BioBag International addresses misconceptions about compostable bioplastics; company states bioplastic production uses only 0.01% of global agricultural land in 2021

I dag kan man møde bioplast mange steder i hverdagen. Især i form af affaldsposer, men også f.eks. som indkøbsposer, engangsservice og kaffekapsler.

På trods af de mange fordele ved bioplast, cirkulerer der desværre nogle misforståelser omkring komposterbar plast. Uanset om der er tale om uvidenhed eller bevidst vildledning, vil vi gerne afklare de mest almindelige påstande, som ikke er rigtige.

Bioplast tager ikke plads fra madproduktion
Dyrkning af biomateriale til fremstilling af bioplast bruger kun en meget lille del af verdens landbrugsjord. I 2021 blev det anslået, at det areal, der blev brugt til produktion af bioplast, udgjorde 0,01 % af verdens landbrugsareal, (https://docs.european-bioplastics.org/publications/EUBP_Facts_and_figures.pdfBIOPLASTICS facts and figures 3 DEAR READER Plastics are an integral part of our modern life. They nature of the planet’s fossil resources are spurring the play an essential role in providing, protecting, and demand for bioplastic materials and products. On the delivering high-quality products in pretty much ev- other hand, big brands and manufacturers are looking for ery market segment to consumers around the world. To- innovative ways to reduce their environmental footprint day, there is a bioplastic alternative for almost every con- and are tapping into the many benefits and advanced ventional plastic material and corresponding application. technical properties bioplastics have to offer. Bioplastics – plastics that are biobased, biodegradable, European Bioplastics defines bioplastics as plastics that are biobased, biodegradable, or both. or both – have the same or similar properties as con- The bioplastics industry is fast-growing and innovative, ventional plastics but offer additional benefits, such as and it has the potential to decouple economic growth a reduced carbon footprint, better functionalities, or ad- from resource depletion and environmental impact. The ditional waste management options, such as organic re- European Commission has recognised the essential role cycling. of bioplastics in the bioeconomy and their potential to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. European Biobased plastics have the unique advantage over con- Bioplastics, the association representing the interests of ventional plastics to reduce the dependency on limited the bioplastics industry in Europe, is working closely with fossil resources and to reduce greenhouse gas emis- the European institutions and all other relevant stake- sions. Currently, bioplastics represent less than one holders to shape the economic and policy landscape in percent of the more than 390 million tonnes of plastic Europe in which the bioplastics industry can thrive. produced annually1. But as demand is rising and with more sophisticated materials, applications, and products This brochure will give you an overview of the bioplastics emerging, the market is growing dynamically. industry, the market development, and the work of Euro- pean Bioplastics. On the one hand, the growing environmental awareness of consumers as well as the knowledge about the finite Yours sincerely, European Bioplastics 1 World plastics production 2021, Plastics Europe, 2022. 4 BIOPLASTICS – definition, materials and technology Bioplastics are not just one single material. They • Biobased and biodegradable plastics, such as poly- comprise a whole family of materials with different lactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), properties and applications. According to European polybutylene succinate (PBS), or different starch Bioplastics, a plastic material is defined as a bioplastic blends; if it is either biobased, biodegradable, or features both • Plastics that are based on fossil resources and biode- properties. There are three groups of bioplastics, each gradable, such as polybutylene adipate terephthalate with their own characteristics: (PBAT), but that may well be produced at least partly • Biobased (or partly biobased), non-biodegradable biobased in the future or in some cases already are. plastics, such as biobased polyethylene (PE), poly- propylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Bioplastics offer a broad range of functionalities opti- (so-called drop-in solutions), biobased technical mised for each type of application. They can be pro- performance polymers, such as numerous biobased cessed into a vast array of products using conventional polyamides (PA), polytrimethylene terephthalate plastics processing technologies. In most cases, the (PTT) or totally new polymers such as polyethylene process parameters of the processing equipment sim- furanoate (PEF); ply have to be adjusted to the individual specification of each polymer. Global production capacities of bioplastiGcslo 2b0a2l 1p roduction capacities of bioplastics 2021 (by material type) (by material type) Global production capacities of bioplastics G2l0o2ba2l production capacities of bioplastics 2019 (bOyth mer ater1ia.0l% type) 19.2%(bPyB mATaterial type) Other 1.0% 1(b9i.o2b%asePdB/AT (biobased/ non-biodegradable) 3.5% PBS non-biodegradable) 3.5% GPBloSbal production capacities of bioplastics 2019 Other 1.1% 4.5%OthePr BAT 1.1% 13.4% PBAT P(Ebioba(sbedy/ m9a.5t%erial type) 18.9% P(bLioA-based/ PE 9.5% 1n8o.9n%-bioPdLeAgradable) 0.9%non-bPioBdeSgradable) 4.3% PBS PET 6.2% PET 6.2% 1.8% PEHA 11.8% 13.9% PLA 1.P8E% POHtAher 14.8%1.1% 13.4% PBAT PA (bio-b9a.s1ed%/ Total: 20.7P%ET PLA PA 9.1% Total: 2.42 million 16.4% Starch ble9n.d8%s 1.2% PHA 2.42 million 1P6 non-biodegradable) 4.3% PBS PP.E4T% Starch1 .4b9.%l2e%nds PE 11.8% 3.9%PA PHA 11.6% Total: tonnes 2.11 million 21.3% Starch blends bPioPbased 1.9% biodegratdoanblnees PA 11.1% Total: 13.93%.2P%LA Cellulose lms2 3.2% Cellulose lms2 PP 0.9% PEF 1 tonnes PET 0.0% 9.8% 1.4% Other PEF 1 0.0% 2.22 million 1.2%1.2P%1H7A.9O% Starch blends PEtFh*er 0.0% (biodegradable) 1PP.T2PT% OPtAher8.31.%9%11.6% Total: 2.11 tmoin (biodegradable) PTT 8.1% llnioens 21.3% S3ta.r6c%hP TbTlenCdes(biodegradable) llulos9e.2 f%ilms2 PEF1 PP 0.0%0.9% tonnes 1.4% Other PEF* 0.0% (biodegradable) PTT 13.3% PTT 9.2% BBiioo-bbaasseedd//nnoonn--bbiiooddeeggrraaddaabbllee Biodegradable Bio-based/non-biodegradable 48.B5iodegradable Bio-based/non-biodegradable 35.8% Biodegradable 44.5% 55.5% Ac 64.2% 3c5o.8r%ding to European Bioplastics’ definition, Global p64ro.2d%u ction capacity 2022 by material *PEF is currently in development and predicted to be available in commercial scale in 2023. bioplastics are biobased, biodegradable, or 1PEF is currenBtliyo i-nb daesveedlo/pnmoenn-bt aiond epgrerdaidctaebdl eto be available at commercial scale in 2023. 2 RegeneraBteiBdo icdoeedllguelrgoarsdaed aablmble Biobased/non-biodegradable Source: EuropeanB slBeiioopdlaestgicrs,a n1PEF is currently in development and predicted to be available at commercial scale in 2023. 2 Regenerat cellulose lms 51.5% 55.5% dovaab-Inlestitute (2019) 44.5% More information: www.european-bioplastics.org/market and www.bio-based.eu/markets both. S4o8ur.c5e%: :E Euuroropepaena Bni oBpiloapstliacs,t incosv, an-oInvstait-uIntes t(2it0u2t2e). (2021) Source: European Bioplastics, nova-Institute (2021) 51.5% More inform*PEaFt iiso cunrr:ew ntwly iwn d.eeveulorpompenet aannd- pbreidoicptedla tos tbiec asv.aoilarbgle/ imn coamrkmeer tcaianl dsca wle iwn 2w023.b. io-based.eu/markets More information:w ww.european-bioplastics.org/marke tand www.bio-based1P.eEuF/ ims caurrkrSeeontutslryc ein: E duervoepleoapnm Beionpt lanstdic sp, rneodvicat-Iends ttiotu btee (a2v0a19ila) ble at commercial scale in 2023. 2 Regenerated cellulose films More information: www.european-bioplastics.org/market and www.bio-based.eu/markets Source: European Bioplastics, nova-Institute (2022). More information: www.european-bioplastics.org/market and www.bio-based.eu/markets 5 BIOPLASTICS – benefits and innovative properties Reduced carbon footprint Innovative materials for better perfor- Biobased plastics have the unique advantage over con- mance ventional plastics to reduce the dependency on limited Biobased or partially biobased drop-in plastics, such as fossil resources and to reduce greenhouse gas emis- biobased PE or PET, show the same physical properties sions by replacing the fossil content in plastics with as their conventional counterparts, and while they can be plant-based content. Some life cycle analyses show that mechanically recycled in existing recycling streams, they biobased plastics feature a significant CO2 saving com- have the additional benefit of reducing a product’s car- pared to conventional plastics, depending on the feed- bon footprint. The bioplastics industry has come up with stock, the product, and the application. Consequently, numerous innovative technical and material solutions. biobased plastics can help the European Union (EU) to Many biobased plastics offer new material properties for reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet its zero-net an improved performance, including enhanced breath- target by 2030. ability, increased material strength, reduced thickness, and improved optical properties. New, innovative materi- Increased resource efficiency als such as PLA, PHA, or biobased PBS offer additional Bioplastics can make a considerable contribution to in- end-of-life solutions by being biodegradable in certain creased resource efficiency through a closed resource cy- environments. Other new materials such as 100% bio- cle and use cascades, especially if biobased materials and based polyethylene furanoate (PEF) feature better barrier products are being either reused or recycled and eventually properties than comparable conventional polymers and used for energy recovery (i.e. renewable energy). can easily be mechanically recycled. 6 MARKET – dynamic growth and development The bioplastics industry is a young, innovative sector tion capacities of bioplastics are predicted to grow from with an enormous economic and ecological potential around 2.2 million tonnes in 2022 to approximately 6.3 for a low-carbon, circular bioeconomy that uses resources million tonnes by 2027. more efficiently. The EU has started to acknowledge the many benefits and is allocating funds and resources to Bioplastic alternatives exist for almost every convention- research and development in this sector. al plastic material and corresponding application. Due to a strong development of polymers, such as PHA (Poly- The global market for bioplastics is predicted to grow hydroxyalkanoates), polylactic acid (PLA), PAs (polyam- continuously over the next years. According to the lat- ides) as well as a steady growth of Polypropylene (PP), est market data compiled by European Bioplastics in the production capacities will continue to increase sig- collaboration with the nova-Institute, the global produc- nificantly and diversify within the next 5 years. BBiiBooiddoeedggerrgaarddaaadbballbeel ebb iibooippolplaalssattsiictciscs 2s 2 020202122 1 vv ssv.. s 2.2 0202206726 BiBoi-ob-absaesde d& &d udruarbalbel eb iboipolpalsatsictisc 2s 022012 1v sv. s2. 0220626 4,000 6,0060,000 3,556 2,5020,500 PBAPBTAT 5,259,7297 2,229,7297 PBAT PBSPBS PLAPLA 3,000 PBS PHPAHA 4,0040,000 StaSrctahr cbhle bnldesnds 1,5010,500 PLA CelCluellolusleo sfielm fislm* s* 2,000 PHA PEPE 864864 PETPET 2,0020,000 1,142 1,000 1,515,3553 Starch blends PAPA 500500 PPPP Cellulose films* PEFP*E*F** 0 0 0 0 PTTPTT 22002201221 20220026726 2020121 2020626 OthOetrhsers *Regenerat*eRdeg *cReneegllreuanltoerdsa etce fdlill umcleolslsuel ofislme fsilm**sPE*F*P iEs Fc uisr rceunrtrleyn intl yd ienv edleovpemloepnmt eantd a pnrde dpirceteddic teod b teo a bvea ialavabillea abtle c aomt cmomermciaelr csicaal lsec ianl e2 i0n2 230. 23. SouSroceu:r cEeu: rEouperoapne Banio Bpliaosptliacs,t incso,v nao-Ivnas-tIintustiet u(t2e0 (2210)2 1) MSoouMrrec eoin:r eEfo uirnrmofoparemtaionan Bt:i oiownpw:l awstw.iecwus,r. enouopvreoaa-pnIne-sabtniitou-pbteliao (ps2t0lia2cs2t.)oi. crsg.o/mrga/mrkaetr kaentd a wndw ww.bwio.-bbioa-sbeads.eud/.emua/mrkaetrskets More information: www.european-bioplastics.org/market and www.bio-based.eu/markets Global production capacity of bioplastics (2021 - 2027) Biodegradable vs. Biobased & durable bioplastics (2022 vs. 2027) Source: European Bioplastics, nova-Institute (2022). Source: European Bioplastics, nova-Institute (2022). in 1,000 tonnes iinn 11,,000000 ttoonnnneess in 1,000 tonnes 7 MARKET – regional development With a view to regional capacity development, Asia Against this background, the implementation of a Eu- further strengthened its position as major produc- ropean policy framework that secures equal access to tion hub with almost 41 percent of bioplastics currently biobased resources, creates measures to facilitate mar- being produced in the region. At present, just over a ket entry for biobased products, and accounts for the fa- quarter of the production capacity is still located in Eu- cilitating role of compostable plastics for efficient waste rope. However, Europe’s share and that of other world stream management, is of paramount importance. regions will significantly decrease within the next five years. In contrast, Asia is predicted to increase to al- most 63 percent by 2027. 41.4 26.5 18.9 12.6 0.5 Global production capacity by region in 2022 Source: European Bioplastics, nova-Institute (2022). 8 MARKET – vast applications for bioplastics Bioplastics are used in an increasing number of diversify. Segments, such as automotive & transport or markets, from packaging, catering products, building & construction, remain on the rise with growing consumer electronics, automotive, agriculture/ capacities of functional polymers. Biobased plastics do horticulture and toys to textiles and a number of other not only help to make cars lighter in order to save fuel, segments. Packaging remains the largest field of but they provide additional means to reduce carbon application for bioplastics with almost 48 percent (1.1 emissions and the impact on the environment. million tonnes) of the total bioplastics market in 2022. However, the portfolio of application continues to Biobased plastics (by market segment) 2022 Biodegradable plastics (by market segment) 2022 Source: European Bioplastics, nova-Institute (2022). Source: European Bioplastics, nova-Institute (2022). 9 MARKET – vast applications for bioplastics The increase in the use of bioplastics in all market well as the continuous advancements and innovations of segments is driven by the rising demand for sustainable the bioplastics industry in new materials with improved products by consumers and brands alike. This is due to a properties and new functionalities. growing awareness of the impact on the environment as There is nothing that bioplastics can‘t do: Today, there is a bioplastic alternative for almost every conventional plastic material and corresponding application. Pictures: API, Cargo Cosmetics, Michael Young Designer, Corbion, novamont | Metabolix / Zoe b | Mazda | Heinz | PolyOne, Beanarella 10 BIOPLASTICS – an important part of the EU bioeconomy Bioplastics are an essential part of the bioeconomy. Besides its contributions towards a sustainable future, They are a fast-growing, innovative industry that has the emerging bioplastics industry has the potential to the potential to decouple economic growth from resource unfold an immense economic impact in Europe over the depletion and negative environmental impact, and to help coming decades. According to a market analysis con- deliver better economic and environmental outcomes by ducted by EuropaBio2, the European bioplastics industry replacing fossil feedstock with biobased feedstock, while could realise a steep employment growth, most of which continuing to harness the benefits of plastics. will have positive effects on the development of rural areas. In 2013, the bioplastics industry accounted for Bioplastics create jobs and growth in Europe Moreover, bioplastics contribute to an increased re- around 23,000 jobs in Europe. With the right framework source efficiency by applying the principles of the circular conditions in place, this number could increase more economy: from sustainable sourcing to product design, than tenfold by 2030, with up to 300,000 high skilled jobs and to ensuring that plastics do not become waste but being created in the European bioplastics sector. Yet, an instead re-enter the economy as valuable technical ma- integrated European political and economic framework terial or biological nutrients. is needed to unlock the potential of a full-scale market introduction of bioplastics in Europe. 2 EuropaBio – The European Association for Bioindustries: Jobs and growth generated by industrial biotechnology in Europe (2016) 11 BIOMASS FOR BIOPLASTICS – efficient use of feedstock Today, bioplastics are mostly made of agro-based approximately 0.8 million hectares of land to grow the and ligno-cellulosic feedstock. Currently, agro-based renewable feedstock. The surface required to grow feedstock (plants that are rich in carbohydrate, such sufficient feedstock for today’s bioplastics produc- as corn or sugar cane) is the most efficient and profit- tion is just only 0.015 per cent of the global agricul- able option, since these plants are designed to produce tural area of a total of 5 billion hectares. Metaphorically the highest yields and withstand pests and demanding speaking, this ratio correlates to the size of an average weather conditions. Ligno-cellulosic feedstock includes cherry tomato compared to the Eiffel Tower. The area plants that are not eligible for food or feed production. used to grow crops for the production of bioplastics The bioplastics industry is also developing new technolo- is no competition to the production of food and feed. gies that use waste materials from the mentioned feed- Increasing the efficiency of feedstock and agricultural stocks with a view to its further use for the production of technology is continuously enhancing good agricul- bioplastics materials in the future. tural practices. Today, the sustainability of biomass sourcing is ensured through the growing importance Land use and implementation of reliable and independent sus- In 2022, the global production capacities of bioplas- tainability certification schemes such as ISCC plus, tics amounted to 2.2 million tonnes, which required RSB, or BonSucro. GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL AREA Pasture 3.3 billion ha Food & Feed 1.24 billion ha = 26%* Material use*** 106 million ha = 2%* Biofuels Arable land** 53 million ha = 1%* 1.4 billion ha BBiiooppllaassttiiccss*** 2201149:: 0..6798 miilllliion haa ≈ 0..00116%** 22001294:: 11..40 0m milliilolino nh ah a≈ ≈0 0.0.03%21*% * Source: European Bioplastics (2017), FAO Stats (2014), nova-Institute (2017), and Institute for * In relation to global agricultural area Land us ** Including approx. 1% fallow land Beio pfloasrt ibcsi oanpdla Bsiotcicoms pinos i2te0s 2(20 1a7n). dM 2or0e 2in7formation: www.european-bioplastics.org *** Land-use for bioplastics is part of the 2% material use Source: European Bioplastics (2022), FAO Stats (2020), nova-Institute (2022), and Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (2019), University of Virginia (2016) 12 BIOPLASTICS – contributions to improved waste management Bioplastics are suitable for a broad range of end-of- Compostability is a feature of certain biodegradable bio- life options. With the overwhelming part of the vol- plastics that offers additional waste treatment options at umes of bioplastics produced today already being re- the end of a product’s life. Products, such as composta- cycled alongside their conventional counterparts where ble biowaste bags or food packaging can be treated to- separate recycling streams for certain material types gether with organic waste in industrial composting plants exist (e.g. biobased PE in the PE-stream or biobased or AD plants and are thus diverted from landfills and PET in the PET stream). This way, bioplastics can con- turned into biogas or valuable compost. If bioplastics can tribute to higher recycling quotas in the EU and more no longer be reused or recycled, they can be used for the efficient waste management. New materials, such as production of renewable energy. PEF and PLA can also be mechanically recycled but still face the hurdles of low market shares. Efficient waste management is key to the European Commission’s flagship policy goal of a resource ef- ficient Europe and its circular economy vision. The EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) defines a five- step waste hierarchy, ranking the treatments of waste based on their ability to conserve resources. EU Waste hierarchy 13 BIOPLASTICS – SAFE – contributions to improved waste management transparent claims and reliable standards The use of independent and internationally respected plastic materials and products, based on the C14 content labels to mark bioplastic products is important for measurement or C14-method and elemental analysis, consumers to receive transparent and correct informa- respectively. tion about the product and to safeguard the positive im- age of bioplastics. Compostability labels Biodegradable products certified according to the stan- Biobased labels dards EN 13432 and EN 14995 can be called (industri- Substantiation of biobased claims should conform to the ally) compostable. The ‚Seedling’ logo is a reliable label EU standards EN 16640 and/or EN 16785. Those stan- for industrial compostability, which assists in the decision dards specify the calculation method for determining the on purchasing and disposing a product or packaging. biobased (carbon) content in monomers, polymers and Trustworthy labels are always linked to an internationally ac- Selection of labels for bioplastics: cepted standard via an independent certification scheme. Euro- pean Bioplastics supports corresponding certification schemes and labels for product identification and disposal, and their EU-wide implementation. There are two organisations in Europe, DIN CERTCO and TÜV Austria that provide certifications and corresponding labels based on these standards. Environmental communications guide European Bioplastics has compiled a comprehensive Environmental Communications Guide providing general recommendations as well as specific guidelines for com- municating environmental claims for bioplastics. 14 EUROPEAN BIOPLASTICS – the European Association of the bioplastics industry European Bioplastics (EUBP) is the association repre- EUBP currently represents over 80 members from the en- senting the interests of the bioplastics industry along tire value chain of bioplastics, from producers of renew- the entire value chain in Europe. EUBP is working very able feedstock, bioplastics producers, and converters to closely with bioplastics businesses, with EU policy mak- brand owners, research institutes, and waste manage- ers, and other key stakeholder groups to ensure a sup- ment organisations. The increase in the use of bioplastics portive policy and economical framework in Europe for in all market segments is driven by the increasing de- our emerging industry to thrive in. mand for sustainable products by consumers and brands alike due to a growing awareness of the impact on the European Bioplastics has been a key player in shaping environment as well as the continuous advancements the policy environment for our industry in Europe for and innovations of the bioplastics industry in new materi- almost 30 years. Founded in 1993 as a German asso- als with improved properties and new functionalities. ciation for biodegradable polymers, EUBP evolved into a European association that represents both biobased and biodegradable plastics. 2 4 6 Bioplastics manufacturers and auxiliaries (additives) Research, consulting, framework and others 11 Plastic converters in % 44 RRM intermediates, RRM conversion 12 (Industrial) end users Plastic products distribution 21 Machinery/engineering/equipment Members according to industry sectors, 2022 15 EUROPEAN BIOPLASTICS – EUROPEAN BIOPLASTICS – the European Association of the bioplastics industry driving the evolution of plastics European Bioplastics serves as both knowledge partner • We provide comprehensive information on all relevant and business network for companies, experts, and all topics surrounding bioplastics, including the compre- relevant stakeholder groups of the bioplastics industry. hensive annual global market data update. • We provide opportunities and platforms to connect Our primary task is to raise awareness and inform policy and network, such as our annual European Bioplastics makers, brands, businesses, consumers, media, and the Conference – the leading business event of our indus- interested public about the properties, benefits, and po- try in Europe. tentials of bioplastics for a sustainable society. Benefits of becoming a member Our activities at a glance: If you would like to know more about our activities, our • We formulate and communicate our industry’s posi- members, or the benefits of becoming a member of tions on relevant issues. European Bioplastics, visit our website www.european- • We represent our members’ interests in consultations bioplastics.org or contact us directly at info@european- and developments around relevant policy issues in bioplastics.org. Brussels. 13th European Bioplastics Conference, opening speech of François de Bie, Chairman of European Bioplastics 3 EBC2 C23 23 Contact & more information 3 EB BC 23 E 23 EBC2 C23 Do you want to learn more about the ad- For more info2rma3tio E BC n, please v2isit3 ou r EBC website: 3 EB 3 vantages and applications of bioplasEticBs?C23 wwwB.eurCopean-bioplastics.org BC 2 Or follow us on twitter: European Bioplastics Phone: 0049 30 28 48 23 50 23 E 23 E EBC2 twitter.com/EUBioplastics EBC2 Marienstraße 19-20 Email: info@european-bioplastics.org 10117 Berlin Email: press@european-bioplastics.org Or follow us on LinkedInC23 : C23 C23 23 23 EBC 23 EBC https://de.l 23 EBC 3inke dEin.cBom/com3pan yE/ B european-bioplastics 3 EB BC BC BC BC 23 E 23 E 23 E EBC2 23 E EBC2 EBC2 C23 C23 C23 C23 23 EBC 3 EB 3 23 23 EBC BC 23 EBC 23 EBC 3 EB 3 EB 3 EB BC EBC2 BC EBC2 BC 23 E 23 EEBC 3E BC2 23 E EBC2 EBC2 C23 C23 23 EBC BC 23 23 E C23 C23 C23 23 EBC 3 EB 3 EB BC 23 E 23 E 23 EBC 23 EBC 3 EB 3 EB BC EBC2 23 23 EBC European 3 EB EBC2 23 EBC BC BC EBC2 ioplastic 23 E EBC2 EsBC2 CR2E3G ISTER B C23 23 EBC 23 EBC 23 E BC 23 EBC 23 E 23 EBC 3 EBC C23 C23 ference NOW Con 23 EBC 3 EB 3 EB BC BC 23 C23 23 E 23 E BC 23 E BC EBC2 23 EBC 3 EB 3 EB 3 EB BC EBC2 EBC2 23 E 23 E C23 BC EBC C23 E EBC2 23 E EBC2 EBC2 12 – 13 DC 23 EC 2C 23 023 Tit23 EBC BC anic Hotel Ber23 lin and online:2 3 EBC 3 EB www.european-biopla 23 EBC 3 EB BC BsticCs.org/events 23 EBC 23 EBC 3 EB C23 3 EB BC 23 E 23 E BC EBC23 23 E BC EBC2 EBC2 3 EB 23 E EBC2 EBC2 23 E 23 E C23 C23 EBC2 C23 C23 23 EBC EBC BC 23 EBC 23 EBC BC 23 EBC 3 EB 3 EB 3 EB 3 EB BC 23 EBC 23 E 23 E BC 23 E BC EBC2 EBC2 EBC2 EBC2 23 E 23 E 23 EBC C23 C23 23 EBC 23 EBC EBC23 EBC BC BC 23 EBC 23 EBC 3 EB 3 EB 23 E BC 23 E BC 23 E EBC2 EBC2 EBC 23 E C23 C23 23 EBC 23 EBC 3 EB EBC 23 EBC 3 EB EBC BC 23 E EBC2 EBC2 EBC EBC23 C23 3 EB EBC2), hvilket svarer til kun 700.000 hektar.

