. At the exit of sawmill, products stored 107,444 kgCO₂, which is the amount of Net-Carbon Dioxide Surplus (Net-CDS). Transportation from sawmill to market reduces the sequestered CO₂ by 0.77 kgCO₂/km. The Net-CDS represents a competitive advantage in the timber market. If tree species have the same physical, chemical, mechanical and price parameters, the timber consumer would prefer to buy wood with the highest Net-CDS.

Climate change has become one of the most critical problems facing modern society. Sustainable forest management can be an important solution to counter the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In particular, management of the chestnut forest could prove to be an effective strategy to absorb carbon dioxide as this species is characterized by sustained growth, so it has a high capacity to store carbon, and through the use of wood products, it is possible to sequester it for a considerable period. Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) forests cover an area of about 800,000 ha in Italy, most of which is managed as coppice. It plays a central role in the Latium Region where its productive function is very important, as it provides timber of excellent quality. The purpose of this paper is to verify whether the current management of chestnut is efficient, as well as whether retractable wood products can contribute to the fight against climate change. The chestnut coppice located in the municipality of Tolfa (Lazio region, Italy) produces timber for 352 m³/ha and stores about 390,000 kg of CO₂. Wood residues and losses during woodworking, together with emissions for the use of machineries, generate emissions of 368,000 kg of CO₂. The chestnut semi-finished products, with long-term use prospects, retain a net volume of 22,000 kg of CO₂. Although this is good for combating climate change, the amount of CO₂ stored is very low, less than 6% of the CO₂ stored by functional unit. Chestnut wood has a high versatility of use, so it could replace several products generated by fossil raw materials. Moreover, the implementation of precision forestry, the adoption of forest management more oriented to favor larger plants, the development of local economies and the reduction in the carbon footprint of the wood supply chain through the use of sustainable technologies would increase the capacity for climate change mitigation and increase the added value of its products.