Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science has a rich history dating back to October 1938. The first issue (then The Journal of The South African Forestry Association) was published by the South African Forestry Association (66 pages and 10 articles) with JM Turnbull as Chief Editor. The first issue costs only 6c (British) and was bilingual with articles alternating between Afrikaans and English. Until the late 1990’s, when electronic communication was still a distant cousin, the Journal served as a communication medium between SAIF and the South African Forestry Association members. Advertisements, constitution changes, announcements, message from the president, editorial notes, book reviews, research articles and summaries of proceedings (international and national) featured regularly. This contributed to the size differences between issues.
The SAIF became the sole publisher of the South African Forestry Journal in 1989. An editorial board for scientific papers and research notes was established and H van der Sijde joined the editorial team of V Jordaan and TMJ Kelly. Henk van der Sijde became the editor in 1993, Dennis Owen in 2000, Andrew Morris in 2010 and Neels de Ronde in 2019. As a result of increasing membership in neighbouring SADC and Southern Hemisphere countries, the Journal’s name changed a couple of times. The current Journal (“Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science” adopted in 2008) was formally known as Journal of the South African Forestry Association (1938 – 1961), South African Forestry Journal (1962 – 1996), Southern African Forestry Journal (1997 – 2006) and Southern Hemisphere Forestry Journal (2007). Although the various issues of the Journal varied in number of pages and articles, a staggering 81 volumes and almost 260 issues were published (an average of three issues per year) since 1938. This contributed to Southern Forests as a household name and preferred Journal in Forestry research.
Aim and Scope of the Journal
Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science publishes scientific articles in forest science and management of fast-growing, planted or natural forests in the Southern Hemisphere and the tropics. Papers are also encouraged on related disciplines such as environmental aspects of forestry, social forestry, agroforestry and forest engineering. Articles published by the journal are of value to forest scientists, resource managers and society at large.
The journal particularly encourages contributions from South America, Africa and tropical or subtropical Australasia and Asia. The mission of the Southern African Institute of Forestry (SAIF) is to assist the profession to achieve and maintain excellence in the practice of forest, wood and conservation science and Southern Forests is a tangible expression of this mission. Thoughts expressed by the writer of any editorial published in this journal do not necessarily reflect the views of the SAIF. For more information on the SAIF, contact Intsia Kriel at [E] saif@mweb.co.za
Publishing Manager
For all aspects relating to the publishing of the journal, including production and copyright issues, contact publishing@nisc.co.za. Publishing Manager: Dr Kelly-Anne Frith at NISC (Pty) Ltd. 046 622 9698.