For at sætte dette tal i perspektiv er antallet af hektar, der bruges til afgrøder til industrielle formål f.eks. produktion af pap og papir, meget højere. På verdensplan bruges et skovareal på 1,15 milliarder hektar, dvs. 1.640 gange mere, udelukkende til træ og andre produkter (https://www.fao.org/3/ca9825en/ca9825en.pdfGlobal Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Main report Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Main report Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome 2020 Required citation: FAO. 2020. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020: Main report. 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FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through publications-sales@fao.org. Requests for commercial use should be submitted via: www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request. Queries regarding rights and licensing should be submitted to: copyright@fao.org. Contents iii Contents 77 6. Ownership and management rights viii Foreword 79 Forest ownership ix Acknowledgements 82 Private ownership, by type of owner x Acronyms and abbreviations 83 Holders of management rights in publicly xi Key findings owned forests 87 7. Disturbances 92 Insects 1 1. Introduction 93 Diseases 3 Process 94 Severe weather events 5 Scope 6 Data analysis 97 8. Policies and legislation 6 Outputs 99 Findings 11 2. Forest extent and changes 101 9. Employment and education 13 Forest area 103 Employment 21 Other land with tree cover 104 Education 23 Other wooded land 107 10. Non-wood forest products removals and value 25 3. Forest characteristics 27 Naturally regenerating forest 115 11. Discussion 30 Planted forest 117 Enhanced country participation 32 Plantation forest and other planted forest 117 Reduced reporting burden 34 Plantations of introduced species 117 Stronger capacity development 34 Primary forest 119 Improved data availability and quality 38 Mangroves 39 Bamboo 123 12. Conclusion 40 Rubber plantations 125 Take-home messages 126 Next steps 41 4. Growing stock biomass and carbon 44 Growing stock 45 Growing-stock composition 48 Biomass stock 127 Annexes 51 Carbon stock 129 Annex 1. Statistical factsheets 136 Annex 2. Global tables 55 5. Designation and management 163 References 58 Global overview 58 Analysis by designation category iii TABLES 33 Table 23. Top ten countries and territories for plantation forest as a proportion of total forest area, 4 Table 1. Key milestones in the development of 2020 the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 35 Table 24. Plantation forests composed of introduced 14 Table 2. Forest area, by region and subregion, 2020 species, by region and subregion, 2020 15 Table 3. Top ten countries for forest area, 2020 35 Table 25. Plantation forests composed of introduced 15 Table 4. Top ten countries and territories for species as a proportion of total plantation forest area, forest cover as a percentage of total land area, 2020 by region and subregion, 1990–2020 16 Table 5. Forest area, by region and subregion, 36 Table 26. Area of primary forest, by region and 1990–2020 subregion, 2020 17 Table 6. Annual average net change in forest area, 36 Table 27. Top five countries for primary forest area, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 2020 18 Table 7. Top ten countries for average annual net loss 37 Table 28. Top five countries and territories for primary of forest area, 2010–2020 forest as a proportion of total forest area, 2020 18 Table 8. Top ten countries for average annual net gain 37 Table 29. Area of primary forest and annual change, in forest area, 2010–2020 by region and subregion, 1990–2020 19 Table 9. Deforestation rate, by climatic domain, 38 Table 30. Area of mangroves, by region and subregion, for four periods spanning 1990–2020 2020 19 Table 10. Deforestation rate, by region and subregion, 39 Table 31. Area of mangroves and annual change, for four periods spanning 1990–2020 by region and subregion, 1990–2020 23 Table 11. Area of other land with tree cover, 39 Table 32. Area of bamboo, by region and subregion, by region and subregion, 2020 2020 23 Table 12. Area of other wooded land, by region 40 Table 33. Area of rubber plantations, by reporting and subregion, 2020 country, 2020 24 Table 13. Top ten countries for area of other wooded 44 Table 34. Volume of forest growing stock, by region land, 2020 and subregion, 2020 24 Table 14. Area of other wooded land and annual 45 Table 35. Top ten countries for volume of forest change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 growing stock, 2020 28 Table 15. Area of naturally regenerating forest, 46 Table 36. Total volume of forest growing stock, by region and subregion, 2020 by region and subregion, 1990–2020 28 Table 16. Area of naturally regenerating forest, 46 Table 37. Volume of forest growing stock per hectare, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 by region and subregion, 1990–2020 29 Table 17. Annual change in the area of naturally 48 Table 38. Volume of biomass and dead-wood stock, regenerating forest, by region and subregion, by region and subregion, 2020 1990–2020 49 Table 39. Forest biomass conversion and expansion 30 Table 18. Area of planted forest, and planted forest factor, root–shoot ratio and dead–live ratio, by region as a proportion of total forest area, by region and and subregion, 2020 subregion, 2020 49 Table 40. Total living biomass, by region and 30 Table 19. Top ten countries and territories for subregion, 1990–2020 planted forest as a proportion of total forest area, 2020 50 Table 41. Dead-wood stock, by region and subregion, 31 Table 20. Area of planted forest, by region 1990–2020 and subregion, 1990–2020 51 Table 42. Forest carbon stock in carbon pools, 31 Table 21. Annual change in the area of planted forest, by region and subregion, 2020 by region and subregion, 1990–2020 52 Table 43. Total forest carbon stock, by region and 32 Table 22. Area of plantation forest and other planted subregion, 1990–2020 forest, by region and subregion, 2020 iv 59 Table 44. Forest area designated primarily for 72 Table 61. Top ten countries for forest in protected production, by region and subregion, 2020 areas, 2020 59 Table 45. Top ten countries for share of forest area 72 Table 62. Forest in protected areas, and annual designated primarily for production, 2020 change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 60 Table 46. Forest area designated primarily for 73 Table 63. Area of forest with long-term management production, and annual change, by region and plans, by region and subregion, 2020 subregion, 1990–2020 74 Table 64. Forest area with long-term management 61 Table 47. Forest area designated primarily for multiple plans, and annual change, by region and subregion, use, by region and subregion, 2020 2000–2020 61 Table 48. Countries and territories with 100 percent of 80 Table 65. Forest ownership, by region and subregion, their total forest area designated primarily for 2015 multiple use, 2020 80 Table 66. Top ten countries and territories for 62 Table 49. Area of forest designated primarily for the proportion of privately owned forest, 2015 multiple use, and annual change, by region and 81 Table 67. Forest ownership, by region and subregion, subregion, 1990–2020 1990–2015 63 Table 50. Forest area designated primarily for soil and 82 Table 68. Area of forest in three types of private water protection, by region and subregion, 2020 ownership, by region, 2015 64 Table 51. Top ten countries and territories for the 83 Table 69. Holders of management rights to public proportion of total forest area designated primarily for forests, by region, 2015 soil and water protection, 2020 92 Table 70. Proportion of tree-covered burned area 64 Table 52. Area of forest area designated primarily for in total wildfire area, by region or subregion, soil and water protection, and annual change, 2001–2018 by region and subregion, 1990–2020 92 Table 71. Country-reported burned area, 66 Table 53. Forest area designated primarily for by ecological domain, 2015 biodiversity conservation, by region and subregion, 93 Table 72. Forest area affected by insects, by region, 2020 2015 66 Table 54. Top ten countries and territories for the 93 Table 73. Forest area disturbed by insects annually, proportion of total forest area designated primarily for by region, 2002–2016 biodiversity conservation, 2020 94 Table 74. Forest area affected by disease, by region, 67 Table 55. Area of forest designated primarily for 2015 biodiversity conservation, and annual change, 94 Table 75. Forest area affected annually by disease, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 by region, 2002–2017 68 Table 56. Forest area designated primarily for 95 Table 76. Forest area affected by severe weather social services, by region and subregion, 2020 events, by region, 2015 68 Table 57. Top ten countries for the proportion of total 95 Table 77. Forest area affected by severe weather forest area designated primarily for social services, events, by region, 2002–2015 2020 96 Table 78. Number and forest area of countries 69 Table 58. Area of forest designated primarily for social reporting on forest degradation, by region services, and annual change, by region and subregion, 103 Table 79. Number of people employed in forestry 1990–2020 and logging, by region, 2015 70 Table 59. Forest area designated primarily for other 104 Table 80. Number of people employed in forestry management objectives, by region and subregion, and logging, by region, 1990–2015 2020 105 Table 81. Number of graduated students, by level of 71 Table 60. Forest in protected areas, by region and education, 2015 subregion, 2020 105 Table 82. Graduated students in forestry, by region and level of education, 2015 v 110 Table 83. Reporting coverage for non-wood forest 45 Figure 16. Naturally regenerating and planted forest products growing stock distribution, by region, 2020 112 Table 84. Industrial wood and woodfuel removals, 47 Figure 17. Proportion of growing stock in planted by region and subregion, 1990–2018 forest, by region, 1990–2020 120 Table 85. The three-class tier system applied in 47 Figure 18. Volume of growing stock for the top five the assessment of data quality genera, Africa, 2020 120 Table 86. Number of countries by data-reliability tier, 47 Figure 19. Volume of growing stock for the top five for six indicators genera, Asia, 2020 121 Table 87. Proportion of forest area (%) by data- 47 Figure 20. Volume of growing stock for the top five reliability tier, for six indicators genera, Europe, 2020 121 Table 88. Proportion of forest area in data-reliability 47 Figure 21. Volume of growing stock for the top five tier 3, by region genera, North America, 2020 50 Figure 22. Regional and global trends in biomass stock per hectare, by region, 1990–2020 52 Figure 23. Trends in total forest carbon stock, FIGURES by carbon pool, 1990–2020 53 Figure 24. Change in forest biomass carbon stock, 6 Figure 1. Regional and subregional breakdown used in by region and subregion, 1990–2020 the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 53 Figure 25. Forest carbon stock per hectare, 7 Figure 2. Sustainable Development Goal 15, by carbon pool, 1990–2020 and relevant targets 58 Figure 26. Proportion of total forest area designated 8 Figure 3. Forest area as a proportion (%) of total for various primary management objectives, by region land area, 2000, 2010 and 2015–2020, by Sustainable and globally, 2020 Development Goal regional grouping 60 Figure 27. Proportion of total forest area designated 9 Figure 4. Traffic-light dashboard for subindicators of primarily for production, by region, 1990–2020 indicator 15.2.1, 2020 62 Figure 28. Proportion of total forest area designated 14 Figure 5. The global distribution of forests, primarily for multiple use, by region, 1990–2020 by climatic domain 65 Figure 29. Proportion of total forest area designated 16 Figure 6. Forest area as a percentage of total land area, primarily for the protection of soil and water,by 2020 region, 1990–2020 17 Figure 7. Forest area, by region, 1990–2020 67 Figure 30. Proportion of total forest area designated 21 Figure 8. Global distribution of consensus among primarily for biodiversity conservation, by region, eight satellite-based datasets 1990–2020 22 Figure 9. Global area of other land with tree cover, 70 Figure 31. Proportion of total forest area designated 1990–2020 primarily for social services, by region, 1990–2020 27 Figure 10. Components of planted forest 71 Figure 32. Proportion of total forest area designated 33 Figure 11. Proportion of plantation forest and other primarily for other purposes, by region, 1990–2020 planted forest, by region, 2020 75 Figure 33. Forest area certified under the Forest 34 Figure 12. Plantation forest and other planted forest Stewardship Council and the Programme for the as a proportion of total planted forest area, Endorsement of Forest Certification, 1990–2019 by region, 1990–2020 75 Figure 34. Total area of certified forest after 40 Figure 13. Total area of bamboo, 1990–2020 adjustment for double certification, by region, 40 Figure 14. Total area of rubber plantations, 1990–2020 2000–2019 44 Figure 15. Forest growing stock per unit area, 79 Figure 35. Proportion of total forest area, by country, 2020 by three ownership categories, 2015 vi 81 Figure 36. Proportion of total forest area, 20 Box 4. Seeing the forest and the trees by ownership type and region, 1990–2015 22 Box 5. Understanding regional differences between 83 Figure 37. Proportion of total private forest area, products in estimated forest area and tree cover by ownership type and region, 1990–2015 74 Box 6. Forest certification 84 Figure 38. Proportion of total publicly owned forest 89 Box 7. Fire area, by holder of administrative rights and region, 95 Box 8. Forest degradation 2015 111 Box 9. Wood removals 84 Figure 39. Proportion of total area of publicly owned 118 Box 10. Remote sensing survey, 2020 forests, by holder of management rights and region, 120 Box 11. National forest monitoring tier assessment 1990–2015 90 Figure 40. Global total land area burned per year, 2001–2018 90 Figure 41. Total land area burned in 2001–2018, by region or subregion 91 Figure 42. Annual average land area burned between 2001 and 2018, by region or subregion 96 Figure 43. Proportion of total forest area of countries reporting on forest degradation, by climatic domain 96 Figure 44. Criteria used in national definitions of degraded forest 96 Figure 45. Methods applied by countries for monitoring degraded forest 106 Figure 46. Number of forestry students, by degree category, 2000–2015 106 Figure 47. Proportion of female and male graduated forestry students, by education level, 2000–2015 110 Figure 48. Global importance of non-wood forest product categories, 2015 111 Figure 49. Non-wood forest product categories as a proportion of total reported economic value, 2015 112 Figure 50. Top ten countries for wood removals, 2018 113 Figure 51. Global trends in wood removals, 1961–2018 118 Figure 52. Sample sites for the remote sensing survey 119 Figure 53. Data availability for status and trends, 21 main variables BOXES 4 Box 1. The Global Forest Resources Assessment online platform 7 Box 2. Global Forest Resources Assessment reporting and the Sustainable Development Goals 13 Box 3. Difference between deforestation and forest area net change vii Foreword In September 2015, the world’s leaders agreed on the This, the latest of these assessments, examines the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including its status of, and trends in, forest resources over the period 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The 2030 Agenda is 1990–2020, drawing on the efforts of hundreds of experts now guiding the development of policies worldwide aimed worldwide. The production of FRA 2020 also involved at eradicating poverty and hunger, promoting sustained, collaboration among many partner organizations, thereby inclusive and sustainable growth, reducing inequalities, reducing the reporting burden on countries, increasing tackling climate change and environmental degradation, synergies among reporting processes, and improving data and sustainably managing our natural resources. consistency. Forests are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda. They are a The results of FRA 2020 are available in several formats, source of food, medicines and biofuel for more than 1 billion including this report and an online database containing the people. They protect soils and water, host more than three- original inputs of countries and territories as well as desk quarters of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, and help studies and regional and global analyses prepared by FAO. tackle climate change. Forests provide many products and I invite you to use these materials to support our common services that contribute to socio-economic development journey towards a more sustainable future with forests. and create work and income for tens of millions of people. Forests have immense potential to support sustainable development pathways, and the key to realizing this is reliable evidence. Accurate information on forest resources is also needed to monitor progress towards the nationally Maria Helena Semedo determined contributions of countries under the Paris Deputy Director-General Agreement on climate change; the Global Forest Goals and Targets of the United Nations Strategic Plan for 1 Forests 2017–2030; and the forthcoming post-2020 global biodiversity framework and United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. FAO completed its first assessment of the world’s forest resources in 1948. At that time, its major objective was to collect information on available timber supply to satisfy post-war reconstruction demand. Since then, the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) has evolved into a comprehensive evaluation of forest resources and their condition, management and uses, covering all the thematic elements of sustainable forest management. viii Acknowledgements The Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020 is the A number of countries and institutions provided the result of a collective effort by the FAO Forestry Department, FRA 2020 process with technical support, including the FAO member countries, institutional and resource partners, Center for International Forestry Research, the National and many individuals. Forestry Commission (Mexico), the Forest Stewardship More than 700 people have been directly involved Council, the Forest Survey of India, the Joint Research in the FRA 2020 process. They include 342 national Centre of the European Commission, the Natural Resources correspondents and their alternates and collaborators, Institute Finland, the Programme for the Endorsement of who compiled the detailed country reports, and more than Forest Certification, the Swedish University of Agricultural 30 external reviewers who, together with FAO experts, Sciences, the Pacific Community, and Wageningen supported the national correspondents in obtaining the University. best-possible quality and consistency in the reports. Ten Collaboration with Google and SERVIR (a joint venture FAO experts coordinated the FRA 2020 process, including between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration related capacity development, the compilation, review and of the United States of America and the United States analysis of data, and preparation of this report. Agency for International Development) ensured that all The FRA 2020 process was supported by two groups countries and territories had access to freely available of experts: participants in the expert consultation held in geospatial data and products, and it also enabled the Joensuu, Finland, in 2017; and the FRA Advisory Group. The customization of Collect Earth Online for the collection of expert consultation provided initial guidance on the scope data for the FRA remote sensing survey. and reporting content of FRA 2020, and the FRA Advisory The FRA 2020 process and its various activities received Group guided overall implementation. financial support from Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs The Collaborative Forest Resources Questionnaire and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; the European partners made important contributions to data collection Union; the Government of Norway; the Global Environment and review. Roman Michalak (Forestry and Timber Section Facility; Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water and the of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) Environment; New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries; and Rastislav Raši (FOREST EUROPE) supported data Japan’s Forestry Agency in the Ministry of Agriculture, collection and review for the pan-European countries; Forestry and Fisheries; and Natural Resources Canada. they also coordinated the following team of reviewers The drafting and preparation of this report was for those countries: Martin Moravčík, Ivana Pešut, Matej coordinated by Anssi Pekkarinen, Monica Garzuglia and Schwarz, Roksolana Shelest, Venera Surappaeva, Stein Örjan Jonsson. Other contributors were Anne Branthomme, Michael Tomter and Mati Valgepea. Adjé Olivier Ahimin Benjamin Caldwell, Valeria Contessa, Donatas Dudutis, (International Tropical Timber Organization) assisted in the Adolfo Kindgard, Jarkko Koskela, Arvydas Lebedys, preparation and review of reports for francophone African Agamy Mohamed, Peter Moore, Chiara Patriarca, Sara Maulo countries. Florence Palla and Donald Jomha Djossi (Central and Simona Sorrenti. The FRA 2020 process was supported Africa Forest Observatory of the Central African Forest by Lucilla Marinaro, Marisalee Palermo, Giordana Conti and Commission) assisted with the preparation and Esther Phillips. review of reports for the Central African countries. The report was edited by Alastair Sarre and proofread Lars Gunnar Marklund (Swedish University of Agricultural by James Kenneth Varah. Chiara Caproni did the design Sciences) assisted in the data-collection, review, analysis and layout. and reporting phases of the FRA 2020 process. FAO is grateful to all countries and territories, Tom Brandeis (United States Forest Service) supported institutions and individuals who have made FRA 2020 the reporting and review process for the Caribbean English- possible. speaking countries. 3 ix Acronyms and abbreviations BCEF biomass conversion and expansion factor CFRQ Collaborative Forest Resources Questionnaire FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FRA Global Forest Resources Assessment FSC Forest Stewardship Council Gt gigatonne(s) ha hectare(s) IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature n.a. not applicable NFI national forest inventory n.s. not significant PEFC Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification RSS remote sensing survey SDG Sustainable Development Goal UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change A Note that numbers given in the text, tables and figures in this report may not sum to the totals indicated and percentages may not tally to 100 due to rounding. Not all countries reported on all parameters mentioned herein. x Key findings FORESTS COVER NEARLY ONE-THIRD THE WORLD’S FOREST AREA IS DECREASING, OF THE LAND GLOBALLY BUT THE RATE OF LOSS HAS SLOWED The world has a total forest area of 4.06 billion hectares The world has lost a net area of 178 million ha of forest since (ha), which is 31 percent of the total land area. This area 1990, which is an area about the size of Libya. is equivalent to 0.52 ha per person1 – although forests The rate of net forest loss decreased substantially over are not distributed equally among the world’s people the period 1990–2020 due to a reduction in deforestation or geographically. The tropical domain has the largest in some countries, plus increases in forest area in others proportion of the world’s forests (45 percent), followed by through afforestation and the natural expansion of forests. the boreal, temperate and subtropical domains. The rate of net forest loss declined from 7.8 million ha More than half (54 percent) of the world’s forests is in per year in the decade 1990–2000 to 5.2 million ha per year only five countries – the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, in 2000–2010 and 4.7 million ha per year in 2010–2020. The the United States of America and China. rate of decline of net forest loss slowed in the most recent decade due to a reduction in the rate of forest expansion. Proportion of global forest area Global annual forest area net change, by decade, by climatic domain, 2020 1990–2020 Boreal 0 27% -1 -2 Temperate 16% Tropical 45% -3 -4 -4.7 Subtropical -5 -5.2 11% -6 Top five countries for forest area, 2020 (million ha) -7 -7.8 Russian Federation -8 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 815 Rest of the world Brazil 497 1 870 Canada 347 United States of America China 220 310 1 Calculated assuming a global population of 7.79 billion people, as estimated in United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). xi Million ha per year Annual forest area net change, by decade and region, 1990–2020 3 2.4 2 1.2 1.2 1 0.8 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.2 0 -0.2 -0.2 -0.3 -0.1 -1 -2 -3 -2.6 -3.3 -3.4 -4 -3.9 -5 -5.1 -5.2 -6 Asia Oceania Europe North and Central South America Africa America 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 AFRICA HAS THE HIGHEST NET LOSS DEFORESTATION CONTINUES, OF FOREST AREA BUT AT A LOWER RATE Africa had the highest annual rate of net forest loss in An estimated 420 million ha of forest has been lost 2010–2020, at 3.9 million ha, followed by South America, at worldwide through deforestation since 1990, but the 2.6 million ha. rate of forest loss has declined substantially. In the most The rate of net forest loss has increased in Africa recent five-year period (2015–2020), the annual rate of in each of the three decades since 1990. It has declined deforestation was estimated at 10 million ha, down from 12 substantially in South America, however, to about half the million ha in 2010–2015. rate in 2010–2020 compared with 2000–2010. Asia had the highest net gain of forest area in 2010– 2020, followed by Oceania and Europe.2 Nevertheless, both Annual rate of forest expansion and deforestation, Europe and Asia recorded substantially lower rates of net 1990–2020 gain in 2010–2020 than in 2000–2010. Oceania experienced net losses of forest area in the decades 1990–2000 and 15 2000–2010. 10 10 8 5 7 5 0 -5 -10 -10 -12 -16 -15 -15 -20 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2015 2015–2020 Forest expansion Deforestation 2 According to the regional breakdown used in FRA 2020, Europe includes the Russian Federation. xii Million ha per year Million ha per year MORE THAN 90 PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS PLANTATIONS ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT 3 PERCENT HAS REGENERATED NATURALLY OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS Ninety-three percent (3.75 billion ha) of the forest area Plantation forests cover about 131 million ha, which is worldwide is composed of naturally regenerating forests 3 percent of the global forest area and 45 percent of the and 7 percent (290 million ha) is planted. total area of planted forests. The area of naturally regenerating forest has decreased The highest share of plantation forest is in South since 1990 (at a declining rate of loss), but the area of America, where this forest type represents 99 percent of the planted forest has increased by 123 million ha. The rate of total planted forest area and 2 percent of the total forest increase in the area of planted forest has slowed in the last area. ten years. The lowest share of plantation forest is in Europe, where it represents 6 percent of the planted forest estate and 0.4 percent of the total forest area. Annual net change in area of naturally regenerating Globally, 44 percent of plantation forests feature and planted forest, by decade, 1990–2020 introduced species. There are large differences between regions: for example, plantation forests in North and Central 6 America are composed mostly of native species and those 4 5 in South America consist almost entirely of introduced 4 2 3 species. 0 -2 MORE THAN 700 MILLION HA OF FOREST IS IN LEGALLY ESTABLISHED PROTECTED AREAS -4 There is an estimated 726 million ha of forest in protected -6 -8 areas worldwide. Of the six world regions, South America -8 has the highest share of forests in protected areas, at 31 -10 -10 percent. -12 -12 The area of forest in protected areas globally has -14 increased by 191 million ha since 1990, but the rate of 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 annual increase slowed in 2010–2020. Naturally regenerating forest Planted forest Proportion of introduced and native species Proportion of forest in protected areas, in plantation forest, by region, 2020 by region, 2020 Africa Africa 27% Asia Asia 25% Europe Europe 6% North and North and Central America Central America 11% Oceania Oceania 16% South America South America 31% World World 18% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 % % Introduced species Native species xiii Million ha per year PRIMARY FORESTS COVER ABOUT 1 BILLION HA FIRE IS A PREVALENT FOREST DISTURBANCE The world still has at least 1.11 billion ha of primary forest IN THE TROPICS – that is, forests composed of native species in which there Forests face many disturbances that can adversely affect are no clearly visible indications of human activity and the their health and vitality and reduce their ability to provide a ecological processes have not been significantly disturbed. full range of goods and ecosystem services. About 98 million Combined, three countries – Brazil, Canada and the Russian ha of forest was affected by fire in 2015;3 this was mainly in Federation – host more than half (61 percent) of the world’s the tropical domain, where fire burned about 4 percent of primary forest. the total forest area in that year. More than two-thirds of the The area of primary forest has decreased by 81 million total forest area affected was in Africa and South America. ha since 1990, but the rate of loss more than halved in Insects, disease and severe weather events damaged 2010–2020 compared with the previous decade. about 40 million ha of forests in 2015, mainly in the temperate and boreal domains. MORE THAN 2 BILLION HA OF FOREST HAS MANAGEMENT PLANS THE WORLD’S FORESTS ARE MOSTLY PUBLICLY Most of the forests in Europe have management plans; OWNED, BUT THE SHARE OF PRIVATELY OWNED on the other hand, management plans exist for less than FORESTS HAS INCREASED SINCE 1990 25 percent of forests in Africa and less than 20 percent Seventy-three percent of the world’s forests is under in South America. The area of forest under management public ownership,4 22 percent is privately owned, and plans is increasing in all regions – globally, it has grown by the ownership of the remainder is categorized as either 233 million ha since 2000, reaching 2.05 billion ha in 2020. “unknown” or “other” (the latter mainly comprising forests where ownership is disputed or in transition). Public ownership is predominant in all regions and Proportion of forest area with long-term most subregions. Of the regions, Oceania, North and Central management plans, by region, 2020 America and South America have the highest proportions of private forests. Africa 24% Globally, the share of publicly owned forests has decreased since 1990 and the area of forest under private Asia 64% ownership has increased. Europe 96% North and Central America 59% Forest ownership by region, 2015 Oceania 31% South America 17% Africa World 54% Asia 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Europe % North and Central America Oceania South America World 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % Public Private Unknown/other 3 The latest year for which global data are available. 4 As of 2015, the latest year for which global data are available. xiv Public administrations hold management rights to ABOUT 30 PERCENT OF ALL FORESTS IS USED 83 percent of the publicly owned forest area globally. PRIMARILY FOR PRODUCTION Management by public administrations is particularly Globally, about 1.15 billion ha of forest is managed primarily predominant in South America, where it accounts for 97 for the production of wood and non-wood forest products. percent of management responsibility in publicly owned In addition, 749 million ha is designated for multiple use, forests. The share of public administration management which often includes production. rights has decreased globally since 1990, with an increasing Worldwide, the area of forest designated primarily share of publicly owned forests managed by business for production has been relatively stable since 1990, but entities and institutions and by indigenous and tribal the area of multiple-use forest has decreased by about communities. 71 million ha. THE WORLD’S FOREST GROWING STOCK IS DECLINING ABOUT TEN PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS IS The world’s total growing stock of trees decreased slightly, ALLOCATED FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION from 560 billion m3 in 1990 to 557 billion m3 in 2020, due to Globally, 424 million ha of forest is designated primarily a net decrease in forest area. On the other hand, growing for biodiversity conservation. In total, 111 million ha has stock is increasing per unit area globally and in all regions; been so designated since 1990, of which the largest part it rose from 132 m3 per ha in 1990 to 137 m3 per ha in 2020. was allocated between 2000 and 2010. The rate of increase Growing stock per unit area is highest in the tropical forests in the area of forest designated primarily for biodiversity of South and Central America and West and Central Africa. conservation has slowed in the last ten years. The world’s forests contain about 606 gigatonnes of living biomass (above- and below-ground) and 59 THE AREA OF FOREST DESIGNATED PRIMARILY FOR gigatonnes of dead wood. The total biomass has decreased SOIL AND WATER PROTECTION IS INCREASING slightly since 1990, but biomass per unit area has increased. An estimated 398 million ha of forest is designated primarily for the protection of soil and water, an increase of TOTAL FOREST CARBON STOCK IS DECREASING 119 million ha since 1990. The rate of increase in the area of Most forest carbon is found in the living biomass forest allocated for this purpose has grown over the entire (44 percent) and soil organic matter (45 percent), with the period but especially in the last ten years. remainder in dead wood and litter. The total carbon stock in forests decreased from 668 gigatonnes in 1990 to 662 MORE THAN 180 MILLION HA OF FOREST IS USED gigatonnes in 2020; carbon density increased slightly over MAINLY FOR SOCIAL SERVICES the same period, from 159 tonnes to 163 tonnes per ha. An area of 186 million ha of forest worldwide is allocated for social services such as recreation, tourism, education research and the conservation of cultural and spiritual sites. Proportion of carbon stock in forest carbon pools, The area designated for this forest use has increased at a 2020 rate of 186 000 ha per year since 2010. 