FAO has been monitoring the world's forests at 5 to 10 year intervals since 1946. The Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA) are now produced every five years in an attempt to provide a consistent approach to describing the world's forests and how they are changing. The Assessment is based on two primary sources of data: Country Reports prepared by National Correspondents and remote sensing that is conducted by FAO together with national focal points and regional partners. The scope of the FRA has changed regularly since the first assessment published in 1948. These assessments make an interesting history of global forest interests, both in terms of their substantive content, but also in their changing scope. This presentation provides a summary of the FRA 2015 edition. ©FAO

1. How have forests changed?
Results from FRA 2015
K. MacDicken, FAO Forestry

2. 286national
correspondents
6,000+forest inventory
Resource
partners

3. The Collaborative Forest Resources
Questionnaire:
Making Joint Data Collection Work

4. How have forests changed?

5. But first, how have we
changed in the past 25 years?

6. 40%
2.5x
37%
3.2%

7. 200
million
m3
Annual wood
removal
893
187
High income countries
Industrial
Woodfuel
(million m3)
28
431
Low income countries
Industrial
Woodfuel
(million m3)

8. Net
emissions
from forests
1.5 Gt
CO2 per
year
CO2
129
million ha
Land
conversion

9. Natural
forest
239
million ha
110
million ha
Planted
forest
200
million ha
Protected
area
150
million ha
Biodiversity
conservation

10. …and we changed the extent
of global forest area

11. Forest area loss
has been cut in half
and is now less
than one-tenth the rate
of human population growth
1

12. Percentage of land area

13. … and in forest area per capita

14. Lost or burned: which is more important?
Nearly 7 million ha of
natural forest lost
per year from 2010-2015.
An average of over 50
million ha of forest land
burned every year.
compared to

15. Forest area continues
to expand in the temperate
and boreal zones
and contract in the tropics
2

16. Forest area gains and losses

17. Tropical
forest loss
7.2
million ha
per year
6.6
million ha
per year
Agricultural
expansion in
the tropics
Tropics: 2000-2010

18. The bulk of the world’s forest is natural forest.
But the share of planted forest is increasing.
Year Natural forest
(%)
Planted forest
(%)
1990 96 4
2005 94 6
2015 93 7

19. Natural forest change (1990-2015)

20. Natural forest change (2010-2015)

21. Planted forest change (1990-2015)

22. Planted forest change (2010-2015)

23. Our capacity
to manage forests
for the long-term
has never been
stronger.
3

24. More than half of all forest is permanent forest
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Forest area
Not permanent
Private
State-owned

25. UP
SFM
supportive
policies and
legislation
UP
Management
Planning
UP
Forest
monitoring
through
inventories
UP
Forest
management
certification

26. More measurements, monitoring, and reporting

27. Forest area certified as sustainably managed increased everywhere
More forest area is under management plans

28. The Future

29. What do countries think will happen
to their forest area by 2030?
• Some countries expect
it will decrease (27%)
• 21 countries expect a
decrease of 65 million
ha or 6% of their forest
area
• Some think it will increase
(73%)
• 52 countries expect a total
increase of 144 million ha
or 10% of their forest area

30. Three important take-aways
1
Forest area loss
has been cut in half
and is now less than
one-tenth the rate
of human population
growth
2
Forest area continues
to expand in the
temperate and boreal
zones and contract
in the tropics
3
Our capacity
to manage forests
for the long-term
has never been
stronger.

31. Explore these resources:
–How are forests changing?
–Special Issue of Forest Ecology
and Management
–Desk Reference
–Country Reports
–Forest Land Use Data Explorer
www.fao.org/forestry/fra

32. Forest resource information without investment
and action is just interesting history…
Let us put this information to use
for present and future generations…

33. Thank you.

34. Please see us at the FRA booth in
the FAO Pavilion!
Don’t miss the session:
Forest resources and how they are
changing, TUESDAY 1245-1415h in
Hall 5/6
www.fao.org/forestry/fra