The strong wind storm in 2007 followed by bark beetle infestation that was widespread due to the strict static environmental regulation destroyed a significant part of local forests in National Park Nizke Tatry. In spite of identified social and institutional challenges requiring to adapt to climate change impact and build the competitiveness of forest management self-organized local community has proven its adaptive capacity to disturbances and started to apply innovative carbon forestry management practices (e.g. higher tree species diversity, forest natural regeneration, organic matter left on soil, selective cutting, etc.) with the aims to increase forest´s resilience to future natural disturbances and to be more cost – effective and sustainable in forest management. Although the only one state financial support was the compensation for forest damage, the action to change traditional forest management practices to carbon smart forestry was possible thanks to self- organisation, strong relationships and voluntarily – engaged members of forest commons as well as experienced foresters as members of this forest commons.

• Application of innovative carbon forestry can be seen as a positive movement to fulfil the global CO2 objectives from the local level and hopefully, it will lead to more cost-efficient forest management, higher performance of forest commons and more resilient forests. • Local community in forest commons regime has proven its self-organization and adaptive capacity to cope with natural disturbances and institutional ineffectiveness and community's potential to achieve more sustainable use of natural resources. Moreover, this local community could unintentionally reach a higher provision of multiple forest ecosystem services and significantly contribute to climate change mitigation.