44% B in living biomass 4% in dead wood 6% in litter 45% in soil organic matter xv @ FAO / NCognome 1 Introduction @ FAO / NCognome ©©UUnnppllaasshh//CCoonnsscciioouuss DDeessiiggnn S ince its creation, the Food and Agriculture FRA 2020 has continued on this path, with adaptations Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to its scope and reporting periodicity to better respond to has, at the request of its member countries, recent developments in international forestry. For the first regularly collected, analysed and disseminated time since FRA 2000, the number of variables has been information on the status of and trends in the world’s reduced (to about 60 broad categories), and an online forest resources through the Global Forest Resources platform has been put in place to facilitate reporting. This Assessment (FRA). platform also serves to increase transparency, the reliability The scope, methodology and periodicity of FRAs have of results, and the accessibility and usability of data for end evolved over time in response to changing information users (Box 1). needs. Early assessments were mainly FAO-driven processes focused on timber availability; later assessments have Process been country-driven, with a more holistic perspective (FAO, 2018a). Since 2005, FRAs have relied on country Preparations for FRA 2020 began with an internal evaluation data provided by a well-established network of officially of FRA 2015 and an online user survey, which helped nominated national correspondents. determine the scope and reporting content of FRA 2020. As FRAs have evolved to become more comprehensive, Scope and content were also addressed in consultations the amount of information requested from members has with various teams in the FAO Forestry Department, the FRA increased substantially. In the past, the reporting burden Advisory Group,6 CFRQ partners and the FAO/United Nations on countries was exacerbated by requests for the same or Economic Commission for Europe Team of Specialists on similar data from other forest-related reporting processes. Monitoring Sustainable Forest Management. The Seventh Starting from FRA 2005, however, FAO’s FRA secretariat has Expert Consultation on FRA, held in Joensuu, Finland, in collaborated with other international reporting processes June 2017, concluded this consultation cycle and provided and organizations involved in the collection of forest-related important inputs into the scope and reporting content data, and it has worked with members of the Collaborative of FRA 2020 (Luke, 2017). The recommendations of the Partnership on Forests to improve definitions and streamline Seventh Expert Consultation focused on developing the reporting. This approach led to the establishment of the capacity of FRA to provide timely responses to information Collaborative Forest Resources Questionnaire (CFRQ),5 which requirements while also further reducing the reporting was used in the production of FRA 2015. In consultation with burden on countries. The agenda of that meeting reflected countries and international experts, the FRA secretariat also significant recent developments in international forest reviewed the scope of assessments with the aim of avoiding policy, including the Paris Agreement on climate change, overlaps with other data-collection processes and further the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Box 2, p. 7), reducing the reporting burden. 6 The FRA Advisory Group was established in 2002 on 5 In 2011, FAO, the International Tropical Timber the recommendation of an expert consultation in Kotka, Organization, FOREST EUROPE, the United Nations Economic Finland. The FRA Advisory Group is informal in nature, but it is Commission for Europe, the Observatory of Central African recognized by FAO’s Committee on Forestry, which generally Forests and the countries of the Montréal Process combined endorses its recommendations. The group has a long-term to create the CFRQ. This joint questionnaire was established commitment to meet annually. Its role is to review FRA with the aim of reducing the reporting burden on countries activities and outputs and to make recommendations aimed at and increasing data consistency across organizations through strengthening existing institutional networks and making future standardized definitions and the common timing of data FRAs more user-oriented and demand-driven and more closely collection. linked with other international processes. 1. Introduction 3 Box 1. The Global Forest Resources Assessment online platform Evaluations of previous Global Forest Resources is a useful tool for generating consistent interpolations Assessments (FRAs) identified a need for an online tool and extrapolations of data and provides a transparent to facilitate reporting and the dissemination of results to mechanism for reviewing data and updating them. To end users. The FRA 2020 online platform aims to: facilitate the reporting process, especially for countries · Increase transparency – the platform contains all the where forest information is limited or unavailable, the documentation necessary for understanding how the platform enables access to previous country reports reported figures were produced, including original data as well as freely available geospatial data derived from sources, definitions, and the methodologies applied to remote sensing. convert national figures to FRA estimates. The platform stores all the information and · Ensure ease of use – the platform has an intuitive data provided by countries and territories, which will interface enabling easy data entry, copying and pasting substantially expedite future reporting. from existing datasheets, and the uploading of existing The platform makes a significant contribution to documentation. the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable · Add value – the platform expedites reporting and Development and to reporting on the forest-related guarantees consistency in reported values. indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), · Improve communication – the platform enables which was initiated in 2016 and will continue annually. In a transparent review process and facilitates addition to the SDGs, the platform serves as a common communication between countries and reviewer teams. reporting tool for other partners of the Collaborative · Improve dissemination – the platform provides Forest Resources Questionnaire. For example, the easy access to country-reported data and summary platform has been used to collect data for pan-European information. reporting on indicators of sustainable forest management For countries that lack inventory and monitoring in collaboration with FOREST EUROPE and the United systems capable of producing annual data, the platform Nations Economic Commission for Europe. TABLE 1. Key milestones in the development of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Milestone/activity Date Comment Global meeting of national March 2018 Launch of the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020 correspondents process. Training of national correspondents and work on key variables for reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals Deadline for submission of draft Ten days before regional/ Draft country reports submitted for first review at least ten days country reports subregional workshops before participation in regional/subregional workshops Regional/subregional workshops April 2018–December 2018 Technical assistance and review of draft country reports Official validation of final country September 2019 Official request for validation of final country reports sent to reports national authorities Release of FRA 2020 key findings May 2020 Key results of FRA 2020 Launch of FRA 2020 main report Second half of 2020 Full results, country reports and database published at the 25th Session of the FAO Committee on Forestry 4 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 and the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests Scope 2017–2030,7 all of which have set new demands for the FRA process in terms of both scope and periodicity. FRA 2020 examines the status and trends of around 60 The FRA 2020 country reporting process started broad categories (under seven main topics) in the period with a technical meeting in Toluca, Mexico, in March 1990–2020. The backbone of the assessment are data 2018 (Table 1 shows key milestones in the process). This reported through standardized country reports, which were meeting brought together nearly 160 participants from compiled by officially nominated national correspondents more than 90 countries, including national correspondents, through an online platform, as described above. representatives of the CFRQ, and members of the FRA Each country report contains 22 reporting tables Advisory Group. At the meeting, national correspondents organized around the following main topics: forest extent familiarized themselves with all aspects of the reporting and characteristics; growing stock, biomass and carbon; process. designation and management objectives; ownership and Throughout the reporting phase, Regional FRA management rights; disturbances; policies and legislation; focal points were in regular contact with the national and employment, education and non-wood forest products. correspondents and their teams to provide technical Annex 1 summarizes data for variables at the global and support on the reporting tables, the analysis and regional levels, and Annex 2 presents data on forest area for interpretation of national data, and the use of the online all countries and territories. reporting platform. For each reporting table, countries were requested Nine regional and subregional workshops were to provide full references for original data, describe the organized in April–December 2018 to further support methodologies used for estimation, forecasting and countries in compiling and finalizing the FRA 2020 country reclassification, and explain any assumptions made. reports (FAO, undated). These workshops provided a A total of 236 countries and territories are included forum in which national correspondents could share their in FRA 2020, based on the list used by the United Nations experiences with colleagues from other countries. Statistics Division (United Nations Statistics Division, National correspondents submitted their country undated). The following listed units were excluded from FRA reports, once compiled, through the online platform for 2020 unless otherwise indicated: technical review. In this review, the draft country reports · Åland Islands (included under Finland in FRA 2020) underwent detailed checks to ensure completeness · British Indian Ocean Territory and the correct application of definitions and · Channel Islands (listed separately as Guernsey and methodologies. Internal consistency was checked and a Jersey) comparison made with information provided for FRA 2015 · China, Hong Kong SAR (included under China) and with other published information sources. Around 30 · China, Macao SAR (included under China) experts from among FAO staff, CFRQ partners and other · Christmas Island international bodies contributed to the review process. A · Cocos (Keeling) Islands final validation phase was conducted to officially inform · French Southern Territories the heads of forestry of each country of the contents of the · Heard and McDonald Islands report and to request their clearance for publication on a · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands no-objection basis. · United States Minor Outlying Islands. The Netherlands Antilles, reported as a single entity in FRA 2015, is reported in FRA 2020 as Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten (Dutch part). 7 The United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017–2030 provides a global framework for action at all levels to The regional and subregional groupings are those used sustainably manage all types of forests and trees outside in previous FRAs (Figure 1). forests, and to halt deforestation and forest degradation. The plan was agreed at a special session of the United Nations Forum on Forests in January 2017 and subsequently adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in April 2017. 1. Introduction 5 FIGURE 1. Regional and subregional breakdown used in the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 North and Central America South America Europe Africa Asia Oceania North America South America Europe Northern Africa Western and Central Asia Oceania Central America Western and Central Africa South and Southeast Asia Caribbean Eastern and Southern Africa East Asia Source: Adapted from United Nations World map, 2020. Data analysis Outputs Data submitted by countries through the online platform In addition to this main report, outputs of FRA 2020 include: were stored in a database for easy retrieval and analysis. · 236 country and territory reports, each in the language Forty-seven desk studies, representing 0.5 percent of the of official correspondence (English, French, Russian or total forest area, were prepared for countries and territories Spanish); that did not submit reports. · an interactive database with the complete FRA 2020 National data were aggregated to derive subregional, dataset; regional and global estimates. Trend estimates generally · key findings (a summary of the FRA 2020 main findings only include countries that reported complete time at the global and regional levels in English, French and series (although, in some cases, gap-filling was performed Spanish); for missing values to obtain complete time series for · FRA working papers, including on the FRA 2020 terms and estimates of trends). It is not always possible, therefore, to definitions, FRA 2020 guidelines and specifications, and reproduce the estimates of global, regional and subregional workshop reports; and aggregates presented in this report by aggregating the · scientific papers and special studies using FRA 2020 data, reported country data. produced in collaboration with partner institutions and This report presents the findings of the data analysis, international experts (in preparation). comprising the status of and main trends in each variable. All FRA-related materials are available at www.fao.org/ forest-resources-assessment. 6 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Box 2. Global Forest Resources Assessment reporting and the Sustainable Development Goals The 193 member states of the United Nations adopted The five subindicators are: the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 1. Forest area annual net change rate Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015. 2. Above-ground biomass stock in forest The SDGs are global objectives expected to guide the 3. Proportion of forest area located within legally actions of the international community between 2016 established protected areas and 2030. A global indicator framework, which includes 4. Proportion of forest area under long-term forest 232 indicators, was agreed in March 2017. Forests are management plans important in several of the SDGs. In particular, SDG 15 – 5. Forest area under independently verified forest “life on land” – emphasizes the importance of forests for management certification schemes. the sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems (Figure 2). FAO Subindicators 1–3 address the environmental values is the designated United Nations custodian agency for of forests, focusing on changes in forest area over time, 21 SDG indicators and a contributing agency for another biomass stored in forest, and actions taken to protect five. Three of these indicators are under SDG 15, and data and maintain biodiversity and other natural and cultural for two of these are collected and reported through the resources. Subindicators 4 and 5 address all dimensions Global Forest Resources Assessment. of sustainable forest management, including economic Indicator 15.1.1 (“forest area as a proportion of and social aspects. total land area”) is derived directly by dividing the forest The existence of forest management plans area reported by countries and territories to FRA by the indicates the intention to manage the forests for long- official land area of each country and territory in 2015 term purposes. The area of certified forest provides (as reported to FAOSTAT); Figure 3 shows the indicator information on the area of forest in which management values, by region, for 2000, 2010, 2015 and 2020. complies with national or international standards, Indicator 15.2.1 (“progress towards sustainable including independent verification. forest management”) is more difficult to measure Data on subindicators 1–4 are collected through the because there is no single quantifiable and measurable FRA country reporting process, and data for subindicator characteristic that fully encompasses the many 5 are obtained from the main certification bodies (Box 6, dimensions of sustainable forest management. FAO p. 74). Detailed definitions and methodologies for each worked with partners to develop a methodology for indicator and subindicator are available in the SDG reporting, and a set of five subindicators was established metadata repository.8 to measure progress towards the economic, social At the regional and global levels, “traffic lights” and environmental dimensions of sustainable forest are used to indicate, for each subindicator, whether the management. situation is stable, improving or deteriorating (Figure 4). Figure 2. Sustainable Development Goal 15, and relevant targets SDG 15 Targets* Indicators reported through FRA 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration 15.1.1: Forest area as a and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland proportion of total land freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular area forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements Protect, restore and promote sustainable 15.2: By 2020, promote the implementation of 15.2.1: Progress towards use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably sustainable management of all types of forests, sustainable forest manage forests, combat desertification, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and management and halt and reverse land degradation and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation halt biodiversity loss globally * The full set of targets and indicators under SDG 15 is available at www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/biodiversity. (Continued) 8 8 The SDG indicators metadata repository is available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata. 1. Introduction 7 Box 2. (Continued) FAO has reported data for these indicators and subindicators to the SDG secretariat annually since 2017. Reports up to 2019 were based on data from FRA 2015; from 2020 they will be based on FRA 2020, with updates from countries as new data become available. Figure 3. Forest area as a proportion (%) of total land area, 2000, 2010 and 2015–2020, by Sustainable Development Goal regional grouping Central and Southern Asia Eastern and South-Eastern Asia Northern Africa and Western Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Europe and Northern America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Small Island Developing States (SIDS) World 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 % 2000 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 (Continued) 8 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Box 2. (Continued) Figure 4. Traffic-light dashboard for subindicators of indicator 15.2.1, 2020 SDG Region WORLD • • • • • Central and Southern Asia • • • • • Central Asia • • • • • Southern Asia • • • • • Eastern and South-Eastern Asia • • • • • Eastern Asia • • • • • South-Eastern Asia • • • • • Northern Africa and Western Asia • • • • • Northern Africa • • • • • Western Asia • • • • • Sub-Saharan Africa • • • • • Europe and Northern America • • • • • Europe • • • • • Northern America • • • • • Latin America and the Caribbean • • • • • Oceania • • • • • Oceania (exc. Australia and New Zealand) • • • • • Australia and New Zealand • • • • • Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) • • • • • Least Developed Countries (LDCs) • • • • • Small Island Developing States (SIDS) • • • • • • Positive change • No/small change • Negative change • No certified areas 1 Calculated as the compound annual change rate. 2 Includes areas certified under the Forest Stewardship Council and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification. C 1. Introduction 9 Forest area annual net change rate1 Above-ground biomass stock in forest (t/ha) Proportion of forest area within legally established protected areas Proportion of forest area under a long-term forest management plan Forest area certified2 @ FAO / NCognome 2 Forest extent and changes @ FAO / NCognome ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano F orests are crucial resources for addressing Information on forest area and the way it changes SDGs related to sustainable production and over time is essential for measuring progress towards consumption, poverty alleviation, food security, the SDGs. Forests feature in the SDGs because of their biodiversity conservation and climate change. significant contributions to food security and livelihoods The benefits of forests go well beyond forest boundaries and and for the many products and ecosystem services they help maintain suitable conditions for life on Earth. Monitoring provide. SDG 15 (“life on land”), in particular, puts forests the extent and other aspects of the world’s forests assists at the centre of the sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems, in identifying and amending unsustainable practices and in aiming to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of restoring and rehabilitating degraded forest landscapes. terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”. Changes in forest area over time reflect changes Box 3. Difference between deforestation in demand for land for other uses. But, on its own, this and forest area net change parameter is insufficient to describe and explain complex land-use dynamics. Additional information is needed Deforestation is the conversion of forest to other land to understand how much forest has been lost due to uses, such as agriculture and infrastructure. On the other conversion to other land uses and how much has been hand, forest area can increase when trees are planted on gained due to natural expansion and afforestation. land that was not previously forested (“afforestation”) This chapter provides insight into such dynamics, or when trees grow back on abandoned agricultural or presenting estimates of both deforestation and net forest other land (“natural forest expansion”). area change at the regional and global levels (Box 3). It also Over a given period, the sum of all losses due to provides data on two non-forest categories, “other wooded deforestation and all gains due to afforestation and land” and “other land with tree cover”, both of which are natural forest expansion results in forest area net important resources in many countries. change. Depending on whether forest expansion or deforestation prevails, forest area net change can be Forest area positive, meaning there has been an overall gain in forest area, or negative, meaning an overall loss of STATUS forest area. Thus: FRA 2020 received data (or, for desk studies, made estimates based on available information) on forest area in 2020 for Forest area net change = all 236 countries and territories included in the assessment. ∑ gains (forest expansion) – ∑ losses (deforestation) The global average of the reference years for the data used to The difference between forest area net change and estimate forest area for 2020 is 2011. Estimates for countries deforestation is that the former is the result of all losses with large forest areas, however, are mostly based on more and gains and the latter takes into account only the recent data; thus, 2015 is the weighted average reference area of forest that has been converted to other land year for forest area. In total, 143 countries and territories uses. In FRA 2020, the net change in forest area was encompassing 80 percent of the world’s total forest area calculated as the difference in forest area between two based their forest-area estimates for 2020 on data published points in time. in 2013 or later. The availability of new data not only increases the reliability of forest-area estimates for 2020; in most cases 2. Forest extent and changes 13 FIGURE 5. The global distribution of forests, by climatic domain Forest area 1 000 ha Boreal 1 109 871 Temperate 665 803 Subtropical 449 122 Tropical 1 834 136 Source: Adapted from United Nations World map, 2020. TABLE 2. Forest area, by region and subregion, 2020 it also improves trend estimates derived from historical and Region/subregion Forest area previously reported data. In most cases, data from 2013 or later were unavailable for FRA 2015; their availability for FRA 1 000 ha % of world forest area 2020 explains differences in forest-area estimates in FRA 2015 Eastern and Southern Africa 295 778 7 and FRA 2020 for the same reference years. Northern Africa 35 151 1 The global forest area in 2020 is estimated at 4.06 billion ha, which is 31 percent of the total land area. Western and Central Africa 305 710 8 This area is equivalent to 0.52 ha of forest per capita,9 Total Africa 636 639 16 although forests are not distributed equally among the East Asia 271 403 7 world’s people or geographically. Forty-five percent of the South and Southeast Asia 296 047 7 world’s forests are in the tropical domain, followed by the Western and Central Asia 55 237 1 boreal (27 percent), temperate (16 percent) and subtropical Total Asia 622 687 15 (11 percent) domains (Figure 5). Table 2 shows the Europe excl. Russian Federation 202 150 5 distribution of forest area at the regional and subregional levels. Europe accounts for 25 percent of the world’s forest Total Europe 1 017 461 25 area, followed by South America (21 percent), North and Caribbean 7 889 0 Central America (19 percent), Africa (16 percent), Asia Central America 22 404 1 (15 percent) and Oceania (5 percent). North America 722 417 18 More than half (54 percent) of the world’s forest area Total North and Central America 752 710 19 is in only five countries – the Russian Federation, Brazil, Total Oceania 185 248 5 Canada, the United States of America and China. The ten Total South America 844 186 21 countries with the largest forest area account for about two- thirds (66 percent) of the world total (Table 3). WORLD 4 058 931 100 9 Calculated assuming a global population of 7.79 billion people, as estimated by United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). 14 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 3. Top ten countries for forest area, 2020 Ranking Country Forest area 1 000 ha % of world forest area % cumulative 1 Russian Federation 815 312 20 20 2 Brazil 496 620 12 32 3 Canada 346 928 9 41 4 United States of America 309 795 8 49 5 China 219 978 5 54 6 Australia 134 005 3 57 7 Democratic Republic of the Congo 126 155 3 60 8 Indonesia 92 133 2 63 9 Peru 72 330 2 64 10 India 72 160 2 66 Eight countries and territories – the Falkland Islands TABLE 4. Top ten countries and territories for forest area (Malvinas),10 Gibraltar, Holy See, Monaco, Nauru, Qatar, as a percentage of total land area, 2020 Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, and Tokelau – have no Ranking Country Forest area forest at all. Another 50 countries and territories have forest 1 000 ha % of total on less than 10 percent of their total land areas. Table 4 land area shows the top ten countries and territories for forest area as 1 Suriname 15 196 97 a percentage of total land area; among those, the value is 90 2 French Guyana 8 003 97 percent or above in seven countries (Figure 6). 3 Guyana 18 415 94 TRENDS 4 Micronesia 64 92 (Federated States of) Trends in forest area were estimated for all 236 countries 5 Gabon 23 531 91 and territories in the assessment. They were analysed over a 30-year period divided into three decades: 1990– 6 Solomon Islands 2 523 90 2000, 2000–2010 and 2010–2020. Note that, although 7 Palau 41 90 reporting on forest area has generally improved, relatively 8 Equatorial Guinea 2 448 87 few countries and territories have reliable data over the 9 American Samoa 17 86 period, and the trends discussed below should be treated 10 Papua New Guinea 35 856 79 with caution. The global forest area declined by about 178 million ha (an area approximately the size of Libya) in the 30 years from 1990 to 2020 (Table 5). The rate of net forest loss has Africa had the highest net loss of forest area in the decreased since 1990, a result of reduced deforestation decade to 2020, with Eastern and Southern Africa and in some countries and forest gains in others. The annual Western and Central Africa accounting for most of the net loss of forest area declined from 7.84 million ha in losses. There has been an increase in the average annual 1990–2000, to 5.17 million ha in 2000–2010, to 4.74 million rate of net forest loss in Africa since 1990, from 3.28 million in 2010–2020 (Table 6 and Figure 6 show this parameter by ha in 1990–2000, to 3.40 million ha in 2000–2010, to 3.94 region and subregion). The rate of decline of net forest loss million ha in the most recent decade. The increase in in the most recent decade was due mainly to a reduction the rate over the period was most evident in Eastern and in the rate of forest gain (i.e. afforestation and the natural Southern Africa, where it grew from 1.35 million ha per year expansion of forests). in the 1990s to 1.91 million ha per year in 2010–2020. South America had the second-highest average 10 A dispute exists between the Government of Argentina annual rate of net forest loss in 2010–2020, at 2.60 million and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland ha, although this was less than half the rate in 2000–2010 Islands (Malvinas). (5.25 million ha). The regional trend mostly reflects changes 2. Forest extent and changes 15 FIGURE 6. Forest area as a percentage of total land area, 2020 Proportion of land forested (%) 0–10 11–30 31–50 51–70 71–100 No data Source: Adapted from United Nations World map, 2020. TABLE 5. Forest area, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Forest area (1 000 ha) 1990 2000 2010 2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 346 034 332 580 314 849 295 778 Northern Africa 39 926 38 104 36 833 35 151 Western and Central Africa 356 842 339 365 324 333 305 710 Total Africa 742 801 710 049 676 015 636 639 East Asia 209 906 229 071 252 390 271 403 South and Southeast Asia 326 511 308 077 305 461 296 047 Western and Central Asia 48 976 50 262 53 109 55 237 Total Asia 585 393 587 410 610 960 622 687 Europe excl. Russian Federation 185 369 193 000 198 847 202 150 Total Europe 994 319 1 002 268 1 013 982 1 017 461 Caribbean 5 961 6 808 7 497 7 889 Central America 28 002 25 819 23 706 22 404 North America 721 317 719 721 722 987 722 417 Total North and Central America 755 279 752 349 754 190 752 710 Total Oceania 184 974 183 328 181 015 185 248 Total South America 973 666 922 645 870 154 844 186 WORLD 4 236 433 4 158 050 4 106 317 4 058 931 16 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 6. Annual average net change in forest area, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Forest area annual change 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 ha/yr % 1 000 ha/yr % 1 000 ha/yr % Eastern and Southern Africa -1 345 -0.40 -1 773 -0.55 -1 907 -0.62 Northern Africa -182 -0.47 -127 -0.34 -168 -0.47 Western and Central Africa -1 748 -0.50 -1 503 -0.45 -1 862 -0.59 Total Africa -3 275 -0.45 -3 403 -0.49 -3 938 -0.60 East Asia 1 917 0.88 2 332 0.97 1 901 0.73 South and Southeast Asia -1 843 -0.58 -262 -0.09 -941 -0.31 Western and Central Asia 129 0.26 285 0.55 213 0.39 Total Asia 202 0.03 2 355 0.39 1 173 0.19 Europe excl. Russian Federation 763 0.40 585 0.30 330 0.16 Total Europe 795 0.08 1 171 0.12 348 0.03 Caribbean 85 1.34 69 0.97 39 0.51 Central America -218 -0.81 -211 -0.85 -130 -0.56 North America -160 -0.02 327 0.05 -57 -0.01 Total North and Central America -293 -0.04 184 0.02 -148 -0.02 Total Oceania -165 -0.09 -231 -0.13 423 0.23 Total South America -5 102 -0.54 -5 249 -0.58 -2 597 -0.30 WORLD -7 838 -0.19 -5 173 -0.13 -4 739 -0.12 Note: The rate of change (%) is calculated as the compound annual change rate. FIGURE 3. Forest area as a proportion (%) of total land area, 2000, 2010 and 2015–2020, by Sustainable in Brazil, where the annual rate of net forest loss increased FDIGeUveRlEo 7p. mFoernets tG aoraela r,e bgyio rneagli ognro, u19p9in0g–2020 from 3.78 million ha in 1990–2000 to 3.95 million ha in 2000–2010 before declining to 1.50 million ha in 2010–2020. 1 200 Paraguay and Peru both recorded increases in the 1 000 annual rate of net forest loss between 1990 and 2020. In Paraguay, the rate increased from 255 000 ha per year in 800 1990–2000, to 342 000 ha in 2000–2010, to 347 000 ha in 2010–2020. In Peru, the rate of loss climbed from 115 000 ha 600 per year in 1990–2000, to 125 000 ha in 2000–2010, to 172 000 ha in the most recent decade. 400 North and Central America had an average annual net 200 loss of forest area of 293 000 ha in 1990–2000, a net annual gain of 184 000 ha in 2000–2010, and a net annual loss of 0 148 000 ha in 2010–2020. This fluctuation mainly reflects Africa Asia Europe North Oceania South and Central America changes in data collection in the national forest inventory America of the United States of America and, as explained in that 1990 2000 2010 2020 country’s report, it does not reflect real forest-area dynamics. Asia had the highest net gain in forest area in 2010–2020, the majority of which was in East Asia, with China reporting between 1990 and 2020 in South and Southeast Asia due to a net annual increase of 1.94 million ha. Asia has recorded an significant declines in forest area in Cambodia, Indonesia and overall net increase in forest area since 1990, with the area Myanmar, although these were partially offset subregionally increasing by 202 000 ha per year in 1990–2000, 2.35 million by forest-area gains in India and Viet Nam. The rate of net ha per year in 2000–2010, and 1.17 million ha per year in forest loss decreased significantly in South and Southeast 2010–2020. Subregionally, net forest losses were recorded Asia over the period, from 1.84 million ha per year in 2. Forest extent and changes 17 Million ha TABLE 7. Top ten countries for average annual net loss of forest area, 2010–2020 Ranking Country Annual net change 1 000 ha/yr % 1 Brazil -1 496 -0.30 2 Democratic Republic of the Congo -1 101 -0.83 3 Indonesia -753 -0.78 4 Angola -555 -0.80 5 United Republic of Tanzania -421 -0.88 6 Paraguay -347 -1.93 7 Myanmar -290 -0.96 8 Cambodia -252 -2.68 9 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) -225 -0.43 10 Mozambique -223 -0.59 Note: The rate of change (%) is calculated as the compound annual change rate. 1990–2000 to 941 000 ha per year in 2010–2020. This decline There was a net gain in forest area in Europe in was due mainly to a substantial reduction in forest loss in the three decades to 2020. The average annual net gain Indonesia, down from 1.73 million ha per year in 1990–2000 increased from 795 000 ha in 1990–2000 to 1.17 million ha to 753 000 ha per year in 2010–2020. in 2000–2010, before dropping to 348 000 ha in 2010–2020. Oceania recorded the second-largest average annual The increase between 2000 and 2010 was due mainly to net gain in forest area (after Asia) in 2010–2020, at 423 000 the Russian Federation, which reported average annual net ha, reversing the region’s negative trend of previous gains of 31 900 ha in 1990–2000, 587 000 ha in 2000–2010 decades. The reversal mainly reflects changes reported by and 17 600 ha in 2010–2020. Australia, from an average annual net loss of 207 000 ha Table 7 shows the top ten countries worldwide for in 1990–2000 and 227 000 ha in 2000–2010 to an average average annual net losses of forest area between 2010 and annual net gain of 446 000 ha in 2010–2020. 