Addressing poverty is an urgent global priority. Many of the world's poor and vulnerable people live in or near forests and rely on trees and other natural resources to support their livelihoods. Effectively tackling poverty and making progress toward the first of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere” must therefore consider forests and trees. But what do we know about the potential for forests and tree-based systems to contribute to poverty alleviation? This Special Issue responds to this question. It synthesises and presents available scientific evidence on the role of forests and tree-based systems in alleviating and, ultimately, eradicating poverty. The articles compiled here also develop new conceptual frameworks, identify research frontiers, and draw out specific recommendations for policy. The scope is global, although emphasis is placed on low- and middle-income countries where the majority of the world's poorest people live. This introductory article stakes out the conceptual, empirical and policy terrain relating to forests, trees and poverty and provides an overview of the contribution of the other seven articles in this collection. This Special Issue has direct implications for researchers, policymakers and other decision-makers related to the role of forests and tree-based systems in poverty alleviation. The included articles frame the relationships between forests, trees and poverty, identify research gaps and synthesize evidence to inform policy.

解决贫困是一项紧迫的全球优先事项。世界上许多贫困和脆弱的人生活在森林中或森林附近，依靠树木和其他自然资源维持生计。因此，有效解决贫困问题并在实现联合国 2030 年可持续发展目标中的第一项“在世界各地消除一切形式的贫困”方面取得进展必须考虑到森林和树木。但是，我们对森林和以树木为基础的系统有助于减轻贫困的潜力了解多少？本期特刊回应了这个问题。它综合并提供了关于森林和基于树木的系统在减轻并最终消除贫困方面的作用的现有科学证据。这里汇编的文章还开发了新的概念框架，确定了研究前沿，并提出了具体的政策建议。范围是全球性的，但重点放在世界上大多数最贫困人口居住的低收入和中等收入国家。这篇介绍性文章列出了与森林、树木和贫困相关的概念、经验和政策领域，并概述了本集中其他七篇文章的贡献。本期特刊对研究人员有直接影响，与森林和基于树木的系统在扶贫中的作用有关的决策者和其他决策者。所包含的文章构建了森林、树木和贫困之间的关系，确定了研究差距并综合了证据来为政策提供信息。