Forests and any other trees outside the forest play a relevant role all three great UN conventions on Climate Change, on Biodiversity, and on Combating Desertification. The policy processes to implement the measures in these conventions on sub-national, national, regional and international level are extremely complex. And that complexity comes, among other factors, from a blend of different sectoral and national interests, from a large number of scientifically not yet entirely resolved issues and a wide range of different biophysical, social, cultural and political conditions all over the world. The 2nd International Workshop on ¿Forests in Climate Change Research and Policy: The Role of Forest Management and Conservation in a Complex International Setting¿ held along the conference of the parties (COP17) on 01.12.2011 ¿ 7.12.2011 in Pietermaritzburg and Durban was focused on issues related to the role of forests for climate change and in which way their relevance is attributed in policy processes like REDD. Contributions are grouped under the topics Forest Management under Climate Change, Policy Issues of Climate Change, Monitoring Reporting and Verification, Forest Fires and Potential for REDD: Examples and Case Studies. Technical papers on challenges in context of the assessment of forest resources are mixed with contributions on climate related policy processes. Further special issues on forest fires and international case studies on the potential of REDD in different countries are given.