2020, and Table 8 shows the top ten countries for average annual net gains in forest area in the same period. TABLE 8. Top ten countries for average annual net gain DEFORESTATION in forest area, 2010–2020 Because information on forest area net change alone Ranking Country Annual net change is insufficient to describe the complexity of land-use dynamics, countries were asked to provide estimates 1 000 ha/yr % of forest expansion (afforestation and natural forest 1 China 1 937 0.93 expansion) and deforestation for FRA 2020. 2 Australia 446 0.34 The collected data enabled the estimation of the 3 India 266 0.38 deforestation rate at the regional and global levels over the 4 Chile 149 0.85 reporting period. 5 Viet Nam 126 0.90 An estimated 420 million ha of forest was lost through 6 Turkey 114 0.53 deforestation between 1990 and 2020, although the rate 7 United States of 108 0.03 slowed over the period. Deforestation occurred at a rate America of 15.8 million ha per year in 1990–2000, 15.1 million ha 8 France 83 0.50 per year in 2000–2010, 11.8 million ha in 2010–2015 and 9 Italy 54 0.58 10.2 million ha per year in 2015–2020. More than 90 percent of deforestation in 1990–2020 10 Romania 41 0.62 was in the tropical domain (Table 9), where the rate Note: The rate of change (%) is calculated as the compound annual change rate. averaged 9.28 million ha per year in 2015–2020 (which, nevertheless, was significantly lower than the tropical average in 1990–2000 of 13.8 million ha per year). The 18 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 9. Deforestation rate, by climatic domain, for four periods spanning 1990–2020 Climatic domain Deforestation (million ha/yr) 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2015 2015–2020 Boreal 0.10 0.09 0.13 0.06 Temperate 0.49 0.54 0.53 0.31 Subtropical 1.44 1.35 0.88 0.50 Tropical 13.8 13.2 10.3 9.3 TOTAL 15.8 15.1 11.8 10.2 TABLE 10. Deforestation rate, by region and subregion, for four periods spanning 1990–2020 Region/subregion Deforestation (1 000 ha/yr) 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2015 2015–2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 1 781 2 240 2 116 2 199 Northern Africa 461 442 330 316 Western and Central Africa 1 854 1 631 1 998 1 899 Total Africa 4 096 4 314 4 444 4 414 East Asia 399 353 369 170 South and Southeast Asia 3 689 2 232 2 460 1 958 Western and Central Asia 82 99 96 107 Total Asia 4 170 2 684 2 925 2 235 Total Europe 88 92 201 69 Caribbean 3 2 23 5 Central America 228 222 142 168 North America 740 475 253 263 Total North and Central America 972 699 418 436 Total Oceania 655 662 458 42 Total South America 5 837 6 667 3 354 2 953 WORLD 15 818 15 117 11 801 10 150 annual rate of deforestation decreased significantly in the The deforestation rate has increased in Africa since subtropical domain between the two periods of 1990–2000 1990, although there was a modest decrease in the rate in and 2015–2020, from 1.44 million ha to 0.50 million ha. 2015–2020 compared with 2010–2015. On the other hand, The deforestation rate decreased slightly in the temperate the deforestation rates in Asia and South America are now domain between these two periods and was relatively low almost half what they were in the 1990s. in the boreal domain. The deforestation rate increased slightly in Oceania in The highest annual deforestation rate in 2015–2020 2000–2010 compared with 1990–2000 but has decreased was in Africa (4.41 million ha), followed by South America since, including in 2015–2020. (2.96 million ha) and Asia (2.24 million ha) (Table 10). Although coverage is good (i.e. by country) for data on In Africa, most of the deforestation was in Eastern and deforestation, afforestation and natural forest expansion Southern Africa (2.20 million ha per year) and Western in FRA 2020, and their quality is higher than in the previous and Central Africa (1.90 million ha per year). In Asia, the assessments, major gaps and deficiencies remain. Therefore, deforestation occurred mostly in South and Southeast Asia estimates in FRA 2020 of forest area change dynamics at the (1.96 million ha per year). country level should be treated with caution. 2. Forest extent and changes 19 Box 4. Seeing the forest and the trees Satellite remote sensing is an efficient way to monitor misclassified as tree cover (see photo this page). On the many environmental variables. Existing and forthcoming other hand, forests with sparse canopy cover or that lack space-borne data streams, which can produce vast leaves (e.g. during dormancy) may unintentionally be amounts of information at varying levels of detail, are omitted from forest-area estimates. also increasingly subject to “open data” policies, under The use of remote sensing for assessing land-cover which they are freely available to the global community. and land-use change is even more complex. In the context Passive remote sensing measures the of forestry, land-cover change may be caused, for example, electromagnetic radiation reflected by or emitted from by certain forest management practices and natural the Earth. Active remote sensing satellites use their own disturbances. A change in land cover, however, does not energy sources to illuminate the Earth and detect and necessarily mean a change in land use. The impact of a measure the reflected radiation. In optimal conditions, wildfire is a typical example of this: the fire may cause both types of remote sensing can produce high-quality a significant (usually temporary) change in vegetation information at a low cost. For forest monitoring, however, cover but does not necessarily result in a change in land a number of significant challenges need to be taken into use. Another example is clearcutting as part of forest account when producing and using remote sensing-based management – the clearcut land will be without tree cover information products. only temporarily because it will be reforested through In the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment, the planting, seeding or natural regeneration. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Another common challenge in the use of remote and many other international processes and institutions, sensing for forest monitoring is the time factor in tree- “forest” is primarily a definition of a land use. Therefore, cover loss and recovery. This challenge can be explained an area of land can be forest even if it doesn’t have trees using an example: the clearcutting of a stand of trees in on it. On the other hand, agricultural and urban areas boreal forest would be immediately observable using with tree cover may be considered as land uses other than remote sensing, but the regrowth of the stand would be forest. This can be problematic for automated analyses of apparent only after 10–20 years. Thus, the use of a short satellite remote sensing data because the sensors can only observation period may result in the misclassification observe land cover. of tree-cover change as land-use change (i.e. Remote sensing instruments also have certain deforestation). limitations in se parating forest from other vegetation Finally, the quality of remote sensing-based mapping types – such as the inability of medium-resolution products varies significantly, depending on factors such as optical sensors to measure vegetation height. In certain the characteristics of the target area; the sensor used; image conditions, therefore, it is common for low and dense resolution; the classification or estimation methodology woody vegetation such as bushland and shrubland to be used; data preprocessing; acquisition date; and the land- cover categories applied and their definitions. A comparison of eight globally available products showed that previous satellite-based estimates of global forest area varied from 3.2 billion ha to 4.1 billion ha (Sexton et al., 2015), with the highest level of disagreement among products in sparsely forested areas (Figure 8). Therefore, caution is required when estimating forest change by comparing two independent mapping products (see Box 5, for example). Remote sensing is a valuable tool for land-cover assessment and monitoring, but it should be used with care. There is a need to use consistent terminology, differentiate clearly between land cover and land use, and recognize that global remote sensing products may have significant limitations at the local scale. On Cotopaxi, Ecuador (4 300 metres above sea level). According to the Global their own, remote sensing-derived estimates of land Forest Change product (Hansen et al., 2013), this area has approximately 22 percent of tree cover, but a visit to the field revealed that it had no trees. (Continued) 20 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 © A. Kindgard Box 4. (Continued) Figure 8. Global distribution of consensus among eight satellite-based datasets 8 1 0 Note: A high value of votes means a high level of agreement among datasets, and vice versa. Source: Sexton et al. (2015). cover and land-cover change are insufficient to support health. Responding to these data needs requires a well- holistic policy formulation and decision-making – which designed, multipurpose field inventory, which can also also require data on, among other things, growing be used to derive reliable forest-area estimates with stock, biomass, carbon stock, biodiversity and forest known confidence limits. Other land with tree cover Seventy-six countries and territories reported a total area of tree orchards of 27.8 million ha, mostly in Asia STATUS (11.7 million ha), Europe (8.34 million ha), Africa (3.99 million The category “other land with tree cover” comprises areas ha) and North and Central America (3.41 million ha). found in rural landscapes and urban settings that meet Seventy-one countries and territories reported an area the thresholds for tree cover established by FAO’s forest of 45.4 million ha of agroforestry in 2020, mostly in Asia (31.2 definition but for which the land use is not forest (and million ha) and Africa (12.8 million ha). There is an estimated therefore the land does not meet FAO’s forest definition). 1.28 million ha of agroforestry in North and Central America. This category is reported here because of its importance in Trees in urban settings were reported by 52 countries the provision of goods and ecosystem services. It has four and territories, with a total area of 20.3 million ha. Of subcategories: trees in urban settings; tree orchards; palms; this, more than two-thirds (13.8 million ha) is in North and agroforestry. and Central America, with more modest areas in Europe Table 11 (p. 23) shows the estimated areas in each (2.77 million ha) and Asia (2.40 million ha). of these subcategories, by region and subregion. Not all countries reported areas in all subcategories. Overall, there TRENDS is an estimated 11.8 million ha of palms in 94 countries and Figure 9 shows global change in the area of other land with territories, mostly in Asia (8.18 million ha), Africa (1.66 million tree cover from 1990 to 2020. The trend for palms is based ha) and South America (1.01 million ha). on data reported by 83 countries and territories. The area 2. Forest extent and changes 21 Forest votes Box 5. Understanding regional differences between products in estimated forest area and tree cover A comparison was made of estimates of forest area by regions, which may affect FRA estimates. This is likely to the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) and of tree be especially true in Western and Central Asia, where 16 of cover derived from the Global Forest Change (GFC) product 25 countries reported forest-area data based on secondary (University of Maryland), at the subregional level. Data for sources such as land registers and questionnaires. 2010 were used for the comparison because this was the most In those areas where FRA estimates of forest area were recent year for which the GFC tree-cover layer was available.11 much lower than those of the GFC, the likely explanation is The largest relative differences between the two sets of that remote sensing-based estimates include large areas of estimates were in Northern Africa and Western and Central agricultural land with canopy cover (e.g. oil palm and cacao), Asia, where FRA forest-area estimates were much higher agroforestry, and other vegetation not meeting the FRA than those derived using the GFC. In these regions, the forest definition of forest. In such areas, the quality of data used for share of the total land area was typically low (less than the FRA reports is high, with only 2 of 51 countries basing their 5 percent); these regions are characterized by open-forest estimates on the lowest-tier sources (see Box 11). formations such as open woodlands, savannas and the Overall, more work is required to determine the saxaul forests of Central Asia. reasons for differences between the datasets and thereby to In Central America, Western and Central Africa, and better understand the extent and dynamics of global forest South and Southeast Asia, FRA estimates of total forest area resources. Cross-checking country-reported data with other were lower than those derived from the GFC product. In these data sources and understanding the reasons for differences subregions, the share of the land area with forest cover is will help improve both the remote sensing products and high (>30 percent), with large areas characterized by tropical FRA reports and increase the overall transparency of forest rainforest, having high (>70 percent) crown cover, and also resource information. To this end, the FRA process seeks to by landscapes consisting of 10–30 percent tree cover and 50 improve the capacity of countries to access and use remote percent croplands (Mayaux et al., 2013). sensing data and products. During the process to produce FRA There are many reasons for these differences. The GFC 2020, FAO took initial steps towards integrating freely available used optical remote sensing; as described in Box 4, this geospatial data and products into the new FRA reporting technology has certain challenges in detecting open-forest platform, with support from Google. This work will continue formations, which are widespread in Northern Africa and in coming years with the aim of helping countries assess the Western and Central Asia. Moreover, separating forest from value of remote sensing data and products and supporting “other wooded land” is sometimes problematic in those them to integrate such products into national processes. FIGURE 9. Global area of other land with tree cover, of palms more than doubled between 1990 and 2020, from 1990–2020 4.20 million ha to 9.34 million ha. Most of the increase was in Asia (up from 3.14 million ha in 1990 to 7.61 million ha 50 in 2020) and mainly in Malaysia (up from 2.35 million ha to 45 6.36 million ha). 11 40 Seventy-six countries and territories reported on trends 35 in the area of tree orchards, which increased by 7.64 million 30 ha between 1990 and 2020. Asia contributed a large part of this, with the area in that region growing from 5.71 million ha 25 in 1990 to 11.7 million ha in 2020. Most of the increase was in 20 China (up from 3.95 million ha to 10.2 million ha). 15 Fifty-four countries and territories reported trend 10 data on agroforestry. The area of land subject to 5 agroforestry increased by 4.21 million ha between 1990 0 Agroforestry Palms Tree Trees orchards in urban 11 The GFC data used in this analysis were generated using settings a 30 percent tree-cover threshold. The data were downloaded 1990 2000 2010 2020 from www.globalforestwatch.org 22 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Million ha TABLE 11. Area of other land with tree cover, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Agroforestry Palms Tree orchards Trees in urban settings No. of Area No. of Area No. of Area No. of Area reporting (1 000 ha) reporting (1 000 ha) reporting (1 000 ha) reporting (1 000 ha) countries countries countries countries Eastern and Southern Africa 5 1 385 3 774 3 10 3 3 Northern Africa 3 159 4 368 3 3 688 4 944 Western and Central Africa 6 11 234 6 510 5 295 2 18 Total Africa 14 12 778 13 1 652 11 3 993 9 965 East Asia 2 0 3 317 4 10 558 3 321 South and Southeast Asia 6 30 695 8 7 639 8 891 4 253 Western and Central Asia 8 506 10 225 9 243 6 1 821 Total Asia 16 31 201 21 8 181 21 11 692 13 2 395 Total Europe 20 75 36 10 28 8 338 15 2 767 Caribbean 7 459 6 57 5 8 6 26 Central America 3 696 1 111 0 0 0 0 North America 4 129 4 99 5 3 399 2 13 751 Total North and Central America 14 1 284 11 266 10 3 407 8 13 777 Total Oceania 2 1 7 645 4 20 2 216 Total South America 5 93 6 1 013 2 338 5 159 WORLD 71 45 432 94 11 767 76 27 788 52 20 279 and 2020, from 39.1 million ha to 43.3 million ha. Most of TABLE 12. Area of other wooded land, the increase was in Asia (up by 2.47 million ha) and Africa by region and subregion, 2020 (up by 1.62 million ha). Region/subregion Other wooded The area of land occupied by trees in urban settings, as land (1 000 ha) reported by 36 countries and territories, increased by 7.45 Eastern and Southern Africa 284 447 million ha between 1990 and 2020, from 9.66 million ha to Northern Africa 59 122 17.1 million ha. There were increases in all regions, with the Western and Central Africa 101 941 largest in North and Central America (up from 7.66 million Total Africa 445 509 ha in 1990 to 13.8 million ha in 2020), mostly in the United States of America. East Asia 114 620 South and Southeast Asia 56 741 Other wooded land Western and Central Asia 19 614 Total Asia 190 976 STATUS Total Europe 100 499 FRA 2020 received information on the area of “other wooded Caribbean 2 113 land” in 2020 from all countries and territories except Central America 4 616 Australia (where it is included in “other land area”). The area of other wooded land worldwide is estimated at 977 million North America 83 786 ha, which is 7 percent of the total land area (Table 12). Africa Total North and Central America 90 515 has the largest area of other wooded land (446 million ha), Total Oceania 2 474 followed by Asia (191 million ha), South America (147 million Total South America 146 645 ha), Europe (100 million ha), North and Central America (90.5 WORLD 976 619 million ha) and Oceania (2.47 million ha). Table 13 shows the top ten countries for other wooded land, four of which (Brazil, Canada, China and the Russian Federation) are also in the top ten for forest area. 2. Forest extent and changes 23 TABLE 13. Top ten countries for area of other by a small gain in 2010–2020 (Table 14). Both Asia and North wooded land, 2020 and Central America reported significant increases in the Ranking Country Other wooded land most recent decade, but this finding should be treated with caution for the latter region because, to a large extent, the Area (1 000 ha) % of land area increase in North and Central America is explained by the 1 China 109 545 12 inclusion of arid wooded land in the western United States 2 Russian Federation 74 885 5 of America, which previously was not counted. 3 Argentina 62 964 23 In South America, the rate of decrease in the area of 4 Namibia 54 081 66 other wooded land slowed significantly in the most recent 5 South Africa 49 682 41 decade, due mainly to an increase in the area of other 6 Canada 40 866 4 wooded land reported by Chile. Similar to the trend in North 7 Brazil 38 713 5 and Central America, that increase can mainly be attributed to a greater level of detail in mapping rather than to an 8 South Sudan 32 582 52 actual increase. 9 Kenya 32 271 57 Large declines in the area of other wooded land were 10 Botswana 26 491 47 recorded in all African subregions, driven mainly by losses in Angola, Chad, Madagascar, Sudan and the United Republic of Tanzania; combined, these countries accounted for more than 80 percent of the loss. TRENDS Many countries face challenges in monitoring the area Worldwide, the area of other wooded land decreased by of other wooded land, largely associated with difficulties in 30.6 million ha between 1990 and 2020, although the big measuring tree-canopy cover in the range of 5–10 percent; declines in 1990–2000 and 2000–2010 were offset somewhat thus, many countries lack reliable data on this parameter. TABLE 14. Area of other wooded land and annual change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Other wooded land (1 000 ha) Annual change (1 000 ha/yr) 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 308 141 299 683 291 438 284 447 -846 -825 -699 Northern Africa 65 164 63 322 61 184 59 122 -184 -214 -206 Western and Central Africa 113 135 111 139 107 356 101 941 -200 -378 -542 Total Africa 486 441 474 145 459 978 445 509 -1 230 -1 417 -1 447 East Asia 106 006 104 593 110 044 114 620 -141 545 458 South and Southeast Asia 53 850 54 065 54 043 56 741 21 -2 270 Western and Central Asia 16 088 17 153 18 872 19 614 107 172 74 Total Asia 175 944 175 810 182 960 190 976 -13 715 802 Total Europe 103 775 98 579 100 946 100 499 -520 237 -45 Caribbean 2 114 2 259 2 152 2 113 15 -11 -4 Central America 3 634 3 962 4 266 4 616 33 30 35 North America 76 836 76 976 76 824 83 786 14 -15 696 Total North and Central America 82 584 83 197 83 242 90 515 61 5 727 Total Oceania 2 633 2 525 2 509 2 474 -11 -2 -3 Total South America 155 846 151 496 146 931 146 645 -435 -456 -29 WORLD 1 007 222 985 752 976 566 976 619 -2 147 -919 5 D 24 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 @ FAO / NCognome 3 Forest characteristics @ FAO / NCognome ©©UUnnppllaasshh//SSuuggaarr BBeeee F orests encompass a wide range of ecosystems compared with planted forests. When sustainably managed, that vary considerably in their characteristics, planted forests can help reduce harvesting pressure on such as in species composition, structure natural forests, and some may also provide important and the extent of modification by humans ecosystem services. and by non-human factors. Thus, forest area is an Information was collected on two subcategories of insufficient parameter, on its own, for identifying important planted forest: “plantation” and “other planted” (Figure 10). trends and assessing progress towards sustainable forest Countries also estimated the proportion of their plantation management. forests mainly composed of introduced species. In addition FRA identifies two broad categories of forest: naturally to the main categories of natural and planted forest, regenerating forest, and planted forest. FRA 2020 collected information was collected on primary forests; mangroves; information on both these categories, as well as on certain bamboo forests; and rubberwood plantations. subcategories discussed below. There is ongoing debate on the functions and values Naturally regenerating forest of naturally regenerating versus planted forests. Naturally regenerating forests (also called natural forests) generally STATUS contribute more to biodiversity conservation and provide FRA 2020 received information on the area of naturally a wider range of benefits and certain ecosystem services regenerating forest in 2020 from 219 countries and FIGURE 10. Components of planted forest PLANTED FOREST Forest predominantly composed of trees established through planting and/or deliberate seeding. PLANTATION FOREST OTHER PLANTED FOREST Planted forest which is Planted forest that intensively managed does not meet and meets all the the criteria of a following criteria at plantation forest and planting and stand may even resemble maturity: one or two natural forests at species, even age stand maturity. Other class, and regular planted forests may spacing. Plantation be established for forests are established purposes such as for the production of ecosystem restoration timber, fibre, energy and the protection of and non-wood soil and water forest products. Plantation forests mainly composed of introduced species represent a subcategory of plantation forests 3. Forest characteristics 27 ©Shutterstock/P. Vilela © Shutterstock/J. Martin ©Shutterstock/D. Leppert TABLE 15. Area of naturally regenerating forest, territories representing nearly 100 percent of the world’s by region and subregion, 2020 forest area. Naturally regenerating forests account for Region/subregion Area % of forest 93 percent (3.75 billion ha) of the total forest area. Of the (1 000 ha) area regions, Europe has the largest area in this forest category, Eastern and Southern Africa 288 639 98 followed by South America, North and Central America, Northern Africa 33 168 94 Africa, Asia and Oceania (Table 15). Naturally regenerating forests constitute 100 percent of the forest resource in Western and Central Africa 303 441 99 34 countries. Total Africa 625 248 98 East Asia 173 264 64 TRENDS South and Southeast Asia 264 578 89 FRA 2020 received information on trends in naturally Western and Central Asia 49 288 90 regenerating forests from 216 countries and territories Total Asia 487 130 78 representing 99 percent of the world’s forest area. According Europe excl. Russian Federation 132 372 70 to these data, the area of naturally regenerating forests Total Europe 928 803 93 decreased by 301 million ha between 1990 and 2020 (Table 16). The overall rate of loss slowed in each ten-year Caribbean 7 008 89 period, from 11.9 million ha per year in 1990–2000, to Central America 22 014 98 10.3 million ha in 2000–2010, to 7.84 million ha in the most North America 676 632 94 recent decade (Table 17). Total North and Central America 705 654 94 The area of naturally regenerating forests decreased Total Oceania 179 949 97 in all regions except Europe and Oceania between 2010 Total South America 823 941 98 and 2020, with the biggest loss occurring in sub-Saharan WORLD 3 750 724 93 Africa. Overall in Africa, naturally regenerating forest was lost at an average of 3.32 million ha per year in 1990–2000, 3.57 million ha per year in 2000–2010, and 4.01 million ha TABLE 16. Area of naturally regenerating forest, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Naturally regenerating forest (1 000 ha) 1990 2000 2010 2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 339 874 326 366 308 090 288 639 Northern Africa 38 542 36 627 34 984 33 168 Western and Central Africa 355 885 338 136 322 316 303 441 Total Africa 734 301 701 128 665 390 625 248 East Asia 152 423 160 773 165 507 173 264 South and Southeast Asia 313 562 286 574 277 679 264 578 Western and Central Asia 44 965 45 738 47 806 49 288 Total Asia 510 950 493 085 490 992 487 130 Europe excl. Russian Federation 116 352 118 921 118 854 118 819 Total Europe 912 651 912 829 914 376 915 250 Caribbean 5 451 6 277 6 735 7 008 Central America 27 928 25 687 23 438 22 014 North America 698 721 687 735 683 341 676 632 Total North and Central America 732 099 719 699 713 514 705 654 Total Oceania 181 705 179 067 176 037 179 949 Total South America 966 621 913 239 855 289 823 941 WORLD 4 038 327 3 919 046 3 815 598 3 737 172 28 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 per year in 2010–2020. The increase in the rate of loss in declined from 354 000 ha in 1990–2000 to 88 200 ha the most recent decade was due mainly to Eastern and in 2010–2020. Southern Africa, where the rate rose from 1.83 million ha per Asia had an overall loss of naturally regenerating year in 2000–2010 to 1.96 million ha per year in 2010–2020. forest of 386 000 ha per year in 2010–2020, due mainly to Losses in that subregion in 2010–2020 were led by Angola, losses in South and Southeast Asia; there were gains in at 548 000 ha per year. area over the period in East Asia and Western and Central The rate of loss of naturally regenerating forests Asia. The average annual rate of loss in Asia was higher declined by almost half (46 percent) in South America in in 2010–2020 than in 2000–2010; nevertheless, it was still the most recent decade, from 5.80 million ha in 2000–2010 much (80 percent) lower than in 1990–2000, when it was to 3.14 million ha in 2010–2020. This was due mainly to a 1.79 million ha. The declining rate was due mainly to a reduction in Brazil, where the average annual loss declined reduction in losses in South and Southeast Asia, especially from 4.32 million ha in 2000–2010 to 1.89 million ha in Indonesia, which lost naturally regenerating forest at a rate 2010–2020. of 2.10 million ha per year in 1990–2000 and a much lower North and Central America reported a net annual 787 000 ha per year in 2010–2020. loss of naturally regenerating forest of 786 000 ha in The area of naturally regenerating forests increased 2010–2020, due mainly to North America, with the in both Europe and Oceania in the most recent decade. Caribbean showing a slight increase in area. The region’s In Oceania, the gain of 391 000 ha per year represented average annual rate of loss was considerably lower than a reversal compared with previous decades – when forest in 1990–2000, largely because of a decline in the annual area was lost at the rate of 264 000 ha per year in loss in North America. This, in turn, was due mainly to 1990–2000 and 303 000 ha in 2000–2010. This mainly the United States of America, where the average annual loss reflects changes in Australia, which reported losses of TABLE 17. Annual change in the area of naturally regenerating forest, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Average annual change 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 Area Rate Area Rate Area Rate (1 000 ha/yr) (%) (1 000 ha/yr) (%) (1 000 ha/yr) (%) Eastern and Southern Africa -1 351 -0.40 -1 828 -0.57 -1 945 -0.65 Northern Africa -192 -0.51 -164 -0.46 -182 -0.53 Western and Central Africa -1 775 -0.51 -1 582 -0.48 -1 887 -0.60 Total Africa -3 317 -0.46 -3 574 -0.52 -4 014 -0.62 East Asia 835 0.53 473 0.29 776 0.46 South and Southeast Asia -2 699 -0.90 -889 -0.31 -1 310 -0.48 Western and Central Asia 77 0.17 207 0.44 148 0.31 Total Asia -1 787 -0.36 -209 -0.04 -386 -0.08 Russian Federation -239 -0.03 161 0.02 91 0.01 Europe excl. Russian Federation 257 0.22 -7 -0.01 -3 0.00 Total Europe 18 0.00 155 0.02 87 0.01 Caribbean 83 1.42 46 0.71 27 0.40 Central America -224 -0.83 -225 -0.91 -142 -0.62 North America -1 099 -0.16 -439 -0.06 -671 -0.10 Total North and Central America -1 240 -0.17 -618 -0.09 -786 -0.11 Total Oceania -264 -0.15 -303 -0.17 391 0.22 Total South America -5 338 -0.57 -5 795 -0.65 -3 135 -0.37 WORLD -11 928 -0.30 -10 345 -0.27 -7 843 -0.21 Note: The rate of change (%) is calculated as the compound annual change rate. 3. Forest characteristics 29 TABLE 18. Area of planted forest, and planted forest TABLE 19. Top ten countries and territories for planted forest as a proportion of total forest area, by region and subregion, 2020 as a proportion of total forest area, 2020 Region/subregion Planted forest Planted forest Ranking Country Planted forest as (1 000 ha) as a proportion a proportion of total of total forest forest area (%) area (%) 1 Bahrain 100 Eastern and Southern Africa 7 139 2 2 Egypt 100 Northern Africa 1 983 6 3 Faroe Islands 100 Western and Central Africa 2 269 1 4 Greenland 100 Total Africa 11 390 2 5 Kuwait 100 East Asia 98 139 36 6 Libya 100 South and Southeast Asia 31 469 11 7 Czechia 95 Western and Central Asia 5 621 10 8 Netherlands 90 Total Asia 135 230 22 9 United Kingdom of Great Britain 89 Europe excl. Russian Federation 56 312 30 and Northern Ireland Total Europe 75 193 7 10 Ireland 86 Caribbean 851 11 Central America 391 2 North America 45 785 6 Total North and Central America 47 027 6 Planted forest Total Oceania 4 812 3 STATUS Total South America 20 245 2 FRA 2020 received information on the area of planted WORLD 293 895 7 forests (including in the subcategories “plantation forest” and “other planted forest”) in 2020 from 219 countries and territories. The total area of planted forests globally is estimated at 294 million ha, which is 7 percent of the world 253 000 ha per year in the 1990s and gains of 424 000 ha per forest area. year in 2010–2020.12 Among the regions, Asia has the largest area of In Europe, the area of naturally regenerating forest has planted forest, at 135 million ha (Table 18). The largest increased in each of the last three decades, although the share of total forest area held by planted forests is also in rate of gain slowed by almost half in 2010–2020 compared Asia (22 percent); the proportion is 7 percent in Europe with 2000–2010, from 155 000 ha per year to 87 400 ha per (the second-highest after Asia), although this increases to year. This was due mainly to the Russian Federation, where 30 percent if the Russian Federation is excluded. The lowest the average annual increase in area declined from 161 000 share of planted forest is in Africa and South America (each ha in 2000–2010 to 90 900 ha in 2010–2020. If the Russian with 2 percent). Federation is excluded, Europe experienced small decreases Six countries and territories – Bahrain, Egypt, the Faroe in the area of naturally regenerated forest in 2000–2010 Islands, Greenland, Kuwait and Libya – reported that 100 (6 690 ha per year) and 2010–2020 (3 490 ha per year). percent of their forest area is composed of planted forests (Table 19). Forty-two countries and territories, of which eight have no forest, reported no areas of planted forest. 12 Time-series data in Australia’s country report to FRA 2020 show a decrease in forest area between 1990 and 2008, TRENDS followed by a progressive increase to 2016, with a net increase of 3.9 million ha between 2011 and 2016. This reflects real FRA 2020 received information on trends in planted forests on-the-ground changes in forest area derived from a consistent from 216 countries and territories representing 99 percent time series of Landsat satellite data and the uniform application of the world’s forest area. Globally, the area of planted across the time series of a current-area algorithm, as interpreted for Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The change in forests increased by 123 million ha between 1990 and 2020 forest area is due to the net effect of forest clearing or re-clearing (Table 20). The average annual rate of increase was higher for agricultural use; the regrowth of forest on areas previously in 2000–2010, at 5.13 million ha, than in 1990–2000, at 4.06 cleared for agricultural use; the expansion of forest into areas not recently containing forest; the establishment of environmental million ha, but it dropped to 3.06 million ha in 2010–2020 plantings; and changes in the commercial plantation estate. (Table 21). 