Reforested and afforested areas play a key role in providing ecosystem services, contributing to the socio-economic well-being of societies. Among the forest species used for the reforestation and afforestation, black pine is one of them, and Italy is among the areas where this species has been chosen. This study aims to investigate the mechanical stability of an artificial black pine forest approximately 10 years after two different types of thinning (selective and from below). To achieve this objective, the slenderness ratio was chosen as stability parameter, as it is well suited due to its practicality of calculation and the presence of threshold values in the literature. What emerges from the study is that the slenderness ratio shows no statistically significant difference between the different thinning techniques. This lack of difference could be due to a windthrow that occurred in 2017, which acted as a “natural” thinning agent. Future research should focus on understanding the right time interval between one thinning operation and the next, also considering other aspects, such as the profitability of the timber removed during the operations and other ecosystem services, such as soil protection.

Soil is fundamental to life on Earth through the provision of many ecosystem services. The current model of economic development exerts significant pressure on this resource, leading to degradation processes that are accelerated by the effects of climate change. This situation hinders the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and some parts of the world have started a process to reverse this trend, among them the European Union, which has chosen the living labs approach as a strategic solution. The growing interest in this subject within the EU has led to the establishment of a new framework to design and test sustainable policies to improve soil health and management at the continental scale. This review presents State-of-the-Art information on the use of the living labs approach to improve soil health. It also introduces the SOILL Support Structure for Soil Health Living Labs (SHLLs) and Lighthouses and the significant role of the SOILL-Startup project to help establish a network of 100 such structures across the EU. Following the PRISMA methodology, the review describes the main features of SHLLs (definition, types of stakeholders, field and scale of application), as well as their current geographical distribution. The work provides information that can be used by the scientific community, policy makers, and soil stakeholders who prioritise soil health, regardless of the context in which they operate.