Researchers from Europe, Uruguay, South Africa, and the United States described forest operations in their countries during the 25th World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) in Curitiba, Brazil. Aspects such as environmental impacts, operational efficiency, product quality, and ergonomics were addressed by representatives from four continents during a subplenary session entitled "Toward sustainable forestry operations for a greener future." The topic was also the focus of a technical session. The discussion was based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which look for ways to move toward a world that integrates social, energy-related, economic, and environmental aspects, with safety and equity for all peoples. Europe Andrea Laschi, a researcher at the University of Florence Department of Agriculture, Food, and Environment and Forests, coordinated the discussion and presented an overview of forestry operations in Europe through the concept of sustainable forestry operations. "It is a concept that all of us researchers in the area must consider. Wood consumption in Europe is greater than the quantity produced, and this is a great challenge for the industry," he said. Laschi stated that investing in machinery with cutting-edge technologies and training workers to decrease risk are the main aspects the European forestry sector should observe. "We know that the best machinery creates positive effects because it improves the efficiency of operations and worker safety. It is also important to consider the appropriate technology for each context and operations planning," he said. Africa The researcher Andre McEwan of Nelson Mandela University of South Africa spoke about forestry operations on the African continent. "Forestry operations generally have focused on cost reduction, increasing profits with little emphasis on social values such as safety and environmental concerns. The activity is associated with highly unsustainable levels and workers do not use safety equipment," he said. McEwan added that some initiatives have demonstrated that things can be done differently. "Improvement is difficult because it involves investments and changing the culture, but we want to use the scientific data to stimulate this improvement, and to do so we are creating a community of research on this topic," he said. Latin America Alejandro Oliveira, a researcher from the University of Uruguay, represented Latin America in the discussions. "In Uruguay, 90% of forest operations are mechanized, and 60% of forest production goes to the pulp industry. We do not yet know the long-term effects of this on the soil. We have a lot of research to do on soil compaction and erosion; to do so, we have a five-year research program, [currently] in the stage of establishing methodologies," he said. North America The researcher Dalia Abbas from American University in Washington, DC spoke about the panorama of forest operations in the United States, in spite of the wide variations among the different states. "The United States is a huge country in which each state has its own legislation, and the vegetation also varies widely, so trying to summarize this scenario is a very complex thing," she said. According to Abbas, creating mechanisms to encourage the evaluation of operations in each state is fundamental for sustainable forestry operations to become a reality in the United States. The same challenges Despite the individual characteristics of each country, the moderator concluded the discussion by confirming that the challenges are the same. "We all we have to focus on worker safety and using machinery and technology to reduce impacts," said Laschi.