30 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 20. Area of planted forest, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Area of planted forest (1 000 ha) 1990 2000 2010 2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 6 161 6 214 6 758 7 139 Northern Africa 1 383 1 477 1 849 1 983 Western and Central Africa 956 1 230 2 017 2 269 Total Africa 8 500 8 921 10 624 11 390 East Asia 57 483 68 298 86 882 98 139 South and Southeast Asia 12 949 21 503 27 781 31 469 Western and Central Asia 3 757 4 206 4 976 5 621 Total Asia 74 188 94 007 119 640 135 230 Europe excl. Russian Federation 41 743 46 572 52 080 55 004 Total Europe 54 394 61 932 71 693 73 884 Caribbean 479 501 731 851 Central America 74 133 267 391 North America 22 596 31 986 39 646 45 785 Total North and Central America 23 149 32 621 40 645 47 027 Total Oceania 2 784 3 775 4 491 4 812 Total South America 7 046 9 406 14 866 20 245 WORLD 170 061 210 662 261 958 292 587 TABLE 21. Annual change in the area of planted forest, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Planted forest annual change 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 ha/yr % 1 000 ha/yr % 1 000 ha/yr % Eastern and Southern Africa 5 0.09 54 0.84 38 0.55 Northern Africa 9 0.66 37 2.27 13 0.70 Western and Central Africa 27 2.54 79 5.07 25 1.18 Total Africa 42 0.48 170 1.76 77 0.70 East Asia 1 082 1.74 1 858 2.44 1 126 1.23 South and Southeast Asia 855 5.20 628 2.59 369 1.25 Western and Central Asia 45 1.14 77 1.70 65 1.23 Total Asia 1 982 2.40 2 563 2.44 1 559 1.23 Europe excl. Russian Federation 483 1.10 551 1.12 292 0.55 Total Europe 754 1.31 976 1.47 219 0.30 Caribbean 2 0.45 23 3.84 12 1.54 Central America 6 6.07 13 7.21 12 3.86 North America 939 3.54 766 2.17 614 1.45 Total North and Central America 947 3.49 802 2.22 638 1.47 Total Oceania 99 3.09 72 1.75 32 0.69 Total South America 236 2.93 546 4.68 538 3.14 WORLD 4 060 2.16 5 130 2.20 3 063 1.11 Note: The rate of change (%) is calculated as the compound annual change rate. 3. Forest characteristics 31 The area of planted forest increased in all regions The average annual rate of increase in planted forest between 1990 and 2020, including in the most recent area slowed slightly in South America, from 546 000 ha decade, at varying rates of annual gain. Most of the in 2000–2010 to 538 000 ha in 2010–2020. The biggest increases in 2010–2020 were in Asia, even though the influence on the growth of planted forest area in the region average annual rate of gain was substantially less in that in the last two decades has been Brazil, where the average region than in previous decades. This trend mainly reflected annual increase was 9 410 ha in 1990–2000, 368 000 ha in a decrease in the rate of gain in East Asia, especially China, 2000–2010 and 390 000 ha in 2010–2020. On the other hand, which reported an annual increase in planted forest of 1.07 the rate of increase slowed in the most recent decade in million ha in 1990–2000, 1.85 million ha in 2000–2010 and Chile, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay. 1.14 million ha in 2010–2020. There was also a reduction in The average annual rate of gain in planted forest area the rate of gain in South and Southeast Asia; the average was substantially lower in Europe in 2010–2020 than in the annual increase in planted forest area in India, for example, previous two decades. This was due mainly to the Russian was 365 000 ha in 1990–2000, 341 000 ha in 2000–2010, and Federation, which had an average annual gain of 271 000 ha only 49 100 ha 2010–2020. in 1990–2000 and 425 000 ha in 2000–2010 but an average North and Central America had the second-largest annual loss of 73 300 ha in 2010–2020. increase in planted forest area in 2010–2020, but the The area of planted forests in Africa increased by average annual rate of gain has been slowing – from 947 000 an annual average of 76 600 ha in 2010–2020, down ha in 1990–2000, to 802 000 ha in 2000–2010, to 638 000 ha from 170 000 ha in 2000–2010. The rate was 42 100 ha in in the most recent decade. This reduction in the rate of gain 1990–2000. mainly reflects the situation in the United States of America, The average annual rate of increase in the area of where the average annual increase in planted forest area planted forests has trended downward in Oceania in the last more than halved from 462 000 ha in 1990–2000 to 196 000 three decades, from 99 100 ha in 1990–2000, to 71 600 ha in ha in 2010–2020. 2000–2010, to 32 100 ha in 2010–2020. This mainly reflects the situation in New Zealand, where the average annual increase in planted forest area declined from 49 400 ha in TABLE 22. Area of plantation forest and other planted forest, 1990–2000 to 6 020 ha in 2010–2020. The average annual by region and subregion, 2020 increase in planted forest area grew in Australia, from Region/subregion Area (1 000 ha) 46 200 ha in 1990–2000 to 68 300 ha in 2000–2010, before dropping to 22 200 ha in 2010–2020. Plantation Other Total forest planted planted forest forest Plantation forest Eastern and Southern Africa 4 968 2 171 7 139 and other planted forest Northern Africa 1 241 741 1 983 Western and Central Africa 1 469 800 2 269 STATUS Total Africa 7 678 3 712 11 390 This analysis of the status of plantation forests and other East Asia 48 994 49 144 98 139 planted forests in 2020 is based on data reported by 219 countries and territories representing nearly 100 percent of South and Southeast Asia 26 631 4 839 31 469 the global forest area. Western and Central Asia 3 707 1 914 5 621 Worldwide, there are 131 million ha of plantation Total Asia 79 332 55 897 135 230 forests, which is 45 percent of the total planted forest Europe excl. 4 495 51 817 56 312 area. The remainder (55 percent) is categorized as other Russian Federation planted forest, covering 163 million ha. The highest share Total Europe 4 495 70 697 75 193 of plantation forests is in South America, where this Caribbean 716 135 851 subcategory constitutes about 99 percent of the total area Central America 356 35 391 of planted forests. Plantation forests also account for most North America 14 105 31 680 45 785 (91 percent) of the total planted forest area in Oceania, Total North and 15 177 31 850 47 027 about two-thirds (67 percent) in Africa, and more than half Central America (59 percent) in Asia (Table 22; Figure 11). Plantation forests Total Oceania 4 356 456 4 812 comprise 100 percent of the planted forest area in six Total South America 20 099 145 20 245 countries and territories (Table 23). WORLD 131 137 162 758 293 895 Other planted forests predominate in Europe, accounting for 94 percent of the total planted forest area, 32 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 FIGURE 11. Proportion of plantation forest and other planted forest, by region, 2020 Africa Asia Europe North and Central America Oceania South America World 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % Plantation forest Other planted forest and in North and Central America, at 68 percent of TABLE 23. Top ten countries and territories for the total. plantation forest as a proportion of total forest area, 2020 Ranking Country Proportion of TRENDS plantation forest (%) The area of plantation forests worldwide increased by 55.8 1 Bahrain 100 million ha between 1990 and 2020, with the biggest jump 2 Faroe Islands 100 (21.2 million ha) occurring between 2000 and 2010. The 3 Greenland 100 average annual rate of gain increased from 1.98 million ha 4 Kuwait 100 in 1990–2000 to 2.12 million ha in 2000–2010 before falling back to 1.48 million ha per year in the most recent decade. 5 Libya 100 The area of other planted forest increased by 66.8 6 Ireland 86 million ha between 1990 and 2020. The average annual rate 7 Cabo Verde 70 of gain increased from 2.08 million ha in 1990–2000 to 3.01 8 Belgium 64 million ha in 2000–2010 before dropping to 1.59 million ha 9 Uruguay 58 in 2010–2020. 10 Rwanda 54 The area of plantation forest has increased substantially in Asia in the last three decades, albeit with a declining average annual rate of increase, from 1.26 million ha in 1990–2000, to 975 000 ha in 2000–2010, to 17 700 ha in 2010–2020, reversing the previous increasing 735 000 ha in 2010–2020. The average annual rate of gain trend of 94 200 ha in 1990–2000 and 38 200 ha in 2000–2010. in other planted forest in the region more than doubled The shift from gain to loss was due mainly to Sweden, from 717 000 ha in 1990–2000 to 1.59 million ha in which experienced an average annual loss of 30 100 ha in 2000–2010, before falling back to 824 000 ha in 2010–2020. 2010–2020. The big increase in 2000–2010 was due largely to the The average annual rate of increase in the area of implementation of large-scale afforestation programmes plantation forest was lower in Africa in 2010–2020, at 55 300 in China. The proportion of the planted forest area held by ha, than in 2000–2010, at 89 800 ha (the rate of increase in plantation forests declined in Asia between 1990 and 2020 1990–2000 was 25 300 ha). The proportion of the planted (Figure 12). forest area held by plantation forest in Africa was 70 percent The area of plantation forest in North and Central in 1990, declining slightly to 67 percent in 2020. America increased at an average annual rate of 164 000 ha in Plantation forests accounted for 99.9 percent of the the most recent decade, down from 270 000 ha in 1990– planted forest area in South America in 1990 and for about 2000 and 420 000 ha in 2000–2010. The area of plantation 99 percent in 2020; in Oceania, they comprised 99.7 percent forest in Europe decreased by an average annual rate of in 1990 and 90.5 percent in 2020. 3. Forest characteristics 33 FIGURE xx. rest area as a proportion (%) of total land area, DFIeGvUeRlEo 1p2m. Pelnant tGaotiaoln r efogrioesnta al ngdro outphienrg planted forest as a proportion of total planted forest area, by region, 1990–2020 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Africa Asia Europe North and Oceania South America World Central America Plantation forest Other planted forest Plantations of introduced species 1990 and 2020, and the proportion of the total plantation forest area comprising introduced species increased from STATUS 34 percent in 1990 to 44 percent in 2020 (Table 25). This Of the 219 countries and territories that reported on the proportion almost doubled over the period in Asia, from area of planted forests in 2020, 173 – representing 85 17 percent to 32 percent; it declined, however, in all other percent of the world’s forest area – reported on the area of regions. Most of the increase in Asia was in East Asia; in plantation forest composed of introduced species. Of those, China, for example, the area of plantation forest consisting almost half (86) reported that they have no introduced of introduced species grew from 4.39 million ha in 1990 to species and that all their plantation forests are composed of 14.2 million ha in 2020. native species. Globally, the area of plantation forest composed of Primary forest introduced species is 49.7 million ha, which is 1.4 percent of the total forest area of the reporting countries. Introduced Primary forests are naturally regenerated forests of native species account for 44 percent of the total area of plantation tree species, where there are no clearly visible indications forest in the reporting countries (Table 24). of human activities and ecological processes are not The largest area of plantation forest composed of significantly disturbed. Primary forests – especially primary introduced species is in Asia, at 20.9 million ha (32 percent tropical moist forests – are highly species-rich, diverse of the total area of plantation forest in that region), followed ecosystems, and their extent is an important environmental by South America, at 17.8 million ha. The region with indicator. the highest proportion of plantation forest composed of introduced species is South America, at 97 percent, followed STATUS by Europe and Oceania (both 78 percent), Africa (70 percent) FRA 2020 received information on the area of primary and North and Central America (4 percent). Thirty-nine forest in 2020 from 146 countries and territories countries reported that 100 percent of their plantation representing 81 percent of the world’s forest area. Despite forest area is composed of introduced species. the relatively high percentage of reporting on this variable, the reliability of the data is a cause for concern, with many TRENDS countries and territories relying for their estimates on Information on trends in the area of plantation forest proxies such as the area of forest in national parks and composed of introduced species was available for 170 other conservation areas. countries representing 85 percent of the world’s forest area. Based on the provided data, the area of primary The area of plantation forest worldwide composed of forests worldwide is estimated at 1.11 billion ha, or about introduced species increased by 26.7 million ha between one-third (34 percent) of the forest area of reporting 34 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 % 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 TABLE 24. Plantation forests composed of introduced species, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Data availability Plantation forest No. of reporting % of total Total area … of which % introduced countries forest area (1 000 ha) composed of introduced species Eastern and Southern Africa 20 95 4 089 3 019 74 Northern Africa 7 47 894 444 50 Western and Central Africa 17 78 716 528 74 Total Africa 44 84 5 699 3 992 70 East Asia 4 98 48 007 14 779 31 South and Southeast Asia 9 45 15 107 6 043 40 Western and Central Asia 20 79 2 448 116 5 Total Asia 33 71 65 562 20 938 32 Total Europe 39 97 3 978 3 116 78 Caribbean 22 95 684 221 32 Central America 4 62 201 36 18 North America 4 91 14 029 268 2 Total North and Central America 30 90 14 915 525 4 Total Oceania 18 100 4 337 3 392 78 Total South America 9 75 18 278 17 767 97 WORLD 173 85 112 769 49 731 44 TABLE 25. Plantation forests composed of introduced species as a proportion of total plantation forest area, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Data availability Proportion of plantation forests composed of species (%) No. of reporting % of total 1990 2000 2010 2020 countries forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 20 95 72 72 73 74 Northern Africa 7 47 79 73 57 50 Western and Central Africa 17 78 91 89 77 74 Total Africa 44 84 74 73 71 70 East Asia 4 98 13 19 24 31 South and Southeast Asia 9 45 45 35 37 40 Western and Central Asia 20 79 4 4 4 5 Total Asia 33 71 17 21 27 32 Total Europe 36 96 84 71 72 77 Caribbean 22 95 33 39 33 32 Central America 4 62 52 40 25 18 North America 4 91 5 4 3 2 Total North and Central America 30 90 7 6 5 4 Total Oceania 18 100 95 85 76 78 Total South America 9 75 98 98 98 97 WORLD 170 85 34 35 39 44 3. Forest characteristics 35 countries (Table 26). Among the regions, North and Central Primary forests account for 95 percent or more of the America has the largest area of primary forest, at 313 million total forest area in three countries and territories: Suriname, ha, followed by South America (299 million ha) and Europe Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) and French Guyana (259 million ha) (although, if the Russian Federation is (Table 28). excluded, Europe would have only 4.18 million ha). Africa has an estimated 150 million ha of primary forest, Asia TRENDS 86.4 million ha and Oceania 2.62 million ha. FRA 2020 received information on trends in the area Primary forest accounts for 49 percent of the total forest of primary forest from 137 countries and territories, area in South America, 43 percent in North and Central representing 57 percent of the world’s forest area. The America, 38 percent in Africa, 27 percent in Europe (or low number of countries and territories reporting on this 3 percent if the Russian Federation is excluded) and 21 percent parameter, and the use of proxies such as the area of forest in Oceania. Asia has the lowest area of primary forest as a in protected areas and other types of forest reserve, reduces proportion of its total forest area, at 15 percent. Table 27 the reliability of the trend analysis, and the findings here shows the top five countries for primary forest area in 2020. should be treated with caution. Moreover, the data do not TABLE 26. Area of primary forest, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Data availability Primary forest % of total forest Share of global (1 000 ha) area of reporting area of primary No. of reporting % of total forest countries forest (%) countries area Eastern and Southern Africa 10 49 59 412 41 5.4 Northern Africa 5 77 1 284 5 0.1 Western and Central Africa 16 72 88 891 40 8.0 Total Africa 31 62 149 586 38 13.5 East Asia 3 95 16 799 6 1.5 South and Southeast Asia 12 87 67 351 26 6.1 Western and Central Asia 18 95 2 241 4 0.2 Total Asia 33 91 86 392 15 7.8 Europe excl. Russian Federation 41 77 4 180 3 0.4 Total Europe 42 95 259 392 27 23.4 Caribbean 13 67 184 3 0.0 Central America 1 16 658 19 0.1 North America 4 100 312 471 43 28.2 Total North and Central America 18 97 313 313 43 28.2 Total Oceania 14 7 2 617 21 0.2 Total South America 8 72 298 698 49 26.9 WORLD 146 81 1 109 997 34 100.0 TABLE 27. Top five countries for primary forest area, 2020 Ranking Country Area of primary forest Share of global primary Cumulative % (1 000 ha) forest area of reporting countries (%) 1 Russian Federation 255 212 23 23 2 Brazil 216 187 19 42 3 Canada 205 131 18 61 4 Democratic Republic of the Congo 82 752 7 68 5 United States of America 75 300 7 75 36 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 indicate whether decreases in the area of primary forest are TABLE 28. Top five countries and territories for due to deforestation or to conversion to another forest type primary forest as a proportion of total forest area, 2020 (such as naturally regenerating or planted forest). Ranking Country/territory Area of % Note that the data reported by the Russian Federation primary of total have been excluded from the regional and global analysis forest forest area (1 000 ha) of trends. The reason for this is that, in the absence of 1 Suriname 14 833 98 information on primary forest area in that country, the area of intact forest landscapes was used as a proxy; this, in turn, 2 Venezuela 44 873 97 (Bolivarian Republic of) means substantial changes over time, which would have a 3 French Guyana 7 640 95 considerable impact on global and regional trends. 4 Micronesia 48 75 Globally, the area of primary forest decreased by 81.3 (Federated States of) million ha between 1990 and 2020. The average annual rate 5 Tajikistan 296 70 of loss was 3.41 million ha in 1990–2000 and 3.45 million ha in 2000–2010; the rate dropped substantially in the most recent decade, to 1.27 million ha (Table 29). The biggest average annual loss of primary forest area in 2010–2020 was in Africa, at 849 000 ha, up from 611 000 ha decade compared with the previous 20 years. It was in 1990–2000 and 585 000 ha in 2000–2010. The increase in 1.75 million ha per year in 1990–2000 and 2.27 million ha the most recent decade was due largely to the Democratic per year in 2000–2010 but only 323 000 ha in 2010–2020. The Republic of the Congo, where the average annual rate of loss decrease was due mainly to Brazil, where the rate of average was 723 000 ha in 2010–2020, up from 442 000 ha in 1990–2010. annual loss of primary forest was 1.41 million ha in The average annual rate of loss of primary forest in 1990–2000 and 2.08 million ha in 2000–2010 before South America was substantially lower in the most recent plummeting to 201 000 ha in the most recent decade. TABLE 29. Area of primary forest and annual change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Data availability Primary forest (1 000 ha) Annual change (1 000 ha/yr) No. of % of total 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 reporting forest area countries Eastern and 9 27 34 179 33 591 32 849 32 669 -59 -74 -18 Southern Africa Northern Africa 5 77 1 650 1 528 1 406 1 284 -12 -12 -12 Western and 16 72 107 463 102 063 97 075 88 891 -540 -499 -818 Central Africa Total Africa 30 51 143 291 137182 131 329 122 843 -611 -585 -849 East Asia 3 95 15 410 15 507 16 223 16 799 10 72 58 South and 11 85 82 716 75 109 67 682 66 825 -761 -743 -86 Southeast Asia Western and 18 95 2 139 2 156 2 173 2 241 2 2 7 Central Asia Total Asia 32 90 100 265 92 772 86 078 85 866 -749 -669 -21 Total Europe 35 44 853 988 1 319 1 406 14 33 9 Caribbean 13 67 192 190 187 184 0 0 0 Central America 1 16 878 778 689 658 -10 -9 -3 North America 4 100 315 701 312 652 313 113 312 471 -305 46 -64 Total North and 18 97 316 772 313 621 313 989 313 313 -315 37 -68 Central America Total Oceania 14 7 2 748 2 774 2 801 2 617 3 3 -18 Total South America 8 72 342 109 324 607 301 926 298 698 -1 750 -2 268 -323 WORLD 137 57 906 038 871 944 837 442 824 742 -3 409 -3 450 -1 270 3. Forest characteristics 37 TABLE 30. Area of mangroves, by region and subregion, 2020 therefore are not necessarily a true indication of primary- Region/subregion Mangrove area (1 000 ha) forest-area dynamics. Insufficient data were available for Oceania (with Eastern and Southern Africa 905 reporting countries representing only 7 percent of the Northern Africa 31 region’s forest area) to derive valid regional findings. New Western and Central Africa 2 304 Zealand reported a relatively stable primary forest area in Total Africa 3 240 1990–2000 and 2000–2010 and an average annual decrease East Asia 32 of 18 100 ha in 2010–2020. South and Southeast Asia 5 331 Western and Central Asia 184 Mangroves Total Asia 5 547 Mangroves are assemblages of salt-tolerant shrubs and Total Europe 0 trees that grow in intertidal regions of tropical, subtropical Caribbean 892 and some temperate coastlines, where they fulfil important Central America 484 environmental and socio-economic functions. For example, North America 1 195 mangrove ecosystems produce a wide range of wood and Total North and Central America 2 571 non-wood forest products, help protect coastal areas and Total Oceania 1 298 coral reefs, perform important functions in the life-cycles of Total South America 2 130 many marine species, and conserve biodiversity.  WORLD 14 786 STATUS FRA 2020 received information on mangroves for 2020 from 223 countries and territories, of which 113 indicated that they have areas of mangrove forest (the remaining 110 There was a decrease in the average annual rate of reported that they have no mangroves). Globally, the area primary forest loss in Asia, from 749 000 ha in 1990–2000 of mangroves is estimated at 14.8 million ha; Asia has the and 669 000 ha in 2000–2010 to 21 300 ha in 2010–2020. The largest area (5.55 million ha), followed by Africa, North and decline was due largely to a substantial drop in Indonesia, Central America, South America and Oceania (Table 30). where the average annual rate of loss declined from 713 000 Europe reported no mangrove area. More than 40 percent of ha in 2000–2010 to 85 700 ha in 2010–2020. the global area of mangroves is in four countries: Indonesia In North and Central America, the area of primary (19 percent of the global total), Brazil (9 percent), Nigeria (7 forest declined at a rate of 315 000 ha per year in 1990–2000, percent) and Mexico (6 percent). increased by 36 800 ha per year in 2000–2010, and declined again at a rate of 67 600 ha per year in 2010–2020. The shift TRENDS from loss to gain in 2000–2010 mainly reflected the situation FRA 2020 received information on trends in mangrove in Mexico, where the rate of loss of primary forest more than area from 218 countries and territories (of which 108 have halved from 506 000 ha per year in 1990–2000 to 224 000 mangroves).13 ha per year in 2000–2010. The trend was also affected by Globally, the area of mangroves decreased by 1.04 data reported by the United States of America indicating an million ha between 1990 and 2020 (Table 31). The rate of average annual increase in primary forest area of 229 000 loss more than halved over the three decades, from 46 700 ha per year in 1990–2000, 299 000 ha in 2000–2010 and 600 ha per year in 1990–2000, to 36 300 ha per year in 2000– ha in 2010–2020; in this case, however, estimates of primary 2010, to 21 200 ha per year in the most recent decade. forest area are based on the area of reserved forest, and the In Africa, the average annual rate of loss dropped from increase in primary forest area mainly reflects changes in 6 610 ha in 1990–2000 to 2 330 ha in 2010–2020. There was designation status rather than an actual change in primary also a decline in the rate of loss in Oceania, from 29 600 forest area. ha per year in 1990–2000 to 5 900 ha per year in the most Europe, excluding the Russian Federation, has recent decade. recorded net gains in primary forest area in each of the last three decades, at an average annual rate of 13 500 13 ha in 1990–2000, 33 000 ha in 2000–2010 and 8 710 ha in Note that changes in assessment methodologies in several countries mean that estimates of mangrove area for the 2010–2020. These increases, however, reflect changes in various periods may not be directly comparable. These results, proxies such as the area of forest in protected areas and therefore, should be treated with caution. 38 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 31. Area of mangroves and annual change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Mangrove area (1 000 ha) Annual change (1 000 ha/yr) 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 929 902 883 905 -2.7 -1.9 2.2 Northern Africa 34 31 32 31 -0.3 0.1 -0.1 Western and Central Africa 2 436 2 400 2 349 2 304 -3.6 -5.1 -4.5 Total Africa 3 398 3 332 3 264 3 240 -6.6 -6.9 -2.3 East Asia 24 22 25 32 -0.2 0.3 0.7 South and Southeast Asia 6 117 6 108 5 713 5 330 -0.8 -39.6 -38.3 Western and Central Asia 190 190 190 184 0.0 0.0 -0.7 Total Asia 6 331 6 320 5 928 5 545 -1.0 -39.3 -38.2 Total Europe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Caribbean 787 789 774 891 0.2 -1.6 11.7 Central America 492 482 483 466 -1.0 0.1 -1.8 North America 1 152 1 167 1 190 1 195 1.5 2.3 0.5 Total North and Central America 2 431 2 439 2 447 2 552 0.8 0.8 10.5 Total Oceania 1 447 1 150 1 314 1 255 -29.6 16.4 -5.9 Total South America 2 152 2 050 1 976 2 124 -10.2 -7.4 14.8 WORLD 15 759 15 292 14 928 14 717 -46.7 -36.3 -21.2 There was an increase in the area of mangroves in Bamboo South America in 2010–2020 at an average annual rate of 14 800 ha, reversing the declining trend in 1990–2000, when Bamboo is a widely distributed grass in the tropical, the region lost mangroves at a rate of 10 200 ha per year. subtropical and temperate climatic domains. It is an This reversal was due mainly to Guyana, which reported an average annual increase in mangrove area of 19 500 ha in 2010–2020, due partly to a mangrove restoration project TABLE 32. Area of bamboo, by region and subregion, 2020 and partly to improvements in mapping (and therefore Region/subregion Bamboo area (1 000 ha) the increase does not necessarily reflect actual changes in Eastern and Southern Africa 3 984 mangrove area). There was also an increase in mangrove area in North Northern Africa 30 and Central America in 2010–2020, at an average annual Western and Central Africa 634 rate of 10 500 ha (there was minimal change between 1990 Total Africa 4 648 and 2010). The increase in the region in 2010–2020 was East Asia 7 005 attributable mainly to Cuba, which reported a gain of 12 000 South and Southeast Asia 17 872 ha per year in that period. As in the case of Guyana, this Western and Central Asia 0 increase was due partly to improved data collection and Total Asia 24 877 partly to restoration programmes and does not necessarily Total Europe 0 reflect actual changes in mangrove area. Caribbean 125 There was a substantial increase in the average annual Central America 0 rate of mangrove loss in Asia, from 1 030 ha in 1990–2000 to 38 200 ha in 2010–2020. The increased rate of loss was North America 0 due mainly to Indonesia, which reported an average annual Total North and Central America 125 loss of 6 800 ha in 1990–2000 and 21 100 ha in the most Total Oceania 0 recent decade. Total South America 5 389 WORLD 35 040 3. Forest characteristics 39 FIGURE xx. rest area as a proportion (%) of total land area,F IGURE xx. rest area as a proportion (%) of total land area, DFIeGvUeRlEo p13m. Teontta Gl aoraela r eogf iboanmalb gorou, 1p9in9g0–2020 DFIeGvUeRlEo 1p4m. Teontat lG aoreaal roefg riuobnbael rg prolaunptiantgions, 1990–2020 40 8 35 7 30 6 25 5 20 4 15 3 10 2 5 1 0 0 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 Year Year important non-wood forest product with many traditional STATUS AND TRENDS uses and also an important industrial material for Of the 132 countries that reported on bamboo for FRA construction and furniture, either in its natural form or as a 2020, 23 indicated that they had bamboo resources. The reconstituted material (e.g. laminated boards and panels). total estimated bamboo resource in these countries is 35.0 Bamboo shoots are an increasingly mainstream food. million ha, of which 24.9 million ha (71 percent of the total bamboo area) is in Asia (Table 32). The total area of bamboo increased by almost 50 TABLE 33. Area of rubber plantations, percent between 1990 and 2020 (Figure 13), largely because by reporting country, 2020 of increases in China and India. Ranking Country/territory Area of rubber plantations Rubber plantations (1 000 ha) 1 Thailand 3 537 Rubber plantations are important in some regions, especially 2 Malaysia 1 073 Asia. Although their main purpose is latex production, 3 India 882 they are included in FRA 2020 because rubberwood is an 4 Cambodia 559 important timber product. Some countries categorize rubber 5 Côte d'Ivoire 542 plantations as agricultural tree crops, however, and do not include them in their forest statistics. 6 Viet Nam 500 7 Guinea** 237 STATUS AND TRENDS 8 Sri Lanka 137 Seventeen of the 167 countries and territories that 9 Guatemala* 82.4 reported on this parameter for FRA 2020 indicated that 10 Colombia* 58.3 they had areas of rubber plantation. Several important 11 Cameroon 54.0 rubber-producing countries did not report on their rubber 12 Bangladesh* 23.7 plantation resources and are missing from the totals reported here, which therefore are likely to underestimate 13 Gabon 23.0 the global rubber plantation resource. 14 Papua New Guinea 11.7 The total area of rubber plantations in the 17 reporting 15 Ecuador* 6.22 countries is estimated at 7.73 million ha, of which 87 16 Zambia* 1.00 percent is in South and Southeast Asia (Table 33). The total 17 Nepal 1.00 area of rubber plantations increased by an estimated 1.99 TOTAL 7 728 million ha between 1990 and 2020 (Figure 14). Note: * Did not report for 2020; data for 2015 used for 2020. ** Did not report for 2020; data for 2010 used for 2020. E 40 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Million ha Million ha @ FAO / NCognome 4 Growing stock, biomass and carbon @ FAO / NCognome ©FAO G rowing stock – the total volume of living trees in reclassification, estimation and forecasting are usually a forest – has been assessed in every previous implemented differently in reporting to the UNFCCC. FRA. This parameter provides information on Data on growing stock, biomass and carbon are existing wood resources; when expressed as improving as more countries conduct national forest growing stock per unit area, it indicates how well or poorly inventories as part of their national forest monitoring stocked a forest is. In FRA 2020, information was collected systems. In many cases, however, historical data are weak, from countries and territories on total growing stock and affecting the reliability of trend analyses. Most countries growing stock per hectare for both naturally regenerating have only one estimate of growing stock per unit area; for and planted forests and for the total forest resource. those countries, estimates of changes in growing stock Many countries use growing stock as the basis for are mainly extrapolated from changes in forest area. The estimating biomass and carbon stocks. Forest biomass, same issue also applies to biomass and carbon. Estimates expressed in terms of dry weight of living vegetation, is of carbon in dead wood, litter and soil are especially weak, an important indicator of a forest’s productivity and its with many countries not reporting on these carbon pools. capacity to sequester and store carbon. Forest ecosystems FRA 2020 sought information on the composition of are the largest terrestrial carbon sink, and knowledge on the growing stock. Information on growing-stock composition status of, and trends in, the various forest carbon pools is and the diversity of tree species in general is crucial not only important for understanding the role of forests in the global for managing forests sustainably and developing new tree- carbon cycle. based products but also for optimizing the role of forests in The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate mitigating and adapting to climate change. Many countries Change (UNFCCC) requests all countries to periodically were unable to report their growing-stock composition, assess and report on national greenhouse-gas emissions, even by the most common native and introduced tree including emissions and removals of carbon on forest land. species, and relatively few countries reported full time The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has series for growing-stock composition. Inconsistencies developed guidelines and methodologies for ensuring the were also found in the taxonomic nomenclature used by consistent reporting of emissions over time. countries, which were often not in accordance with globally FRA 2020 uses the same carbon pools and definitions agreed taxonomic checklists. Increasing the availability as those in the IPCC guidelines, and it recommended and quality of data on growing-stock composition is a that countries follow the IPCC guidelines for reporting on formidable task for many countries, especially in the carbon stocks.14 Nevertheless, the data reported to FRA tropics, where the diversity of tree species is very high. 2020 do not always correspond with the data reported to Fortunately, tools such as national tree checklists and field the UNFCCC. There are several possible reasons for this: for identification guides are increasingly available for this example, forest definitions may vary; the UNFCCC requests purpose. Recently, too, a global checklist of tree species was countries to report on “managed forests”, which may made available in the GlobalTreeSearch database,15 which comprise all or only part of a country’s forest resource; and includes data on more than 60 000 tree species worldwide FRA-specific methods related to, for example, calibration, and is continuously updated. 14 The IPCC recently published an update of its guidelines on national greenhouse-gas inventories (IPCC, 2019), which contains improved conversion factors for carbon estimation; this will help improve estimates for countries lacking national data on biomass and carbon. 