Dear colleagues, for some of us and society at large, forests are something we take for granted. The COVID-19 pandemic teaches us differently: The attached commentary study shows exploding forest visitor numbers during the lockdown, thus revealing forests as part of the critical infrastructure during a pandemic. Based on the lessons from Germany, it starts discussing some implications for forest management and policy, with the potential to inform decisions in other places as well. So please feel free to distribute. Best regards Lukas Giessen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PD Lukas Giessen, PhD - Principal Scientist "Forest Governance" European Forest Institute (EFI), Bonn Office - Adjunct Professor, IPB Indonesia - Editor in Chief, Forest Policy and Economics (Elsevier): http://www.journals.elsevier.com/forest-policy-and-economics/ Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.de/citations?hl=en&user=voULQt4AAAAJ&view_op… ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lukas_Giessen