Forests are one of the richest ecosystems in terms of biomass stock and this potential is augmented by a broad range of ecosystem services that contribute to human wellbeing by protecting air from pollution, soil from runoff, landscapes from flooding and landslides. This high economic and ecologic potential is well acknowledged, but in specific circumstances short terms gains resulting from the valuation of wood or from conversion of land to other uses are prevailing and create powerful incentives for overexploitation or deforestation. The anthropogenic pressure on forests was and continues to remain high at global level, although there are states where it was successfully controlled. Nevertheless, the forest cover is shrinking increasing the associated threats that result from the cancellation of the forests’ ecosystem services. Of particular importance in the current context is the reduction of forests’ carbon sequestration potential, which is of crucial importance in climate change mitigation. The patterns of unfavourable circumstances are analysed in order to outline the most important challenges of forest management in Romania, but also the impact of novel ecosystem service based economic tools that are aimed to strengthen the incentives for sustainable forest management and to avoid conversion of forests to other land use types.