15 https://tools.bgci.org/global_tree_search.php 4. Growing stock, biomass and carbon 43 TABLE 34. Volume of forest growing stock, Growing stock by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Total Growing STATUS growing stock per FRA 2020 received information on growing stock in 2020 stock unit area (million m3) (m3/ha) from 183 countries and territories, representing 95 percent of the world’s forests. For countries and territories that Eastern and Southern Africa 19 146 64.7 provided no information on this parameter, growing stock Northern Africa 841 23.9 was estimated by multiplying subregional averages of Western and Central Africa 56 419 184.6 growing stock per hectare by total forest area. Total Africa 76 406 120.0 The world’s total forest growing stock is estimated at East Asia 27 049 99.7 557 billion m3. Growing stock per unit area is highest in the South and Southeast Asia 31 518 106.5 tropics, led by South America, Central America and Western Western and Central Asia 3 935 71.2 and Central Africa (in descending order), but it is also high in some regions – such as Europe – with temperate and Total Asia 62 502 100.4 boreal forests (Table 34; Figure 15). Among countries, Brazil Europe excl. Russian Federation 35 158 173.9 is estimated to have the largest forest growing stock, at 120 Total Europe 116 230 114.2 billion m3; this amounts to almost 22 per cent of the world’s Caribbean 725 91.9 total growing stock. The Russian Federation, Canada and Central America 4 233 188.9 the United States of America also have very large volumes of North America 90 108 124.7 growing stock (Table 35). Total North and Central America 95 067 126.3 FRA 2020 received information on the distribution of Total Oceania 18 867 101.8 growing stock in 2020 from 157 countries and territories representing 92 per cent of the world’s total growing Total South America 187 455 222.1 stock. Globally, 95 percent of the growing stock is held WORLD 556 526 137.1 in naturally regenerating forest, with planted forests accounting for 5 percent. The average growing stock per unit area is higher in naturally regenerating forest (140 m3 per ha) than in planted forest (110 m3 per ha). One reason for this is that there has been a large increase in the area of FIGURE 15. Forest growing stock per unit area, by country, 2020 Growing stock (m3/ha) <50 51–100 101–150 151–200 201–250 >250 No data Source: Adapted from United Nations World map, 2020 44 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 35. Top ten countries for volume of forest data point. A complete dataset with no gaps was obtained growing stock, 2020 using this procedure. Ranking Country Growing stock Although total growing stock declined slightly between (million m3) 1990 and 2020 (Table 36), it increased per unit area 1 Brazil 120 358 (Table 37). The latter is true for all regions and subregions 2 Russian Federation 81 071 and is particularly significant in East Asia and Europe (excluding the Russian Federation). The increase in East 3 Canada 45 108 Asia is due to significant increases in growing stock in 4 United States of America 41 269 China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, all of which have 5 Democratic Republic of the Congo 30 782 undertaken major reforestation programmes in recent 6 China 19 191 decades. The increase in Europe follows a long-term 7 Colombia 14 830 trend and is likely due to the widespread use of forest 8 Indonesia 12 727 management practices that encourage forest growth. 9 Peru 11 525 There was a significant increase in the proportion of 10 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 10 254 total forest growing stock in planted forests between 1990 and 2020 (Figure 17, p. 47) . This finding holds for all regions, with the most significant increases in East Asia, North and Central America, South America and Oceania. planted forests, and recent plantings are yet to achieve high Growing-stock composition volumes of growing stock. Among the regions, Asia has the highest proportion of growing stock in planted forests and STATUS Africa the lowest (Figure 16). FRA 2020 received information on the composition of forest growing stock (i.e. whether comprising native or introduced TRENDS tree species) in 2020 from 75 countries and territories FRA 2020 received complete time series on growing stock for representing 62 percent of the world’s forest area and 1990–2020 from 182 countries and territories representing almost half its growing stock. 95 percent of the world’s forest area. For countries that did It is estimated that, globally, 92 percent of the growing not provide such data, growing stock was estimated by stock consists of native tree species and 8 percent comprises taking subregional averages of growing stock per hectare introduced tree species. Native tree species dominate the and multiplying these by forest area (as estimated for composition of growing stock in all regions, with the share each point in the time series). For countries that provided highest in Asia (98 percent) and lowest in Africa (86 percent). incomplete time series, the missing data were estimated by The most common native and introduced tree species using the value for growing stock per hectare of the nearest in the growing stock reported for FRA 2020 belong to FIGURE 16. Naturally regenerating and planted forest growing stock distribution, by region, 2020 Africa Asia Europe North and Central America Oceania South America World 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % Naturally regenerating forest Planted forest 4. Growing stock, biomass and carbon 45 TABLE 36. Total volume of forest growing stock, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Forest growing stock (million m3) 1990 2000 2010 2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 21 915 21 273 20 337 19 146 Northern Africa 891 876 872 841 Western and Central Africa 64 835 62 213 59 780 56 419 Total Africa 87 640 84 361 80 989 76 406 East Asia 15 657 18 390 22 226 27 049 South and Southeast Asia 33 288 32 815 32 506 31 518 Western and Central Asia 2 646 3 085 3 464 3 935 Total Asia 51 591 54 290 58 196 62 502 Europe excl. Russian Federation 24 245 27 817 31 539 35 158 Total Europe 104 285 108 087 113 062 116 230 Caribbean 544 617 683 725 Central America 5 118 4 762 4 429 4 233 North America 84 684 86 432 88 141 90 108 Total North and Central America 90 346 91 811 93 253 95 067 Total Oceania 18 713 18 706 18 798 18 867 Total South America 207 186 199 019 190 753 187 455 WORLD 559 761 556 276 555 050 556 526 TABLE 37. Volume of forest growing stock per hectare, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Forest growing stock (m3/ha) 1990 2000 2010 2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 63.3 64.0 64.6 64.7 Northern Africa 22.3 23.0 23.7 23.9 Western and Central Africa 181.7 183.3 184.3 184.6 Total Africa 118.0 118.8 119.8 120.0 East Asia 74.6 80.3 88.1 99.7 South and Southeast Asia 102.0 106.5 106.4 106.5 Western and Central Asia 54.0 61.4 65.2 71.2 Total Asia 88.1 92.4 95.3 100.4 Europe excl. Russian Federation 130.8 144.1 158.6 173.9 Total Europe 104.9 107.8 111.5 114.2 Caribbean 91.3 90.7 91.1 91.9 Central America 182.8 184.4 186.8 188.9 North America 117.4 120.1 121.9 124.7 Total North and Central America 119.6 122.0 123.6 126.3 Total Oceania 101.2 102.0 103.8 101.8 Total South America 212.8 215.7 219.2 222.1 WORLD 132.1 133.8 135.2 137.1 46 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 FIGURE 17. Proportion of growing stock in planted forest, by region, 1990–2020 Africa Asia 202 genera. Many country reports were incomplete in the information provided on this attribute, however, and several Europe countries that did report could only do so at the genus level. Figures 18 to 21 show the reported top five genera, by volume North and Central America and region (or subregion in the case of North America), in the forest growing stock of reporting countries (note, Oceania however, that reporting was insufficient for some regions and subregions and therefore those are not represented below). South America TRENDS World Trends in the species composition of forest growing stock cannot be assessed reliably because of the incompleteness 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 of data on this attribute. Nevertheless, the available data % suggest that the share of introduced tree species increased 1990 2000 2010 2020 between 1990 and 2020 in all regions except Asia and FIGURE 18. Volume of growing stock for FIGURE 20. Volume of growing stock for the top five genera, Africa, 2020 the top five genera, Europe, 2020 BrachBysratecghiyas t egia PinusPinus JulberJnualbdeiarn adia Larix Larix BrachBysratecghiyas t egia PinusPinus ColopCholsoppehrmosupmer m um PiceaPicea JulberJnualbdeiarn adia Larix Larix IsoberIlsionbiae r linia BetulaBetula ColopCholsoppehrmosupmer m um PiceaPicea PinusPinus PopulPuospulus IsoberIlsionbiae r linia BetulaBetula 0 0 100 100200 200300 300400 400500 500600 600 0 0 10 00100 000 20 00200 000 30 00300 000 40 00400 000 PinusPinus MillioMn imlli3on m3 PopulPuospulus MillioMn imlli3on m3 0 0 100 100200 200300 300400 400500 500600 600 0 0 10 00100 000 20 00200 000 30 00300 000 40 00400 000 MillioMn imlli3on m3 MillioMn imlli3on m3 FIGURE 19. Volume of growing stock for FIGURE 21. Volume of growing stock for the top five genera, Asia, 2020 the top five genera, North America, 2020 ShoreSahorea PiceaPicea PinusPinus PinusPinus ShoreSahorea PiceaPicea Larix Larix PseudPostesudgoatsuga PinusPinus PinusPinus QuercQuus ercus PopulPuospulus Larix Larix PseudPostesudgoatsuga Abies Abies Abies A b ies QuercQuus ercus PopulPuospulus 0 0500 5010 0001 010 05001 520 0002 020 50002 530 0003 030 50003 500 0 0 5 0005 00010 00100 00105 00105 00200 00200 00205 00205 000 Abies Abies Abies A b MillioMn imlli3on m3 ies MillioMn imlli3on m3 0 0500 5010 0001 010 05001 520 0002 020 50002 530 0003 030 50003 500 Note: ONnoltye :N Oonrtlyh NAomrethri c0Aam ise rsihc0ao wis5n s 0 h0oe0wre5n b0 he0ec0ra1eu0 bs 0e c0ina10su0us e0 i0icn1i0es5un t0 id0c1ai0et5an t0w d0e2a0rt0ea a 0wv0ea20ril0ea ba0vl0ea2 0iflo5ar b0 l0e2 0fo5r 0 00 MillioMn imlli3on m3 CentraCl eAnmtrearli cAam aenrdic ath aen Cda trhibeb Ceaarnib. bIne athni.s I nfig tuhrise ,fM iagniul lreieos,tMn aim niml laei3tosetn iwm maas3t em waadse mfoar de for CanadCaa bnasdead b oans ethde o snh tahre sohf agreo wofi nggro-swtoincgk- cstoomckp ocosimtiopno sreitpioonrt reedp boyrt ethda bt yc othuantt rcyo fuonr try for N20o0te0: mON20uno0llttye0i p: N mOloieunrdtlltyh ib p NAylomi etrhdeteh rb i tcAyoam t ahisele rsg ithcrooaot wwaislin nsg hgro oeswwrteoin ncb kghe ercsertaeopu cobskret rceienadpsu fousorert i eic2ndi0es 2funo0tr. id c2ai0et2an0 tw. deartea a wvearilea bavlea ifloarb le for CentraCl eAnmtrearli cAam aenrdic ath aen Cda trhibeb Ceaarnib. bIne athni.s I nfig tuhrise ,f iagnu rees,t aimn aetset iwmaast em waadse mfoar de for CanadCaa bnasdead b oans ethde o snh tahre sohf agrreo wofi nggro-swtoincgk- cstoomckp ocosimtiopno sreitpioonrt reedp boyrt ethda bt yc othuantt rcyo fuonr try for 2000 m20u0lt0ip mlieudlt ibpyli ethde b tyo ttahle g trootwali nggro swtoinckg rsetopcokrt reedp foorrt e2d0 2fo0r. 2020. 4. Growing stock, biomass and carbon 47 Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus Genus TABLE 38. Biomass and dead-wood stock, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Biomass Dead wood Million tonnes tonnes/ha Million tonnes tonnes/ha Eastern and Southern Africa 27 855 94.2 1 577 5.3 Northern Africa 2 293 65.2 17 0.5 Western and Central Africa 76 837 251.3 1 851 6.1 Total Africa 106 985 168.0 3 444 5.4 East Asia 23 958 88.3 3 326 12.3 South and Southeast Asia 49 911 168.6 320 1.1 Western and Central Asia 4 885 88.4 40 0.7 Total Asia 78 754 126.5 3 685 5.9 Europe excl. Russian Federation 28 335 140.2 1 603 7.9 Total Europe 109 817 107.9 16 263 16.0 Caribbean 1 035 131.2 69 8.8 Central America 3 752 167.5 248 11.1 North America 78 829 109.1 19 781 27.4 Total North and Central America 83 616 111.1 20 099 26.7 Total Oceania 28 264 152.6 4 699 25.4 Total South America 198 556 235.2 10 839 12.8 WORLD 605 993 149.3 59 029 14.5 North America (where it remained at about 2 percent and stock, although an increasing number of countries 4 percent, respectively, over the period). Globally, the share are developing estimates based on national data. Table 39 of introduced tree species increased from 6 percent in 1990 shows the average biomass conversion and expansion to 8 percent in 2020. factor (BCEF),16 root–shoot ratio17 and dead–live ratio,18 by subregion, based on estimates of growing stock and Biomass stock biomass for 2020. The calculated factors are well within the range of default values presented in the IPCC guidelines. STATUS FRA 2020 received information on forest biomass in 2020 TRENDS from 193 countries and territories representing 99 percent FRA 2020 received complete time-series data on above- of the world’s forests. Data on dead wood were reported by and below-ground forest biomass from 189 countries and 78 countries and territories (accounting for 74 percent of territories representing more than 95 per cent of the global the world’s forests). For those countries and territories that forest area. For non-reporting countries and territories, provided no data, biomass and dead wood were estimated biomass was estimated by multiplying the subregional by multiplying subregional averages per hectare by forest averages of biomass per hectare by forest area (as estimated area (as estimated for each point in the time series). for each point in the time series). The total living biomass in the world’s forests amounts The global biomass stock decreased by about 8 Gt to almost 606 gigatonnes (Gt) (Table 38), or about 149 between 1990 and 2020 (Table 40). The largest decreases tonnes per ha. The highest biomass stock per hectare was in regions with tropical forests – with values above 200 tonnes 16 The BCEF is calculated as above-ground biomass in tonnes per ha in South America and Western and Central Africa. divided by growing stock in m3. Dead wood in the world’s forests is estimated at 59.0 Gt of 17 The root–shoot ratio is calculated as below-ground dry matter (equivalent to 14.5 tonnes per ha). biomass divided by above-ground biomass. 18 The dead–live ratio is calculated as the dry weight of dead Many countries used the default conversion factors wood divided by the total living biomass (above-ground and provided by the IPCC to estimate biomass from growing below-ground). 48 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 39. Forest biomass conversion and expansion factor, root–shoot ratio and dead–live ratio, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion BCEF Root–shoot ratio Dead–live ratio Eastern and Southern Africa 1.14 0.27 0.06 Northern Africa 2.11 0.29 0.01 Western and Central Africa 1.04 0.31 0.02 Total Africa 1.07 0.30 0.03 East Asia 0.70 0.26 0.14 South and Southeast Asia 1.25 0.26 0.01 Western and Central Asia 0.97 0.29 0.01 Total Asia 1.00 0.26 0.05 Europe excl. Russian Federation 0.65 0.25 0.06 Total Europe 0.74 0.28 0.15 Caribbean 1.14 0.25 0.07 Central America 0.70 0.27 0.07 North America 0.71 0.23 0.25 Total North and Central America 0.71 0.23 0.24 Total Oceania 1.13 0.33 0.17 Total South America 0.85 0.24 0.05 WORLD 0.86 0.26 0.10 Note: BCEF = biomass conversion and expansion factor. TABLE 40. Total living biomass, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Living biomass (million tonnes) 1990 2000 2010 2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 32 813 31 391 29 718 27 855 Northern Africa 2 572 2 485 2 408 2 293 Western and Central Africa 88 929 85 219 81 577 76 837 Total Africa 124 314 119 095 113 703 106 985 East Asia 14 417 17 031 19 717 23 958 South and Southeast Asia 53 790 52 879 51 657 49 911 Western and Central Asia 3 661 4 015 4 567 4 885 Total Asia 71 868 73 924 75 941 78 754 Europe excl. Russian Federation 19 332 22 042 25 085 28 335 Total Europe 90 713 95 629 102 995 109 817 Caribbean 766 874 976 1 035 Central America 4 514 4 198 3 917 3 752 North America 73 887 76 010 77 282 78 829 Total North and Central America 79 166 81 082 82 174 83 616 Total Oceania 28 396 28 254 28 225 28 264 Total South America 219 518 210 979 202 309 198 556 WORLD 613 975 608 963 605 348 605 993 4. Growing stock, biomass and carbon 49 FIGURE 22. Regional and global trends in biomass stock per hectare, by region, 1990–2020 Africa were in Africa and South America, mainly because of Asia declines in forest area. In contrast, Asia, Europe and North America all showed increases in total biomass stock. Europe Biomass stock per hectare increased between 1990 and 2020 in all regions except Africa and Oceania, where this North and attribute was relatively stable (Figure 22). Central America Only 72 countries and territories, representing 68 percent of the world’s forest area, reported complete time Oceania series for dead-wood stock; estimates for this carbon pool, therefore, are less reliable than for living biomass. For non- South America reporting countries, the dead-wood stock was estimated by multiplying the subregional averages per hectare by forest area (as estimated for each point in the time series). World Globally, the stock of dead wood was reasonably stable between 1990 and 2020 (Table 41). There were regional 0 50 100 150 200 250 differences, however, with dead-wood stocks decreasing in Tonnes per ha Africa and South America (due mainly to reductions in forest 1990 2000 2010 2020 area) and increasing in Asia, Europe and North America. TABLE 41. Dead-wood stock, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Dead wood (million tonnes) 1990 2000 2010 2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 1 877 1 794 1 685 1 577 Northern Africa 20 19 18 17 Western and Central Africa 2 738 2 345 2 112 1 851 Total Africa 4 635 4 158 3 815 3 444 East Asia 2 219 2 516 2 896 3 326 South and Southeast Asia 356 334 332 320 Western and Central Asia 28 32 36 40 Total Asia 2 603 2 882 3 265 3 685 Europe excl. Russian Federation 1 179 1 273 1 526 1 603 Total Europe 14 831 14 995 15 804 16 263 Caribbean 53 59 65 69 Central America 302 281 260 248 North America 19 120 19 026 19 736 19 781 Total North and Central America 19 475 19 366 20 061 20 099 Total Oceania 4 740 4 710 4 716 4 699 Total South America 12 051 11 577 11 082 10 839 WORLD 58 336 57 689 58 742 59 029 50 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 42. Forest carbon stock in carbon pools, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Carbon in living biomass Carbon in dead wood Carbon in soil Total carbon and litter Million tonnes/ha Million tonnes/ha Million tonnes/ha Million tonnes/ha tonnes tonnes tonnes tonnes Eastern and Southern Africa 13 248 44.8 1 302 4.4 11 700 39.6 26 250 88.7 Northern Africa 1 090 31.0 103 2.9 897 25.5 2 090 59.5 Western and Central Africa 36 229 118.5 1 522 5.0 14 795 48.4 52 546 171.9 Total Africa 50 567 79.4 2 927 4.6 27 392 43.0 80 886 127.1 East Asia 11 767 43.4 5 051 18.6 21 089 77.7 37 907 139.7 South and Southeast Asia 23 393 79.0 976 3.3 17 100 57.8 41 468 140.1 Western and Central Asia 2 388 43.2 399 7.2 2 571 46.5 5 358 97.0 Total Asia 37 547 60.3 6 426 10.3 40 760 65.5 84 733 136.1 Europe excl. Russian Federation 13 833 68.4 3 725 18.4 21 635 107.0 39 192 193.9 Total Europe 54 574 53.6 17 191 16.9 100 677 98.9 172 442 169.5 Caribbean 493 62.5 82 10.4 1 522 193.0 2 098 265.9 Central America 1 840 82.1 166 7.4 2 063 92.1 4 069 181.6 North America 39 301 54.4 30 953 42.8 69 697 96.5 139 951 193.7 Total North and Central America 41 634 55.3 31 201 41.5 73 282 97.4 146 118 194.1 Total Oceania 13 881 74.9 3 247 17.5 15 935 86.0 33 063 178.5 Total South America 96 331 114.1 7 057 8.4 41 457 49.1 144 846 171.6 WORLD 294 535 72.6 68 049 16.8 299 504 73.8 662 088 163.1 Carbon stock TRENDS FRA 2020 received complete time-series data from STATUS 188 countries and territories (representing 95 percent of the FRA 2020 received information on forest carbon stock in total forest area) for forest biomass (above- and below- 2020 from 192 countries and territories (representing 99 ground); 72 countries and territories (70 percent) for dead percent of the world’s forests) for biomass; 79 countries wood; 73 countries and territories (60 percent) for litter; and and territories (76 percent) for dead wood; 77 countries and 72 countries (51 percent) for soil carbon. territories (65 percent) for litter carbon; and 76 countries For those countries and territories that did not and territories (66 percent) for soil carbon. For non- report, carbon stocks were estimated by multiplying the reporting countries and territories, carbon stock was subregional average stock per hectare by forest area (as estimated by multiplying subregional averages for each of estimated for each point in the time series). the carbon pools by forest area. The global forest carbon stock decreased between 1990 The total forest carbon stock (i.e. including all and 2020 (Figure 23), from 668 Gt to 662 Gt (Table 43), due to carbon pools) is estimated at 662 Gt (163 tonnes per ha), an overall decrease in forest area. There were considerable comprising 300 Gt in soil organic matter, 295 Gt in living regional and subregional differences in the trend, however: biomass and 68.0 Gt in dead wood and litter (Table 42). for example, the carbon stock in forest biomass increased Soil organic matter constitutes the biggest pool, with significantly in East Asia, Western and Central Asia, Europe 45.2 percent of the total carbon, followed by above-ground and North America (where forest area increased) and biomass, below-ground biomass, litter and dead wood. decreased considerably in South America and Western and Central Africa (Figure 24, p. 53). Although total forest carbon stocks decreased globally between 1990 and 2020, carbon stock per hectare increased for all pools (Figure 25, p. 53). 4. Growing stock, biomass and carbon 51 TABLE 43. Total forest carbon stock, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Forest carbon stock (million tonnes) 1990 2000 2010 2020 Eastern and Southern Africa 30 932 29 642 27 978 26 250 Northern Africa 2 338 2 242 2 190 2 090 Western and Central Africa 61 005 58 253 55 745 52 546 Total Africa 94 274 90 137 85 913 80 886 East Asia 27 110 30 261 33 908 37 907 South and Southeast Asia 45 804 43 792 43 071 41 468 Western and Central Asia 4 180 4 511 4 959 5 358 Total Asia 77 093 78 564 81 938 84 733 Europe excl. Russian Federation 31 625 34 260 36 833 39 192 Total Europe 158 744 162 457 168 069 172 442 Caribbean 1 552 1 783 1 977 2 098 Central America 4 988 4 617 4 270 4 069 North America 136 644 137 730 139 324 139 951 Total North and Central America 143 184 144 131 145 572 146 118 Total Oceania 33 338 33 111 33 077 33 063 Total South America 161 765 154 917 147 917 144 846 WORLD 668 399 663 316 662 485 662 088 FIGURE 23. Trends in total forest carbon stock, by carbon pool, 1990–2020 Carbon in above-ground biomass Carbon in below-ground biomass Carbon in dead wood Carbon in litter Carbon in soil organic matter Total carbon stock in forest 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 Gigatonnes 1990 2000 2010 2020 52 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 FIGURE 24. Change in forest biomass carbon stock, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Europe East Asia North America Western and Central Asia Caribbean Oceania Northern Africa Central America South and Southeast Asia Eastern and Southern Africa South America Western and Central Africa -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 Million tonnes/year 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 FIGURE 25. Forest carbon stock per hectare, by carbon pool, 1990–2020 Carbon in above-ground biomass Carbon in below-ground biomass Carbon in dead wood Carbon in litter Carbon in soil organic matter 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Tonnes/ha 1990 2000 2010 2020 F 4. Growing stock, biomass and carbon 53 @ FAO / NCognome 5 Designation and management @ FAO / NCognome ©FAO/Giuseppe Bizzarr C ountries were asked to report in FRA 2020 water protection, biodiversity conservation and the on the status of, and trends in, their forests provision of social services. according to the primary designated 6. Other – the management objective is other than management objective – that is, the main production, the protection of soil and water, biodiversity intended purpose for which a forest is managed and conservation, social services or multiple use. used. To be considered “primary”, the management In addition to the primary designated management objective must be significantly more important than other objective, information was collected on the area of forest management objectives, and the forest area reported within protected areas and under long-term management under a given primary management objective may not be plans. reported under any other primary management objective. The area and proportion of forests under formal Note, however, that the primary management objective protection is an indicator of how countries are addressing does not exclude provisions for other benefits or values. the need to conserve and protect forest ecosystems and the For example, sustainably managed natural production services those ecosystems provide. In FRA 2020, countries forests – for which the primary objective might be wood were requested to provide information on the area of forest production – typically also contribute to the protection of in formally established protected areas corresponding soil and water, biodiversity conservation and the provision to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) of social services. Similarly, forests managed primarily protected-area categories I–IV (IUCN, undated). for the protection of soil and water might also contribute The area and proportion of forests with long-term to wood production, biodiversity conservation and other management plans that are documented and periodically management objectives. revised is an important indicator of the intention to sustainably Six broad management objectives were identified for manage forest resources. The area of forests in protected areas FRA 2020: and the area of forests with long-term management plans are 1. Production – the management objective is the production also components of SDG indicator 15.2.1 (“progress towards of timber, fibre, bioenergy and/or non-wood forest sustainable forest management”), which is reported annually products. by FAO to the United Nations Statistics Division. 2. Protection of soil and water – the management objective Many countries provided FRA 2020 with data on is the protection of soil and water. the area of forest designated for productive purposes 3. Conservation of biodiversity – the management objective and, in some cases, on the area of forest designated for is biodiversity conservation. This category includes conservation purposes (albeit often using the proxy of but is not limited to areas designated for biodiversity forests in protected areas). Fewer countries provided conservation in protected areas. information on the area of forest designated for social 4. Social services – the management objective is the services, multiple use and other purposes. provision of social services such as recreation, tourism, Many countries have good information on the status education, research and the conservation of cultural or of their protected areas and continuously monitor forests spiritual sites. in these areas. Others, however, were only able to report 5. Multiple use – the management objective is a information on the total area of protected areas and relied combination of several purposes, none of which is on estimates of the extent to which these are forested. significantly more important than another. Thus, a This chapter provides a global overview of the status designation of multiple use indicates that the forest is of forest management designation in all 236 countries and managed for any combination of production, soil and territories covered by the assessment and an in-depth 5. Designation and management 57 FIGURE 26. Proportion of total forest area designated for various primary management objectives, by region and globally, 2020 Africa Asia Europe North and Central America Oceania South America World 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % Production Protection of soil and water Conservation of biodiversity Social services Multiple use Other No/unknown analysis of the status of, and trends in, each designation half the forest area is designated for this purpose. If the category. Differences between the two analyses are due to Russian Federation is excluded, however, the proportion differences in reporting for each designation category (i.e. is about 30 percent of the forest area, which is similar to reporting was not complete for all categories for all countries). the proportion in North and Central America. North and Central America and South America have the largest shares Global overview of forest area designated for multiple use, and Asia has the largest share of forest area designated primarily for the An analysis of the primary designated management protection of soil and water. In all regions, 10–17 percent of objectives of forests, inclusive of all 236 countries and areas the total forest area is designated primarily for biodiversity covered by the assessment, shows that production is the conservation (if the Russian Federation is excluded from the main designated objective (accounting for 28 percent19 of estimate for Europe, which otherwise would be much lower, the world’s total forest area), followed by multiple use (18 at about 4 percent). percent). Ten percent of the total forest area is designated primarily for biodiversity conservation and another 10 Analysis by designation category percent is designated primarily for the protection of soil and water. The provision of social services is the primary PRODUCTION designated management objective for 5 percent of the Status. FRA 2020 received information on the area of world’s forest area, and “other purposes”, which includes forest designated primarily for production in 2020 from areas of forest managed primarily for scientific research or 160 countries representing 93 percent of the world’s forest military and defensive purposes, accounts for another area. Globally, the area of forest so designated is estimated 5 percent. The remaining 23 percent of the world’s forest at 1.15 billion ha, which is equivalent to 31 percent of the has no designation or the designation is unknown. forest area of reporting countries (Table 44). This area is Figure 26 shows the global and regional distribution by larger than any other designation category. designation category. Europe has the largest area of forest designated for Of the regions, the largest share of forest area production, at 515 million ha (53 percent of the forest designated for production is in Europe, where more than area of reporting countries). If the Russian Federation is excluded, an estimated 59.6 million ha (29 percent of the 19 Note that the percentages given in this global overview forest area) is designated for production in Europe. may vary from those shown in tables 44, 47, 50, 53, 56 and 59 The second-largest area of forest designated primarily and in the key findings, which were calculated for reporting for production is in North and Central America, estimated countries only. In this global overview, the percentages were calculated for the total world forest area, with non-reporting at 231 million ha (31 percent of the forest area), followed by countries treated as having no or unknown designation. Asia, at 190 million ha (32 percent of the forest area). Only 58 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 44. Forest area designated primarily for production, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest designated for production No. of reporting % of total Area % countries forest area (1 000 ha) of forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 15 70 30 062 15 Northern Africa 5 77 1 579 6 Western and Central Africa 18 95 67 693 28 Total Africa 38 82 99 333 19 East Asia 4 98 73 980 28 South and Southeast Asia 14 98 105 231 36 Western and Central Asia 14 84 10 614 23 Total Asia 32 97 189 825 32 Europe excl. Russian Federation 37 76 59 603 29 Total Europe 38 95 514 895 53 Caribbean 15 59 1 149 25 Central America 2 29 3 226 50 North America 5 100 226 643 31 Total North and Central America 22 97 231 017 31 Total Oceania 18 99 10 051 5 Total South America 12 90 106 348 14 WORLD 160 93 1 151 470 31 5 percent of the forest area in Oceania is designated TABLE 45. Top ten countries for share of forest area primarily for production. designated primarily for production, 2020 Three countries – Albania, Denmark and Montenegro – Ranking Country Forest designated for reported that 80 percent or more of their forest area is production designated primarily for production. Nine of the top ten Area % of total countries with the highest share of forest area designated (1 000 ha) forest area primarily for production are in Europe (Table 45). Thirty- 1 Montenegro 675 82 nine countries reported that they have no forest area 2 Denmark 504 80 designated for production. 