Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 How are the world’s forests changing?

Year: 
2015
Publisher: 
© FAO

The Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) allows us to do exactly that. Since the first FRA was published in 1948, FAO has reported periodically on the situation of the world’s forests, serving the international community with the best information and techniques available. FRA 2015 arrives in a decisive year for forests and sustainable development. This year the development agenda towards 2030 is being defined, including the adoption of new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Forests and their role in protecting and restoring terrestrial ecosystems and their services are essential for the post-2015 development agenda. A global and inclusive climate change agreement – in which forests are a key part – is also expected to be reached at the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Paris in December 2015. The year 2015 also features the XIV World Forestry Congress in Durban, the biggest international forest event of this decade – to be held in Africa for the first time – where we are honoured to launch FRA 2015.

FRA 2015 shows a very encouraging tendency towards a reduction in the rates of deforestation and carbon emissions from forests and increases in capacity for sustainable forest management. The reliability of the information collected has also improved enormously – presently national forest inventories apply to some 81 percent of global forest area, a substantial increase over the past 10 years.

Two broad conclusions can be drawn: 1) we have a wealth of reliable information today on the situation of the world’s forests; and 2) the direction of change is positive, with many impressive examples of progress in all regions of the world. However this positive trend needs to be strengthened, especially in the countries that are lagging behind.

ISBN: 
978-92-5-108821-0
Work regions: 
Global | Latin America
Publication Type: 
Publication language: 
English
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