Global Forest Resources

Building on data that is more comprehensive and reliable than ever before, covering 234 countries and territories, the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 shows encouraging signs of improved forest management and a global slowdown in deforestation. However these trends need to be strengthened, especially in countries that are lagging behind.

The contributions of forests to the well-being of humankind are far-reaching. Forests provide vital wood supplies, help to combat rural poverty, and ensure food security and decent livelihoods; they offer promising mid-term green growth opportunities; and they deliver vital long-term environmental services, such as clean air and water, biodiversity and mitigation of climate change. Building on data that are more comprehensive and reliable than ever before and covering 234 countries and territories, the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 (FRA 2015) shows encouraging signs of improved forest management and a global slowdown in deforestation. However, these trends need to be strengthened, especially in countries that are lagging behind.

A fascinating look into the scope and impacts of this major reporting exercise over a period of seven decades.

Forests provide a large range of beneficial services, including tangible ones such as timber and recreation, and intangible services such as climate regulation, biodiversity, and watershed protection. On the other hand, forests can also be considered roadblocks to progress that occupy space more productively used for agriculture, making consideration of their regulating services crucial for balancing land use and forest loss. Monitoring forest cover and loss is critical for obtaining the data necessary to help define what is needed to maintain the varying forest service requirements in different parts of the world. There is an increasing need for timely and accurate forest change information, and consequently a greater interest in monitoring those changes. Global Forest Monitoring from Earth Observation covers the very recent developments undertaken for monitoring forest areas from global to national levels using Earth observation satellite data. It describes operational tools and systems for monitoring forest ecosystems, discussing why and how researchers currently use remotely sensed data to study forest cover and loss over large areas. The book introduces the role of forests in providing ecosystem services and the need for monitoring their change over time, followed by an overview of the use of earth observation data to support forest monitoring. It discusses general methodological differences, including wall-to-wall mapping and sampling approaches, as well as data availability. This book provides excellent coverage of the research and applications of forest monitoring, indicator mapping at coarse spatial resolution, sample-based assessments, and wall-to-wall mapping at medium spatial resolution using optical remote sensing datasets, such as MODIS and Landsat. It examines the use of radar imagery in forest monitoring and presents a number of operational systems, from Brazil’s PRODES and DETER products to Australia’s NCAS system. Written by leading global experts in the field, this book offers a launch point for future advances in satellite-based monitoring of global forest resources. It gives readers a deeper understanding of global forest monitoring methods and shows how state-of-the-art technologies may soon provide key data for creating more balanced policies.

The contributions of forests to the well-being of humankind are far-reaching. Forests provide vital wood supplies and help to combat rural poverty, ensure food security and provide decent livelihoods; they offer promising mid-term green growth opportunities; and they deliver vital long-term environmental services, such as clean air and water, biodiversity, and mitigation of climate change. Building on data that is more comprehensive and reliable than ever before, covering 234 countries and territories, the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 shows encouraging signs of improved forest management and a global slowdown in deforestation. However these trend needs to be strengthened, especially in countries that are lagging behind. This desk reference provides the data reported by countries for the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015. Presented in easy-to-consult tabular form, it is a useful companion to the synthesis report as well as to the more detailed figures available on the Forest Land Use Data Explorer website.

Nearly three years ago, world leaders agreed to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the central framework for guiding development policies throughout the world. This edition of The State of the World’s Forests is aimed at enhancing our understanding of how forests and their sustainable management contribute to achieving several of the SDGs. Time is running out for the world’s forests: we need to work across sectors, bring stakeholders together, and take urgent action. The State of the World’s Forests 2018 identifies actions that can be taken to increase the contributions of forests and trees that are necessary to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. It is now critical that steps be taken to work more effectively with the private sector, and the informal forest sector must be transformed in order to bring broader economic, social and environmental benefits. Seventy years ago, when FAO completed its first assessment of the world’s forest resources, the major concern was whether there would be enough timber to supply global demand; now we recognize the greater global relevance of our forests and trees. For the first time, The State of the World’s Forests 2018 provides an assessment of the contribution of forests and trees to our landscapes and livelihoods. The purpose of this publication is to provide a much wider audience with an understanding of why forests and trees matter for people, the planet and posterity.

Forest fragmentation will inevitably continue over the coming years, especially in developing economies. This book provides a cutting edge review of the multi-disciplinary sciences related to studies of global forest fragmentation. It specifically addresses cross-cutting themes from both an ecological and a social sciences perspective. The ultimate goal of Global Forest Fragmentation is to provide a detailed scientific base to support future forest landscape management and planning to meet global environmental and societal needs.