3 Albania 628 80 4 Latvia 2 603 76 Trends. The analysis of trends in the area of forest 5 Ghana 5 908 74 designated primarily for production encompasses 151 countries representing 89 percent of the total forest area. 6 Czechia 1 975 74 The area of forest designated primarily for production 7 Estonia 1 776 73 decreased slightly (by 1.33 million ha) between 1990 and 8 Lithuania 1 577 72 2020, although there were fluctuations over the period 9 Sweden 19 587 70 (Table 46). The area of forest area so designated decreased 10 Croatia 1 334 69 at a rate of 2.32 million ha per year in 1990–2000 and 1.55 million ha per year in 2000–2010, before increasing by 3.74 million ha per year in 2010–2020. The shift to an increasing proportion of the total forest area designated primarily for trend was driven mainly by Europe and especially the Russian production increased steadily in North and Central America Federation, which reported an annual increase in the area of between 1990 and 2020, from 31 percent to 35 percent. forest designated primarily for production of 3.38 million ha In Africa, the area of forest designated primarily for in 2010–2020. Overall in Europe, however, the relative share production decreased in absolute terms between 1990 of forest designated primarily for production decreased from and 2020, from 109 million ha to 91.4 million ha, but the 54 percent in 1990 to 53 percent in 2020 (Figure 27). The proportion of the total forest area so designated was steady 5. Designation and management 59 TABLE 46. Forest area designated primarily for production, and annual change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest area designated for production (1 000 ha) Annual change (1 000 ha/yr) No. of % of total 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 reporting forest area countries Eastern and 15 70 39 501 37 908 36 306 30 062 -159 -160 -624 Southern Africa Northern Africa 5 77 1 520 1 506 1 520 1 579 -1 1 6 Western and 16 87 68 051 64 746 53 072 59 803 -330 -1 167 673 Central Africa Total Africa 36 79 109 072 104 160 90 899 91 443 -491 -1 326 54 East Asia 4 98 83 936 83 347 67 314 73 980 -59 -1 603 667 South and Southeast 14 98 109 326 113 918 110 835 105 231 459 -308 -560 Asia Western and 14 84 9 191 9 828 10 143 10 614 64 31 47 Central Asia Total Asia 32 97 202 453 207 093 188 292 189 825 464 -1 880 153 Europe excl. 35 76 63 657 61 936 60 738 58 927 -172 -120 -181 Russian Federation Total Europe 36 95 510 335 473 373 482 229 514 219 -3 696 886 3 199 Caribbean 15 59 875 866 1 051 1 149 -1 18 10 Central America 1 15 4 352 3 672 2 848 2 317 -68 -82 -53 North America 4 91 202 172 212 796 220 848 226 302 1 062 805 545 Total North and 20 88 207 398 217 334 224 746 229 768 994 741 502 Central America Total Oceania 16 98 8 035 8 721 9 293 9 205 69 57 -9 Total South America 11 83 98 533 101 977 101 666 100 033 344 -31 -163 WORLD 151 89 1 135 826 1 112 657 1 097 126 1 134 -2 317 -1 553 3 737 493 FIGURE 3. Forest area as a proportion (%) of total land area, 2000, 2010 and 2015–2020, by Sustainable FDIeGvUeRlEo 2p7m. Pernotp Goortailo rne goifo tnoatal lg froruepstin agrea designated primarily for production, by region, 1990–2020 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Africa Asia Europe excl. Europe North Oceania South World Russian and Central America Federation America 1990 2000 2010 2020 60 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 % TABLE 47. Forest area designated primarily for multiple use, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest area designated for multiple use No. of reporting % Area % countries of total forest area (1 000 ha) of forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 11 40 37 059 31 Northern Africa 3 19 4 298 64 Western and Central Africa 14 77 32 808 14 Total Africa 28 57 74 164 21 East Asia 4 98 78 536 30 South and Southeast Asia 14 98 46 819 16 Western and Central Asia 14 84 8 380 18 Total Asia 32 97 133 734 22 Europe excl. Russian Federation 31 71 42 360 30 Total Europe 32 94 45 923 5 Caribbean 11 55 282 7 Central America 2 29 825 13 North America 5 100 253 531 35 Total North and Central America 18 97 254 638 35 Total Oceania 15 99 13 467 7 Total South America 9 74 226 681 36 WORLD 134 85 748 606 22 at 18 percent. Thus, the trend of decreasing area was driven TABLE 48. Countries and territories with 100 percent of their mainly by a decrease in forest area rather than by changes total forest area designated primarily for multiple use, 2020 in management designation. Country/territory Forest area designated for In Asia, the area of forest designated primarily for multiple use (1 000 ha) production decreased from 202 million ha in 1990 to 190 France 17 253 million ha in 2020. The proportion of the total forest area Botswana 15 255 designated for production also declined, from 36 percent in French Guyana 8 003 1990 to 32 percent in 2020. Saudi Arabia 977 There were slight increases in the area of forest Syrian Arab Republic 522 designated primarily for production in South America and Oceania between 1990 and 2020, as well as in the United Arab Emirates 317 proportion of the total forest area so designated – from 12 Réunion 98.4 percent to 14 percent in South America and from 4 percent Guadeloupe 71.9 to 5 percent in Oceania. Micronesia (Federated States of) 64.4 Martinique 52.3 MULTIPLE USE Palau 41.4 Status. FRA 2020 received information on the area of forest Mayotte 13.9 designated primarily for multiple use in 2020 from 134 Saint Kitts and Nevis 11.0 countries and territories representing 85 percent of the Marshall Islands 9.40 world’s forest area. The area so designated is estimated at 749 million ha, which is 22 percent of the total forest area of Djibouti 5.80 the reporting countries and territories (Table 47). Isle of Man 3.46 The largest area of forest designated for multiple use is Montserrat 2.50 in North and Central America, at 255 million ha (35 percent Saint Pierre and Miquelon 1.22 of the region’s total forest area), followed by South America, Faroe Islands 0.08 at 227 million ha (36 percent). 5. Designation and management 61 TABLE 49. Area of forest designated primarily for multiple use, and annual change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest area designated primarily for Annual change (1 000 ha/yr) multiple use (1 000 ha) No. of % of total 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 reporting forest area countries Eastern and 11 40 45 576 42 735 40 692 37 059 -284 -204 -363 Southern Africa Northern Africa 3 19 4 995 4 844 4 456 4 298 -15 -39 -16 Western and 12 35 44 265 40 200 36 831 31 665 -406 -337 -517 Central Africa Total Africa 26 37 94 835 87 779 81 980 73 021 -706 -580 -896 East Asia 3 93 46 438 57 148 68 300 78 536 1 071 1 115 1 024 South and Southeast 14 98 43 615 46 130 44 116 46 819 251 -201 270 Asia Western and 14 84 4 789 5 476 8 017 8 380 69 254 36 Central Asia Total Asia 31 94 94 843 108 755 120 433 133 734 1 391 1 168 1 330 Europe excl. 29 68 37 638 37 951 39 020 39 136 31 107 12 Russian Federation Total Europe 30 94 37 746 38 105 40 724 42 699 36 262 198 Caribbean 11 55 302 291 284 282 -1 -1 n.s. Central America 1 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 North America 4 91 260 124 259 652 257 496 253 435 -47 -216 -406 Total North and Central 16 88 260 426 259 942 257 780 253 717 -48 -216 -406 America Total Oceania 13 97 12 677 10 451 11 887 11 846 -223 144 -4 Total South America 8 71 308 654 275 426 237 925 223 446 -3 323 -3 750 -1 448 WORLD 124 79 809 181 780 458 750 728 738 464 -2 872 -2 973 -1 226 Note: n.s. = not significant. FIGURE 3. Forest area as a proportion (%) of total land area, 2000, 2010 and 2015–2020, by Sustainable FDIeGvUeRlEo 2p8m. Pernotp Goortailo rne goifo tnoatal lg froruepstin agrea designated primarily for multiple use, by region, 1990–2020 50 40 30 20 10 0 Africa Asia Europe excl. Europe North Oceania South World Russian and Central America Federation America 1990 2000 2010 2020 62 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 % Thirty-one countries and territories reported that million ha in 2020. The area of forest so designated increased more than 50 percent of their total forest area is designated in Europe between 1990 and 2020, but there was little primarily for multiple use, of which 19 indicated that change in the proportion (at about 4 percent). If the Russian 100 percent of their forests is so designated (Table 48, p. 61). Federation is excluded, however, the proportion of the total forest area designated primarily for multiple use in Europe Trends. FRA 2020 received time-series data on the area decreased from 33 percent in 1990 to 31 percent in 2020. of forest designated for multiple use from 124 countries representing 79 percent of the total forest area. The area of PROTECTION OF SOIL AND WATER forest so designated decreased by 70.7 million ha between Status. FRA 2020 received information on the area of forest 1990 and 2020, with the rate of decrease slowing in the designated primarily for the protection of soil and water most recent decade (Table 49). The average annual rate of in 2020 from 141 countries and territories representing decrease was 2.87 million ha in 1990–2000, 2.97 million ha 82 percent of the world’s forest area. The area of forest in 2000–2010 and 1.23 million ha in 2010–2020. so designated is estimated at 398 million ha, which is The area of forest designated for multiple use declined 12 percent of the total forest area of the reporting countries between 1990 and 2020 in all regions except Asia and Europe. and territories (Table 50). In Asia, the area of forest so designated increased after 1990, Europe has the largest area of forest designated including as a proportion of the total forest area (from 17 primarily for soil and water protection, at 171 million ha percent to 23 percent) (Figure 28). The increase was due (18 percent of the region’s total forest area), followed by largely to China, where the area of forest designated primarily Asia, at 132 million ha (22 percent – the largest proportion for multiple use increased from 45.8 million ha in 1990 to 78.0 of any region). TABLE 50. Forest area designated primarily for soil and water protection, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest designated for the protection of soil and water No. of reporting % Area % countries of total forest area (1 000 ha) of forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 14 79 26 630 11 Northern Africa 4 25 1 689 19 Western and Central Africa 13 31 7 519 8 Total Africa 31 53 35 838 11 East Asia 4 98 56 542 21 South and Southeast Asia 13 96 54 769 19 Western and Central Asia 13 84 21 141 46 Total Asia 30 96 132 452 22 Europe excl. Russian Federation 35 71 21 595 15 Total Europe 36 94 170 959 18 Caribbean 11 55 1 567 36 Central America 2 29 68 1 North America 5 100 18 793 3 Total North and Central America 18 97 20 429 3 Total Oceania 17 27 1 217 2 Total South America 9 78 37 380 6 WORLD 141 82 398 274 12 5. Designation and management 63 TABLE 51. Top ten countries and territories for the proportion of total forest area designated primarily for soil and water protection, 2020 Ranking Country/territory Forest designated for the protection of soil and water Area % of total (1 000 ha) forest area The proportion of the total forest area designated 1 Kiribati 1.2 100 primarily for soil and water protection is higher than 2 Kuwait 6.3 100 90 percent in four countries – Kiribati and Kuwait (both 3 Cabo Verde 44.7 98 100 percent), Cabo Verde (98 percent) and Kyrgyzstan 4 Kyrgyzstan 1 212 92 (92 percent) (Table 51). Fifty-one countries and territories reported no forest designated primarily for soil and water 5 Tunisia 627 89 protection (eight of which have no forest area). 6 Wallis and 5.1 87 Futuna Islands 7 Bahrain 0.6 86 Trends. FRA 2020 received time-series data on the area of forest designated primarily for soil and water protection 8 Uzbekistan 2 532 69 from 131 countries and territories representing 71 percent 9 Mongolia 9 192 65 of the total forest area. The area of forest so designated 10 Kazakhstan 2 160 63 increased by 119 million ha between 1990 and 2020 (Table 52). The average annual rate of increase grew over TABLE 52. Area of forest area designated primarily for soil and water protection, and annual change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest area designated for the protection of Annual change soil and water (1 000 ha) (1 000 ha/yr) No. of reporting % of total 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 countries forest area Eastern and 14 79 29 228 28 738 27 181 26 630 -49 -156 -55 Southern Africa Northern Africa 4 25 1 536 1 553 1 527 1 689 2 -3 16 Western and 11 29 12 220 10 961 9 298 7 474 -126 -166 -182 Central Africa Total Africa 29 52 42 984 41 252 38 005 35 793 -173 -325 -221 East Asia 4 98 29 016 40 317 58 363 56 542 1 130 1 805 -182 South and 13 96 51 462 53 810 54 017 54 769 235 21 75 Southeast Asia Western and 13 83 22 069 22 478 21 655 21 129 41 -82 -53 Central Asia Total Asia 30 96 102 547 116 606 134 035 132 440 1 406 1 743 -160 Europe excl. 33 71 16 916 19 656 20 687 21 482 274 103 80 Russian Federation Total Europe 34 94 75 612 90 044 105 798 170 846 1 443 1 575 6 505 Caribbean 11 55 884 1 124 1 467 1 567 24 34 10 Central America 1 15 128 108 84 68 -2 -2 -2 North America 3 48 15 039 15 188 15 165 15 115 15 -2 -5 Total North and 15 47 16 051 16 420 16 716 16 751 37 30 3 Central America Total Oceania 15 26 1 165 1 163 1 161 1 152 n.s n.s -1 Total South America 8 71 33 169 30 639 29 660 33 505 -253 -98 384 WORLD 131 71 271 528 296 124 325 376 390 487 2 460 2 925 6 511 Note: n.s. = not significant. 64 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 FIGURE 32.9 F. Poreospto arrteioan a os fa t optraolp forteisotn a (r%ea) dofe tsoigtanla ltaendd p arirmeaa, r2il0y0 f0o,r 2 t0h1e0 p arnodte 2c0ti1o5n– o2f0 s2o0i,l bayn Sdu wstaateinr,a ble Dbye vrelgoiopnm, e1n9t9 G0–o2a0l 2re0gional grouping 25 20 15 10 5 0 Africa Asia Europe excl. Europe North Oceania South World Russian and Central America Federation America 1990 2000 2010 2020 the period, especially in the most recent decade, from 2.46 Trends. FRA 2020 received time-series data on the area of million ha in 1990–2000, to 2.93 million ha in 2000–2010, to forest designated primarily for biodiversity conservation 6.51 million ha in 2010–2020. The steep increase in the ten from 161 countries and territories representing 91 percent years to 2020 was due mainly to the Russian Federation, of the total forest area. The area of forest so designated where the average annual increase in the area designated increased by 111 million ha between 1990 and 2020, with primarily for soil and water protection grew from 1.47 the largest increase occurring between 2000 and 2010 million ha in 2000–2010 to 6.43 million ha in 2010–2020. (Table 55, p. 67). The rate of average annual increase grew All regions except Africa and Oceania reported from 3.60 million ha in 1990–2000 to 5.13 million ha in increases in the area of forest designated primarily for 2000–2010, but it dropped by more than half in 2010–2020, soil and water protection between 1990 and 2020. The to 2.34 million ha. The global trend was evident in all proportion of the total forest area so designated was steady regions except Europe and South America, where the rate of over the period in both Africa (at 11 percent) and Oceania increase decreased in each successive decade between 1990 (at 2 percent) (Figure 29). and 2020. The biggest increase in the area of forest designated CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY primarily for biodiversity conservation between 1990 and Status. FRA 2020 received information on the area of 2020 was in North and Central America, at 27.4 million ha, forest designated primarily for biodiversity conservation followed by Asia, at 26.1 million ha, and Europe, at 20.6 in 2020 from 165 countries representing 91 percent of the million ha. world’s forest area. The area so designated is estimated at The biggest increases between 1990 and 2020 in the 424 million ha, which is 11 percent of the forest area of the proportion of total forest area designated primarily for reporting countries (Table 53). biodiversity conservation were in Africa, from 18 percent The largest area of forest designated for biodiversity to 24 percent, and Oceania, from 11 percent to 17 percent conservation is in Africa, at 107 million ha; this is 24 percent (Figure 30, p. 67). of the forest area, which is also the highest proportion among the regions. The lowest proportion is in Europe, at 4 SOCIAL SERVICES percent, although this increases to 12 percent if the Russian Status. FRA 2020 received information on the area of Federation is excluded. forest designated primarily for social services in 2020 from Three countries and territories – Saint-Martin (French 132 countries and territories representing 77 percent of part), Thailand and Tonga – reported that more than 80 the world’s forest area. The total area so designated is percent of their forest area is designated primarily for estimated at 186 million ha – 6 percent of the forest area of biodiversity conservation (Table 54). the reporting countries (Table 56, p. 68). 5. Designation and management 65 % TABLE 53. Forest area designated primarily for biodiversity conservation, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest designated for biodiversity conservation No. of reporting % Area % countries of total forest area (1 000 ha) of forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 14 47 38 192 27 Northern Africa 5 77 7 810 29 Western and Central Africa 21 90 60 583 22 Total Africa 40 69 106 585 24 East Asia 4 98 16 547 6 South and Southeast Asia 15 98 69 091 24 Western and Central Asia 16 94 3 653 7 Total Asia 35 98 89 292 15 Europe excl. Russian Federation 36 87 20 337 12 Total Europe 37 97 38 919 4 Caribbean 17 59 855 18 Central America 2 29 2 324 36 North America 5 100 71 760 10 Total North and Central America 24 97 74 939 10 Total Oceania 17 98 30 752 17 Total South America 12 90 83 883 11 WORLD 165 91 424 370 11 TABLE 54. Top ten countries and territories for the proportion of total forest area designated primarily for biodiversity conservation, 2020 Ranking Country/territory Forest designated for biodiversity conservation Area % (1 000 ha) of forest area 1 Thailand 19 873 82 2 Tonga 8.95 82 3 Saint-Martin (French part) 1.24 81 4 Norfolk Island 0.49 76 5 Sao Tome and Principe 51.9 57 6 Guinea-Bissau 1 980 57 7 Cameroon 20 340 56 8 Zambia 44 814 54 9 New Zealand 9 893 53 10 Guinea 6 189 49 66 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 55. Area of forest designated primarily for biodiversity conservation, and annual change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest area designated for biodiversity conservation Annual change (1 000 ha) (1 000 ha/yr) No. of % 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 reporting of total forest countries area Eastern and 14 47 33 334 34 857 35 398 38 192 152 54 279 Southern Africa Northern Africa 5 77 4 931 4 945 7 515 7 810 1 257 30 Western and 20 90 56 853 57 676 60 714 60 583 82 304 -13 Central Africa Total Africa 39 69 95 119 97 478 103 627 106 585 236 615 296 East Asia 4 98 4 481 6 238 11 697 16 547 176 546 485 South and 15 98 57 669 59 140 66 149 69 091 147 701 294 Southeast Asia Western and 16 94 1 043 1 472 2 691 3 653 43 122 96 Central Asia Total Asia 35 98 63 193 66 850 80 537 89 292 366 1 369 875 Europe excl. 36 87 6 525 11 999 17 492 20 337 547 549 284 Russian Federation Total Europe 37 97 18 340 28 189 35 064 38 919 985 688 385 Caribbean 16 59 626 677 738 855 5 6 12 Central America 1 15 1 920 1 620 1 256 1 022 -30 -36 -23 North America 5 100 43 686 50 544 66 541 71 760 686 1 600 522 Total North and 22 97 46 231 52 841 68 535 73 637 661 1 569 510 Central America Total Oceania 17 98 20 472 23 973 28 981 30 752 350 501 177 Total South America 11 86 68 011 78 045 81 897 82 901 1 003 385 100 WORLD 161 91 311 366 347 375 398 642 422 086 3 601 5 127 2 344 FIGURE 3.0 F. Poreospto arrteioan a os fa t optraolp forteisotn a (r%ea) dofe tsoigtanla ltaendd p arirmeaa, r2il0y0 f0o,r 2 b0i1o0d iavnedrs 2it0y1 c5o–n2s0e2r0v,a btyio Snu, stainable Dbye vrelgoiopnm, e1n9t9 G0–o2a0l 2re0gional grouping 25 20 15 10 5 0 Africa Asia Europe excl. Europe North Oceania South World Russian and Central America Federation America 1990 2000 2010 2020 5. Designation and management 67 % TABLE 56. Forest area designated primarily for social services, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest designated for social services No. of reporting % Area % countries of total forest area (1 000 ha) of forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 11 27 1 551 2 Northern Africa 4 25 165 2 Western and Central Africa 11 29 1 286 1 Total Africa 26 28 3 002 2 East Asia 4 98 3 591 1 South and Southeast Asia 14 98 203 n.s. Western and Central Asia 13 65 1 864 5 Total Asia 31 95 5 658 1 Europe excl. Russian Federation 34 82 5 269 3 Total Europe 35 96 18 874 2 Caribbean 11 55 23 1 Central America 2 29 0 0 North America 5 100 18 001 2 Total North and Central America 18 97 18 024 2 Total Oceania 13 7 54 n.s. Total South America 9 74 140 023 22 WORLD 132 77 185 634 6 Note: n.s. = not significant. TABLE 57. Top ten countries for the proportion of total South America has both the largest absolute area of forest forest area designated primarily for social services, 2020 designated primarily for social services, at 140 million ha, and Ranking Country Forest designated primarily the largest proportion of total forest area so designated, at for social services 22 percent. This area is composed almost entirely of forests % of total % reported by Brazil for the protection of the culture and way forest area of forest area of life of forest-dependent people, at 139 million ha (almost 1 Singapore 12.2 78 one-third of that country’s total forest area). 2 Brazil 139 394 28 More than 10 percent of the total forest area is 3 Republic of Moldova 76 20 designated primarily for social services in ten countries 4 Ukraine 1 450 15 and territories, led by Singapore at 78 percent, Brazil at 28 percent and the Republic of Moldova at 20 percent 5 Belarus 1 290 15 (Table 57). Seventy-eight countries and territories (of which 6 Brunei Darussalam 50.8 13 eight have no forest) reported no area designated primarily 7 Senegal 1 044 13 for social services. 8 Iceland 6.67 13 9 Georgia 348 12 Trends. FRA 2020 received time-series data on the area 10 Poland 1 021 11 of forest designated primarily for social services from 122 countries and territories representing 66 percent of the total forest area. The area so designated decreased by 6.06 million ha between 1990 and 2020, although there was a slight increase (of 186 000 ha per year) in the most recent decade (Table 58). The area of forest designated primarily for social services declined in Europe and South America between 1990 and 2020 and increased slightly in the other regions. 68 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 58. Area of forest designated primarily for social services, and annual change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest area designated for social services Annual change (1 000 ha/yr) (1 000 ha) No. of % of total 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 reporting forest area countries Eastern and 11 27 19 20 21 1551 n.s. n.s. 153 Southern Africa Northern Africa 4 25 3 2 165 165 n.s. 16 n.s. Western and 10 29 1 960 1 740 1 552 1286 -22 -19 -27 Central Africa Total Africa 25 28 1 983 1 762 1 738 3002 -22 -2 126 East Asia 4 98 1 078 1 583 2 679 3591 51 110 91 South and Southeast 12 91 175 188 200 200 1 1 n.s. Asia Western and 13 64 2 399 1 737 1 784 1861 -66 5 8 Central Asia Total Asia 29 92 3 652 3 509 4 663 5652 -14 115 99 Europe excl. 33 82 6 169 6 023 5 673 5 267 -15 -35 -41 Russian Federation Total Europe 34 96 23 545 17 356 18 041 18 872 -619 69 83 Caribbean 11 55 5 5 23 23 0 2 0 Central America 1 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 North America 3 48 14 643 14 694 14 682 14 700 5 -1 2 Total North and Central 15 47 14 648 14 699 14 705 14 723 5 1 2 America Total Oceania 11 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total South America 8 71 144 499 143 143 141 259 140 019 -136 -188 -124 WORLD 122 66 188 327 180 468 180 405 182 269 -786 -6 186 Note: n.s. = not significant. Nevertheless, the proportion of the total forest area so forests”, which are forests designated to remain untouched designated increased in South America over the period for 20 or more years. (from 21 percent to 23 percent) and was relatively steady in the other regions (Figure 31). Trends. FRA 2020 received time-series data on the area of forest designated primarily for other purposes from OTHER MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES 112 countries and territories representing 68 percent of Status. FRA 2020 received information on the area of forest the total forest area. The area of forest so designated designated primarily for other purposes (most commonly decreased by 112 million ha between 1990 and 2020, due forest managed primarily for scientific research or for mostly to Europe and especially the Russian Federation, military and defensive purposes) in 2020 from 122 countries where the area declined by 99.4 million ha over the period and territories representing 72 percent of the world’s (Figure 32, p. 71). forest area. Worldwide, the area of forest so designated is estimated at 218 million ha (7 percent of the forest area of FOREST IN PROTECTED AREAS reporting countries) (Table 59). Status. FRA 2020 received information on the area of Of the regions, the largest area of forest designated forest in protected areas in 2020 from 173 countries and primarily for other purposes is in Europe, at 178 million ha territories accounting for 97 percent of the global forest (18 percent of the total forest area). This forest is almost area. The total area of forest in legally protected areas is entirely in the Russian Federation, where 175 million ha estimated at 726 million ha (18 percent of the total forest is designated primarily for other uses, including “remote area in reporting countries and territories) (Table 60, p. 71). 5. Designation and management 69 FIGURE 31. Proportion of total forest area designated primarily for social services, by region, 1990–2020 25 20 15 10 5 0 Africa Asia Europe excl. Europe North Oceania South World Russian and Central America Federation America 1990 2000 2010 2020 TABLE 59. Forest area designated primarily for other management objectives, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest designated for other management objectives No. of reporting % Area % countries of total forest area (1 000 ha) of forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 9 21 0 0 Northern Africa 3 19 0 0 Western and Central Africa 10 27 0 0 Total Africa 22 24 0 0 East Asia 4 98 27 509 10 South and Southeast Asia 13 98 956 n.s. Western and Central Asia 11 64 173 n.s. Total Asia 28 95 28 638 5 Europe excl. Russian Federation 34 80 2 699 2 Total Europe 32 96 177 604 18 Caribbean 11 55 0 0 Central America 2 29 0 0 North America 3 48 945 n.s. Total North and Central America 16 48 945 n.s. Total Oceania 14 79 67 n.s. Total South America 10 81 10 609 2 WORLD 122 72 217 864 7 Note: n.s. = not significant. 70 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 % FIGURE 32. Proportion of total forest area designated primarily for other management objectives, by region, 1990–2020 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Africa Asia Europe excl. Europe North Oceania South World Russian and Central America Federation America 1990 2000 2010 2020 TABLE 60. Forest in protected areas, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest in protected areas No. of reporting % Area % countries of total forest area (1 000 ha) of forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 19 91 91 251 34 Northern Africa 5 77 5 214 19 Western and Central Africa 24 98 61 365 21 Total Africa 48 94 157 829 27 East Asia 4 98 38 233 14 South and Southeast Asia 14 92 91 495 34 Western and Central Asia 13 87 14 469 30 Total Asia 31 94 144 197 25 Europe excl. Russian Federation 40 96 39 198 20 Total Europe 41 99 57 780 6 Caribbean 18 66 984 19 Central America 7 100 9 336 42 North America 5 100 69 267 10 Total North and Central America 30 100 79 587 11 Total Oceania 10 98 29 120 16 Total South America 13 98 257 293 31 WORLD 173 97 725 807 18 5. Designation and management 71 % TABLE 61. Top ten countries for forest in protected areas, 2020 Ranking Country Forest in protected areas Area Share of global Cumulative (1 000 ha) total (%) % 1 Brazil 149 577 21 21 2 Indonesia 51 770 7 28 3 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 45 605 6 34 4 Zambia 31 831 4 38 5 United States of America 31 735 4 43 6 China 30 350 4 47 7 Canada 29 507 4 51 8 United Republic of Tanzania 28 508 4 55 9 Democratic Republic of the Congo 24 297 3 58 10 Australia 24 072 3 62 TABLE 62. Forest in protected areas, and annual change, by region and subregion, 1990–2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest in protected areas (1 000 ha) Annual change (1 000 ha) No. of % of total 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 reporting forest area countries Eastern and 15 89 85 171 85 671 86 705 89 452 49.9 103 275 Southern Africa Northern Africa 5 77 3 477 3 491 5 211 5 214 1.4 172 0.3 Western and 21 55 35 794 35 811 37 517 36 771 1.7 171 -74.5 Central Africa Total Africa 41 72 124 442 124 973 129 433 131 437 53.0 446 200 East Asia 3 89 4 900 19 159 30 300 33 761 1 426 1 114 346 South and Southeast 13 86 71 200 73 474 86 245 88 233 227 1 277 199 Asia Western and 10 65 8 507 9 778 11 320 12 925 127 154 160 Central Asia Total Asia 26 85 84 607 102 411 127 865 134 919 1 780 2 545 705 Europe excl. 26 69 6 494 12 440 22 944 27 388 595 1 050 444 Russian Federation Total Europe 27 94 18 309 28 631 40 516 45 970 1 032 1 189 545 Caribbean 16 59 582 653 837 917 7.1 18.4 8.0 Central America 2 31 4 977 4 304 3 577 3 184 -67.3 -72.8 -39.2 North America 5 100 36 922 46 194 66 463 69 267 927 2 027 280 Total North and Central 23 98 42 482 51 151 70 877 73 368 867 1 973 249 America Total Oceania 8 78 17 734 21 106 26 022 27 741 337 492 172 Total South America 8 80 150 247 171 581 206 132 215 703 2 133 3 455 957 WORLD 133 86 437 821 499 853 600 845 629 139 6 203 10 099 2 829 72 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 The proportion of forest in protected areas is more than 30 accounting for 86 percent of the global forest area. This percent in South America, where particularly Brazil, Peru area increased between 1990 and 2020, although the and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) have large areas of average annual rate of increase slowed from 10.1 million protected forests; 11 percent in North and Central America; ha in 2000–2010 to 2.83 million ha in 2010–2020 (Table 62). and 6 percent in Europe. The relatively low proportion of In their reports, some countries mentioned reductions in forest in protected areas in Europe is influenced heavily by protected-forest area, due mainly to illegal activities and the Russian Federation, which reported that 2.3 percent encroachment for agriculture. of its forest area is protected; if the Russian Federation is excluded, the figure for Europe rises to about 20 percent. FOREST AREA WITH LONG-TERM The ten countries with the largest areas of formally MANAGEMENT PLANS protected forest account for about 60 percent of all forests Status. FRA 2020 received information on the area of forest in protected areas worldwide (Table 61). Fifteen countries subject to long-term management plans in 2020 from 135 reported that more than 50 percent of their forest area is countries and territories representing 94 percent of the under formal protection. global forest area. More than 2 billion ha of forest is subject to management plans in those countries and Trends. FRA 2020 received time-series data on the area of territories (about 54 percent of their total forest area), forest in protected areas from 133 countries and territories with considerable differences between regions (Table 63). TABLE 63. Area of forest with long-term management plans, by region and subregion, 2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest with management plans No. of reporting % Area % countries of total forest area (1 000 ha) of forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 14 80 59 156 25 Northern Africa 5 77 9 202 34 Western and Central Africa 17 91 61 853 22 Total Africa 36 85 130 211 24 East Asia 4 98 195 586 74 South and Southeast Asia 9 83 123 983 51 Western and Central Asia 11 84 33 915 73 Total Asia 24 89 353 484 64 Europe excl. Russian Federation 36 82 128 591 77 Total Europe 37 96 943 836 96 Caribbean 8 51 2 759 68 Central America 4 47 1 133 11 North America 5 100 428 803 59 Total North and Central America 17 98 432 695 59 Total Oceania 9 97 55 713 31 Total South America 12 95 133 879 17 WORLD 135 94 2 049 817 54 5. Designation and management 73 TABLE 64. Forest area with long-term management plans, and annual change, by region and subregion, 2000–2020 Region/subregion Data availability Forest area with management plans (1 000 ha) Annual change (1 000 ha/yr) No. of reporting % of total 2000 2010 2020 2000–2010 2010–2020 countries forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 12 80 41 149 44 651 59 151 350 1 450 Northern Africa 4 71 5 234 7 851 8 938 262 109 Western and Central Africa 12 47 32 971 38 707 49 551 574 1 084 Total Africa 28 64 79 354 91 210 117 639 1 186 2 643 East Asia 4 98 140 231 162 691 195 586 2 246 3 289 South and Southeast Asia 9 83 112 875 120 986 123 983 811 300 Western and Central Asia 8 77 27 292 30 502 33 403 321 290 Total Asia 21 89 280 397 314 178 352 973 3 378 3 879 Europe excl. Russian Federation 31 80 124 767 122 417 127 091 -235 467 Total Europe 32 96 934 036 937 552 942 337 352 478 Caribbean 8 51 1 471 1 972 2 759 50 79 Central America 2 31 26 19 23 -1 n.s. North America 5 100 385 531 399 391 428 803 1 386 2 941 Total North and Central America 15 97 387 029 401 382 431 585 1 435 3 020 Total Oceania 8 25 12 044 12 458 12 453 41 -1 Total South America 12 95 64 970 98 758 133 879 3 379 3 512 WORLD 116 87 1 757 831 1 855 538 1 990 865 9 771 13 533 Note: n.s. = not significant. Almost half the total area is in Europe and particularly the lack data for 1990. Therefore, the analysis of trends Russian Federation. Less than 25 percent of the forest area presented here is based on information for 2000–2020 in Africa and South America is under management plans. provided by 116 countries and territories representing 87 percent of the world’s forest area. According to these data, Trends. The availability of information on the area of forest the area of forest subject to management plans increased under management plans is improving, but many countries by 233 million ha between 2000 and 2020 (Table 64). Box 6. Forest certification The concept of independently certifying the quality of forest Development Goal indicator 15.2.1 (“progress towards management was developed in the 1990s as a voluntary tool sustainable forest management”). FAO reports on this for promoting sustainable forest management and the trade subindicator annually based on data provided by the of products originating in sustainably managed forests. Two secretariats of the FSC and the PEFC. As part of this major international certification schemes prevail today: the process, the two secretariats have undertaken a joint Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for analysis of areas certified under both schemes, thereby the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC); the latter making it possible to estimate the total certified forest scheme endorses national forest certification schemes area without bias due to double certification. that demonstrate compliance with its globally established FSC certification started in 1993 in Costa Rica and the sustainability benchmarks. United States of America; it gained momentum in the late The forest area under independently verified forest 1990s, and the area of FSC certification has increased management certification is a subindicator of Sustainable (Continued) 74 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Box 6. (Continued) steadily since. The first PEFC certification occurred in Figure 33. Forest area certified under the Austria, Finland, Germany, Norway and Sweden in 2000, Forest Stewardship Council and the Programme increased slowly in Europe for a few years, and almost for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, quadrupled in 2005 with the endorsement of two North 1990–2019 American certification schemes (those of the Sustainable 350 Forestry Initiative and the Canadian Standards 300 Association) (Figure 33). A total of 200 million ha of forest was certified under 250 the FSC in 2019 and 319 million ha was certified under 200 the PEFC. Of these areas, 93 million ha was certified 150 under both systems; thus, the total net certified forest area in 2019 was 426 million ha. Figure 34 shows that the 100 majority of the certified area was in Europe and North 50 America. Canada had by far the most, at 167 million ha, 0 followed by the Russian Federation (54.1 million ha) and 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 the United States of America (38.1 million ha). These FSC PEFC three countries together accounted for more than 60 Note: FSC = Forest Stewardship Council; PEFC = Programme for percent of the world’s certified forest area in 2019. the Endorsement of Forest Certification. Figure 34. Total area of certified forest after adjustment for double certification, by region, 2000–2019 Africa Asia Europe North and Central America Oceania South America World 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Million ha 2000 2005 2010 2019 o 5. Designation and management 75 Million ha @ FAO / NCognome 6 Ownership and management rights @ FAO / NCognome ©Flickr/Martin I nformation on the ownership of, and the Russian Federation is excluded, the share decreases to management rights to, forests is crucial for 46 percent. governments in formulating effective forest The largest share of public ownership at the policies. Clear and secure forest ownership subregional level was in Western and Central Asia, at 99 and management rights are important for encouraging percent. The regions with the largest shares of privately public and private investment in forests and for alleviating owned forests were Oceania, at 47 percent, and North and the poverty of people who depend directly or indirectly on Central America, at 36 percent. forests for their livelihoods. In Europe, private forest accounted for 9 percent of the FRA 2020 collected information on ownership and forest area; if the Russian Federation is excluded, the share management rights for 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2015; 2015, increases to 52 percent. therefore, is the reference year for status analysis. Seventy-three countries reported that more than 90 Three main forest ownership categories were assessed: percent of their forests was publicly owned in 2015. The 1) public ownership; 2) private ownership; and 3) unknown/ share was 100 percent in 48 of those countries, of which 23 other. were in Asia (mostly Western and Central Asia) and 16 were Three subcategories were specified for private in Africa (mostly Western and Central Africa). ownership: 1) forest owned by individuals; 2) forest owned Public ownership was below 10 percent in 15 countries; by business entities or institutions; and 3) forest owned by five countries and territories, all in Oceania, reported that local, tribal or indigenous communities. 100 percent of their forest area was owned privately (and FRA 2020 also collected information on who holds therefore no forest was publicly owned). Table 66 shows the management rights in public forests, defined as the right top ten countries and territories for the proportion of forest to manage and use publicly owned forests for a specified area under private ownership in 2015. period. Five main categories of management rights holders were identified: 1) public administrations; 2) individuals; 3) private business entities and institutions; 4) local, tribal and indigenous communities; and 5) unknown/other. FIGURE 35. Proportion of total forest area, by three ownership categories, 2015 Forest ownership Unknown/other Unknown/oth4%er 4% STATUS FRA 2020 received information on forest ownership in 2015 Private Pri2v2a%te for the main categories (i.e. public, private and unknown/ 22% other) from 180 countries and territories representing 97 percent of the world’s forests. Figure 35 shows the Public P73u%blic proportion of the total forest area in these three categories 73% in 2015. Public ownership was predominant in 2015 in all regions and subregions except Central America, where private ownership accounted for 51 percent of the forest area (Table 65). The largest share of public ownership was Note: “Other” applies mainly to forest areas with disputed ownership or Nwoitthe :o “wOntheersrh” iapp ipnl iteras nmsiatiinolny, taon fdo rteos fto areresat sa rweiaths idni swphuitcehd t ohwernee arrseh idpi socrr epancies in Europe, where it accounted for 90 percent – although if wbeitthw oewenn enrasthioipn ainl ftorarenssti tiinovne,n atnodry t od afotaresestt sa arenads pinu bwlhici crheg tihseterers a. re discrepancies between national forest inventory datasets and public registers. 6. Ownership and management rights 79 TABLE 65. Forest ownership, by region and subregion, 2015 Region/subregion Data availability Forest area (1 000 ha) % of forest area No. of % of total Private Public Unknown/ Private Public Unknown/ reporting forest area other other countries Eastern and Southern Africa 17 92 22 634 161 327 98 017 8 57 35 Northern Africa 5 77 7 492 20 328 66 27 73 n.s. Western and Central Africa 21 96 5 881 281 155 16 229 2 93 5 Total Africa 43 93 36 007 462 810 114 312 6 75 19 East Asia 5 100 105 815 156 074 0 40 60 0 South and Southeast Asia 17 100 26 688 264 512 7 883 9 88 3 Western and Central Asia 21 99 760 52 675 0 1 99 0 Total Asia 43 100 133 263 473 262 7 883 22 77 1 Europe excl. Russian Federation 41 87 92 056 80 519 2 943 52 46 2 Total Europe 42 97 92 056 895 449 2 943 9 90 n.s. Caribbean 14 72 996 4 535 81 18 81 1 Central America 3 32 3 668 2 675 802 51 37 11 North America 5 100 261 163 449 605 12 775 36 62 2 Total North and Central America 22 98 265 827 456 815 13 658 36 62 2 Total Oceania 17 100 86 986 96 241 1 051 47 52 1 Total South America 13 98 273 581 527 702 37 806 33 63 5 WORLD 180 97 887 721 2 912 280 177 653 22 73 4 Note: n.s. = not significant. TABLE 66. Top ten countries and territories for the proportion TRENDS of privately owned forest, 2015 FRA 2020 received information on trends in forest ownership Ranking Country/territory Forest under private from 166 countries and territories representing 95 percent ownership of the world’s forest. Area % of total The area of forest under public ownership decreased (1 000 ha) forest area by 116 million ha between 1990 and 2015 and the area of 1 American Samoa 17 100 privately owned forest increased by 29 million ha (Table 67). 2 Marshall Islands 9 100 The proportion of the total forest area that is privately 3 Niue 19 100 owned increased from 21 percent to 22 percent over the period, and the share of publicly owned forests decreased 4 Papua New Guinea 35 974 100 from 74 percent to 73 percent. 5 Vanuatu 442 100 Asia had the highest gain in the area of private forest 6 Uruguay 1 906 99 between 1990 and 2015, at about 69 million ha. This mainly 7 Portugal 3 215 97 reflects the trend in East Asia, where China reported an 8 Yemen 522 95 increase of just over 53 million ha of private forest since 9 El Salvador 548 90 1990. The share of private forest increased in China from 17 percent in 1990 to 41 percent in 2015. 10 Samoa 148 90 The biggest decrease in the area of privately owned forest between 1990 and 2015 was in South America, where it declined by about 53 million ha, due mainly to a reduction of 85 million ha in Brazil. The proportion of privately owned forest in Brazil decreased from 47 percent of the total forest area in 1990 to 44 percent in 2015. 80 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 67. Forest ownership, by region and subregion, 1990–2015 Region/subregion Data availability Forest ownership (1 000 ha) No. of % of total Private Public Unknown/other reporting forest area countries 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 Eastern and Southern Africa 16 92 25 860 22 630 180 525 161 318 112 076 98 016 Northern Africa 5 77 7 153 7 492 24 629 20 328 61 66 Western and Central Africa 21 96 13 017 5 881 320 427 281 155 9 304 16 229 Total Africa 42 93 46 029 36 002 525 580 462 801 121 441 114 312 East Asia 5 100 46 809 105 815 163 098 156 074 0 0 South and Southeast Asia 15 96 16 474 26 029 279 164 255 277 19 251 7 883 Western and Central Asia 20 98 598 631 47 627 52 639 0 0 Total Asia 40 98 63 882 132 475 489 889 463 991 19 250 7 883 Europe excl. Russian Federation 39 87 74 443 91 614 84 961 80 045 2 214 2 943 Total Europe 40 97 74 443 91 614 893 911 894 976 2 214 2 943 Caribbean 14 72 752 996 3 404 4 535 137 81 Central America 1 16 2 244 1 717 1 741 1 351 796 518 North America 5 100 261 085 261 163 444 909 449 605 15 323 12 775 Total North and Central America 20 97 264 081 263 876 450 054 455 491 16 257 13 373 Total Oceania 13 98 77 539 84 340 102 707 95 351 1 022 1 043 Total South America 11 87 301 571 248 280 488 356 462 213 66 499 37 806 WORLD 166 95 827 546 856 588 2 950 498 2 834 823 226 683 177 359 FIGURE xx. rest area as a proportion (%) of total land area, DFIeGvUeRlEo 3p6m. Pernotp Goortailo rne goifo tnoatal lg froruepstin agrea, by ownership type and region, 1990–2015 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Africa Asia Europe North and Oceania South America World Central America Public Private Unknown/other 6. Ownership and management rights 81 % 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 There were substantial declines in the area of both Of the total area of privately owned forest in reporting publicly owned and privately owned forests in Africa countries and territories in 2015, individuals accounted for between 1990 and 2015. This apparently reflected losses 51 percent, local, tribal and indigenous communities for 29 in the total forest area rather than trends in ownership percent and business entities and institutions for 20 percent categories, with the share of the total forest area of each (Table 68). staying relatively steady over the period (Figure 36). Ownership by individuals was the predominant private- There was an increase in the proportion of the forest ownership type in Europe (78 percent of the total forest area area owned privately in Oceania between 1990 and 2015, owned privately) and North and Central America (55 percent). from 43 percent to 47 percent. Correspondingly, the In Africa, in contrast, local, tribal and indigenous communities proportion of forest owned publicly declined from 57 accounted for 85 percent of the total privately owned forest percent to 53 percent. area. Insufficient data were available to derive findings for In Europe (excluding the Russian Federation, where all the other regions. It is worth mentioning, however, that three forests were 100 percent publicly owned in 2015), private countries and territories in Oceania – American Samoa, Niue ownership has become the region’s predominant form of and Vanuatu – reported that 100 percent of their forest area ownership, increasing in proportion from 46 percent of the was owned privately; the share owned by local, tribal and total forest area in 1990 to 52 percent in 2015. indigenous communities amounted to 100 percent in Niue The proportion of the total forest area in private and and Vanuatu and 99 percent in American Samoa. public ownership in North and Central America was steady between 1990 and 2015, at 36 percent and 62 percent, TRENDS respectively. FRA 2020 received complete time-series data on the area of forest in the three types of private ownership from Private ownership, by type of owner 109 countries and territories representing 50 percent of the world’s forest. For these countries and territories, the STATUS share of forest area by private-ownership category was FRA 2020 received information on the forest area owned by reasonably stable over the period. Globally, the proportion of different types of private owner in 2015 from 115 countries privately owned forest declined between 1990 and 2015, from and territories representing 50 percent of the world’s forest 55 percent to 54 percent for individuals and from 27 percent area. Given the low coverage, the analysis presented here to 26 percent for local, tribal and indigenous communities, provides only a partial picture of this parameter at the but it increased over the period for business entities and global and regional levels. institutions, from 18 percent to 20 percent (Figure 37). TABLE 68. Area of forest in three types of private ownership, by region, 2015 Region Data availability Forest ownership (1 000 ha) No. of % of total Individuals Business entities and Local, tribal and reporting forest area institutions indigenous communities countries 1 000 ha % 1 000 ha % 1 000 ha % Africa 32 71 824 4 1 978 11 15 599 85 Asia 31 29 7 196 56 1 742 14 3 900 30 Europe 28 92 50 946 78 11 691 18 2 535 4 North and Central America 12 51 129 468 55 59 723 25 45 579 19 Oceania 9 21 160 0 0 0 37 551 100 South America 3 8 0 0 144 4 3 491 96 WORLD 115 50 188 592 51 75 279 20 108 655 29 82 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 FIGURE x3x7. . rPersotp aorretaio ans oaf p trootaplo prtriovant (e% fo) roefs to atrael ala, nd area, Dbye voewlonpemrsehnipt tGyopael arengdi orengailo gnr,o 1u9p9in0–g2015 100 90 80 The situation in North and Central America mirrored the 70 global trend. In Africa, the proportion of the private forest area 60 held by individuals increased from 3 percent in 1990 to 50 4 percent in 2015, and the proportion owned by business entities and institutions increased from 9 percent to 11 percent. 40 Ownership by local, indigenous and tribal communities 30 decreased from 88 percent to 85 percent over the period. 20 In Europe, the share of privately owned forest area 10 decreased between 1990 and 2015, from 79 percent to 78 0 percent for individuals and from 19 percent to 18 percent for business entities and institutions, but it increased for Africa Europe North and World local, tribal and indigenous communities, from 3 percent to Central America 4 percent. Individuals Business entities Indigenous Insufficient data were available to derive findings for the other regions. The share of public forest managed by individuals was only Holders of management rights in publicly 0.1 percent, and the identity of the holders of management owned forests rights was unknown or “other” for the remaining 1.7 percent. Public administrations were the predominant STATUS rights holders in all regions (Figure 38); they were especially FRA 2020 received information on the holders of larger holders in South America and Europe, where they management rights in public forests in 2015 from accounted for 97 percent and 72 percent of the public forest 147 countries and territories accounting for 85 percent of area, respectively. the total forest area. Business entities and institutions held management Globally, public administrations held 83 percent of rights in 27 percent of the publicly owned forest area management rights in publicly owned forests in 2015, in Europe in 2015, the highest proportion of any of the business entities and institutions held 13 percent, and local, regions. Management rights were more commonly held by tribal and indigenous communities held 2 percent (Table 69). local, tribal and indigenous communities than by business TABLE 69. Holders of management rights to public forests, by region, 2015 Region Data availability Management rights (1 000 ha) No. of % of total Public Individuals Business entities Indigenous Unknown/other reporting forest area administration countries 1 000 ha % 1 000 ha % 1 000 ha % 1 000 ha % 1 000 ha % Africa 37 81 378 849 88 0 0 41 485 10 7 104 1.7 844 n.s. Asia 33 87 323 232 82 45 n.s. 1 275 n.s. 30 245 7.7 40 052 10 Europe 35 95 641 273 72 1 n.s. 244 003 27 1324 0.1 809 n.s. North and Central 17 88 389 302 86 202 n.s. 54 882 12 5 570 1.2 2 956 1 America Oceania 15 28 6 728 96 0 0 278 4 0 0.0 0 0 South America 10 84 435 192 97 2 014 n.s. 5 925 1 7 173 1.6 3 n.s. WORLD 147 85 2 174 576 83 2 263 n.s. 347 848 13 51 416 2.0 44 664 2 Note: n.s. = not significant. 6. Ownership and management rights 83 % 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 FIGURE 38. Proportion of total publicly owned forest area, by holder of management rights and region, 2015 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Africa Asia Europe North and South World Central America America Public administration Individuals Business entities Indigenous Unknown/other FIGURE 39. Proportion of total area of publicly owned forests, by holder of management rights and region, 1990–2015 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Africa Asia Europe North and South World Central America America Public administration Individuals Business entities Indigenous Unknown/other 84 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 % % 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 1990 2000 2010 2015 entities and institutions in Asia and South America, at In Oceania, there was only a minor decrease in the 8 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Insufficient data were share of public forest managed by public administrations available to derive meaningful findings for Oceania. between 1990 and 2015. In Africa, the proportion of publicly owned forest managed by public administrations declined TRENDS from 98 percent in 1990 to 88 percent in 2015. There was FRA 2020 received time-series data on the allocation of a corresponding increase in the proportion managed by management rights in public forests from 136 countries and business entities and institutions, from 0 percent to 10 territories representing 83 percent of the world’s forest area. percent. The proportion of management rights to publicly In Asia, the area of public forest managed by public owned forest held by public administrations globally administrations decreased and the area managed by local, decreased from 96 percent in 1990 to 83 percent in tribal and indigenous communities increased, due largely to 2015, and the proportion held by business entities and India and the implementation of joint forest management institutions grew from 2 percent to 13 percent. The share (a participatory management regime involving the held by local, tribal and indigenous communities increased government and local communities in the regeneration and from 1 percent to 2 percent (Figure 39). management of degraded forests). The forest area managed The share of publicly owned forest managed by public by local, tribal and indigenous communities in India administrations decreased in all regions between 1990 and increased from zero in 1990 to about 25 million ha in 2015. 2015 and particularly in Europe, where the share dropped In North and Central America, there was a decrease in from 100 percent in 1990 to 72 percent in 2015. There was the area of forest managed by public administrations, and an increase in the allocation of public-forest management there were slight increases in the area managed by business rights to business entities and institutions, from 0 percent in entities and institutions and by local, tribal and indigenous 1990 to 28 percent in 2015. This shift was due largely to the communities. Russian Federation, where the area of publicly owned forest managed by the private sector increased from zero in 1990 to 244 million ha in 2015. n 6. Ownership and management rights 85 7 Disturbances @ FAO / NCognome ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano F orests are subject to many disturbances that of trends varied depending on the availability of data for can adversely affect their health and vitality, the given disturbance category. Overall, however, relatively reduce their capacity to provide a full range of few data were available for this parameter and it was not goods and services, and cause tree mortality. possible, therefore, to accurately estimate the total forest For FRA 2020, countries were requested to report on area affected by disturbances globally (e.g. some countries the forest area affected annually by disturbances, defined that reported on one category of disturbance did not as any biotic or abiotic factor adversely affecting the vigour necessarily report on others). Moreover, although it may and productivity of the forest that is not a direct result of be easiest to report on this parameter on an annual basis, human activities. Specifically, countries were asked to this approach has the disadvantage of not fully reflecting report on the area of forest affected by insects, disease the magnitude of an outbreak (in the case of pests and (caused by bacteria, fungi, phytoplasma or viruses) and diseases). For future FRAs, therefore, further discussion severe weather events (e.g. snow, storms or drought) in is warranted on how best to obtain and analyse data and the period 2000–2017. Reporting on the various categories whether more information is needed to properly assess this of disturbances was exclusive and required that only parameter. the additional area of forest affected in a given year was In addition to the disturbances listed above, FRA reported (and not the cumulative total).20 2020 includes analyses of forest fire (Box 7) and forest The baseline for reporting status was 2015, for which degradation (Box 8, p. 95). most data were available. The periods used for the analysis Box 7. Fire Humans have used fire as a management tool for millennia, as a lack of precipitation, high wind speeds, low humidity and for example to improve hunting conditions, favour plants used high temperatures. for food or fibre, clear vegetation for agriculture and grazing, Wildfires continue to have significant impacts globally, facilitate travel and control pests. Fires contribute to the causing the loss of, among other things, human life, built maintenance of some ecosystems, such as savannas, and less- assets, biodiversity, habitat, production and productivity; the frequent fires in temperate and boreal ecosystems help create degradation of landscapes; and the disruption of livelihoods. habitat mosaics of various ages and stages of regeneration. Recent damaging fire events associated with heat waves More or less fire in an ecosystem may change the species mix, and droughts include those in the Amazon (where weather habitat structure and biodiversity.20 conditions hastened fire spread) and the Arctic in 2019; Nearly all disastrous wildfires are associated with extreme Australia in 2009 and 2019/20; Canada in 2016; Chile in 2017; fire-danger conditions driven by meteorological factors such (Continued) 20 The findings on fire presented in this box are based mainly on the Global Wildfire Information System (Artes et al., 2019) prepared by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Collection 6 burned-area product (Giglio et al., 2018) and the Global Forest Change product (Hansen et al., 2013). Data on fire from FRA country reports, which were insufficient to produce global statistics, were used to estimate the proportion of burned area by ecological domain and compared with some of the results obtained from the aforementioned remote sensing products. 7. Disturbances 89 Box 7. (Continued) Figure 40. Global total land area burned per year, 2001–2018 500 400 300 200 100 0 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Total burned area per year Annual average 2001–2018 Greece in 2007 and 2018; Indonesia in 2019; Portugal in 2003, exceed the limits of suppression and are therefore 2005 and 2017; the Russian Federation in 2010; and the United uncontainable. States of America in 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019. An estimated 7.20 billion ha of land (i.e. not limited to An estimated 90 percent of fires are readily contained forests) was burned in 2001–2018 at an average of just more and contribute to 10 percent or less of the total area burned. than 400 million ha per year, according to data prepared by the The other approximately 90 percent of the area affected Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (Artes et by fire is burned by 5–10 percent of fires. Some wildfires al., 2019). There was no clear overall trend, although Figure 40 Figure 41. Total land area burned in 2001–2018, by region or subregion Oceania Northern Africa 878.44 million ha 737.11 million ha South and Europe Southeast Asia 281.36 262.06 North America million ha million ha 124.87 million ha East Asia 77.64 million ha Western and Central America Eastern and Western and Central Asia 15.55 million ha Southern Africa Central Africa South America 184.95 2.18 Caribbean billion ha 1.91 billion ha 587.94 million ha million ha 4.53 million ha (Continued) 90 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 1 000 ha Box 7. (Continued) Figure 42. Annual average land area burned between 2001 and 2018, by region or subregion Eastern and Southern Africa Western and Central Africa Oceania Northern Africa South America Europe (incl. Russian Federation) South and Southeast Asia Western and Central Asia North America East Asia Central America Caribbean 0 20 000 40 000 60 000 80 000 100 000 120 000 140 000 1 000 ha Total area burned Tree covered area burned shows that the land area burned between 2013 and 2018 was According to the analysis, 78 percent of burned areas in less than the long-term average. tree-covered areas between 2001 and 2019 were in Africa (only More than two-thirds of the wildfires in 2001–2018 5 percent of this area was in Northern Africa). were in Africa. Globally, the largest areas burned were in On average, tree-covered areas accounted for about 29 the subregions of Eastern and Southern Africa, Western and percent of the total area burned by wildfires between 2001 Central Africa, Oceania (mainly Australia), Northern Africa and and 2018 (Table 70), ranging from a low of 23 percent to a South America, all exceeding 500 million ha over the period high of 34 percent. The largest area of tree-covered land as a (Figure 41). Notably, Western and Central Africa and Eastern proportion of the total wildfire area was in Central America (47 and Southern Africa both averaged more than 100 million ha percent), followed by South and Southeast Asia (44 percent). per year over the period (Figure 42). These findings are comparable with data collected for FRA 2020 The area burned does not always reflect damage or loss, indicating that 98 million ha of forest, or 3 percent of global particularly in forests. South America, Northern Africa, Oceania forest area, was affected by fire in 2015, which was 26 percent of (mainly Australia), Western and Central Africa and Eastern and the total burned area reported by Artes et al. (2019) in that year. Southern Africa all have large areas of savanna and grassland, The fires occurred mainly in the tropics, where they affected much of which burns cyclically and where fire is an ecological about 4 percent of the forest area (Table 71). influence. Many scientists, fire managers and fire management FAO analysed wildfires in tree-covered areas to obtain a agencies consider that wildlands face increasingly difficult better understanding of global fire dynamics. The analysis, fire weather conditions, extended fire seasons and larger which spanned 2001–2019, used a combination of Moderate- fires influenced by climate change (e.g. Bowman et al., 2017; Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) “burned IUFRO, 2018; Jolly et al., 2015; Sankey, 2018; San Miguel et al., area collection 6” product and tree-cover information (using 2017). Estimates for Europe indicate a potential increase of a tree-cover threshold of 30 percent) from the Global Forest annual burned area of 120–270 percent above the average in Change product (Hansen et al., 2013). Note, however, that this 2000–2010 by 2090 (IUFRO, 2018). Ongoing changes in global analysis is subject to the issues described in Box 4 and Box 5 fire activity in terms of location, intensity, severity and and should be interpreted with caution. (Continued) 7. Disturbances 91 Box 7. (Continued) TABLE 70. Proportion of tree-covered burned area TABLE 71. Country-reported burned area, in total wildfire area, by region or subregion, 2001–2018 by ecological domain, 2015 Region/subregion Share of tree-covered burned Ecological domain Forest area affected by % area in total wildfire (%) fire in 2015 (1 000 ha) of forest area Eastern and Southern Africa 35 Tropical 72 860 4 Northern Africa 16 Subtropical 9 760 2 Western and Central Africa 39 Temperate 9 390 1 East Asia 8 Boreal 6 030 1 South and Southeast Asia 44 TOTAL 98 040 3 Western and Central Asia 0 Europe 25 Caribbean 19 frequency will likely have immense costs in terms of Central America 47 biodiversity, ecosystem services, human well-being, North America 31 livelihoods and national economies. Reliable time-series data on the area of forest burned are South America 30 needed to better understand trends in wildland and forest Oceania 2 fires. Systems for monitoring the area subject to fire could WORLD 29 be a starting point for more intensive analyses leading to appropriate intersections with other datasets such as forest cover and their validation at the country level for future FRAs. Insects Uruguay, at 7 percent (although data were available only for planted forests) and Honduras, at 6 percent. STATUS Sixty-two countries representing 52 percent of the world’s TRENDS forest area reported on the area of forest affected by insects Thirty-six countries and territories, accounting for in 2015. The total area affected was 30.2 million ha, which 25 percent of the world’s forest area, reported complete was 1.4 percent of the total forest area of the reporting time-series data for the forest area disturbed annually by countries (Table 72). The most comprehensive reporting insects in 2000–2017. Given the low reporting and limited was in North and Central America (98 percent of the region’s representativeness of the sample, the analysis of trends forest area), followed by Europe (95 percent) and Asia was confined to 2002–2016, a period with a relatively high (47 percent). percentage of reporting. The region with the largest forest area affected by The average annual area affected by insects over the insects in 2015 was North and Central America, at 20.4 period was 29.1 million ha (in 44 countries representing 47 million ha. The largest proportion of forest area disturbed percent of the world’s forest area (Table 73). The lowest area by insects was in Asia: the 8.74 million ha affected in that affected in any given year was 23.7 million ha in 2011 and region accounted for 3.0 percent of the total forest area of the highest was 35.3 million ha in 2013. the reporting countries. In the analysed period, reporting was highest in North An estimated 524 000 ha of forest was disturbed by and Central America (with reporting countries representing insects in Europe in 2015, which was 0.1 percent of the 98 percent of the region’s total forest area), followed by forest area of reporting countries. Europe (86 percent) and Asia (45 percent). Oceania and On average, the forest area affected by insects in Africa had the lowest reporting, at 5 percent and 4 percent, reporting countries was less than 2 percent in 2015. respectively, and no complete time series was available for Nevertheless, ten countries reported that more than 2 any of the countries in South America. percent of their forest area was so affected; the highest Of the three regions with the most comprehensive percentages were in the Republic of Moldova, at 19 percent, reporting, there was greater variability in the area affected 92 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 72. Forest area affected by insects, by region, 2015 Region Data availability Forest affected by insects No. of reporting % of total forest area Area % countries (1 000 ha) of forest area Africa 6 7 436 1.0 Asia 11 47 8 743 3.0 Europe 30 95 524 0.1 North and Central America 9 98 20 381 2.7 Oceania 3 5 1.0 n.s. South America 3 7 130 0.2 WORLD 62 52 30 215 1.4 Note: n.s. = not significant. TABLE 73. Forest area disturbed by insects annually, by region, 2002–2016 Region Data availability Forest area affected annually (1 000 ha) No. of reporting % of total Maximum Minimum Average countries forest area Africa 5 4 50 16 37 Asia 8 45 9 244 7 162 8 419 Europe 20 86 1 385 256 506 North and Central America 7 98 25 903 14 656 20 146 Oceania 3 5 40 1.0 12 WORLD 44 47 35 277 23 736 29 119 Note: No countries or territories in South America provided complete time series for the analysed period. by insects in North and Central America, where an average percent of the region’s forest area, followed by North and of 20.1 million ha was affected annually, ranging from 14.7 Central America (50 percent) and Asia (38 percent). million ha in 2011 to 25.9 million ha in 2013. The peak in 2013 North and Central America reported the largest was due to a massive attack in Canada of defoliator insects, area of forest affected by disease in 2015, at 3.75 million mainly the forest tent caterpillar. According to Canada’s ha (1 percent of the forest area of the region’s reporting country report, forest tent caterpillar outbreaks follow a countries), followed by Asia and Europe. well-established pattern of occurrence about every 11 years; comparable peaks in the area defoliated by this insect were TRENDS observed in 1990–1991 and 2000–2001. The average area Thirty countries and territories, representing 24 percent of the affected by insects in Europe in 2002–2016 was 506 000 ha per forest area, reported complete time-series data for the forest year and the average in Asia was 8.42 million ha per year. area affected by disease in 2000–2017. More comprehensive reporting was available for 2002–2017, with data provided by Diseases 33 countries representing 37 percent of the world’s forest area. Coverage in this period was highest in Europe, with reporting STATUS countries accounting for 86 percent of the region’s forest area, Fifty-one countries representing 42 percent of the total followed by North and Central America (50 percent), Asia forest area reported data on the area of forest affected by (38 percent), Oceania (5 percent) and Africa (3 percent); no disease in 2015. The total area so affected was 6.60 million countries or territories in South America provided complete ha, which was 0.4 percent of the forest area of the reporting time series for the analysed period. countries (Table 74). The most data on this parameter was The average forest area affected by disease in reporting for Europe, where the reporting countries represented 96 countries in 2002–2017 was 4.76 million ha, with a low of 7. Disturbances 93 TABLE 74. Forest area affected by disease, by region, 2015 Region Data availability Forest affected by disease No. of reporting % Area % countries of total forest area (1 000 ha) of forest area Africa 4 6 301 0.8 Asia 5 38 1 409 0.6 Europe 32 96 821 0.1 North and Central America 4 50 3 751 1.0 Oceania 3 5 62 0.6 South America 3 7 259 0.4 WORLD 51 42 6 603 0.4 TABLE 75. Forest area affected annually by disease, by region, 2002–2017 Region Data availability Forest area affected annually (1 000 ha) No. of reporting % of total Maximum Minimum Average countries forest area Africa 2 3 1.1 0.1 0.4 Asia 4 38 1 393 763 1 152 Europe 19 86 383 153 250 North and Central America 4 50 5 129 877 3 257 Oceania 3 5 335 1.0 97 WORLD 33 37 6 629 2 177 4 757 Note: No countries or territories in South America provided complete time series for the analysed period. 2.18 million ha in 2002 and a high of 6.63 million ha in 2011 Among the regions, North and Central America reported (Table 75). the largest area of forest affected by severe weather events Of the three regions with the highest reporting, North in 2015, at 2.08 million ha (0.5 percent of the forest area of and Central America had the highest variability in the area reporting countries in the region). The second-largest area affected by disease, with a low of 877 000 ha in 2002, a high was in Europe, at 866 000 ha (0.1 percent) (Table 76). of 5.13 million ha in 2011 and an average of 3.26 million ha. The area of forest affected by disease was relatively stable TRENDS over the period in Asia and Europe. Thirty-two countries and territories representing 24 percent of the world’s forest area reported annual data on the area Severe weather events of forest affected by severe weather events in 2000–2017. The analysis presented here is for 2002–2015, with data STATUS for 37 countries and territories representing 33 percent of Forty-eight countries and territories representing 37 percent the world’s forest area. Reporting was highest in Europe, of the total forest area reported data on the area of forest with reporting countries accounting for 87 percent of the affected by severe weather events in 2015. The total area region’s forest area, followed by North and Central America affected was 3.83 million ha, which was 0.3 percent of the (50 percent), Asia (8 percent) Oceania (5 percent) and Africa forest area of the reporting countries. (3 percent). No countries or territories in South America The most comprehensive reporting of the forest provided complete time series for the analysed period. area disturbed by severe weather events was in Europe The average forest area affected by severe weather (95 percent of the region’s forest area), followed by North events globally over the period was 5.96 million ha, with a and Central America (50 percent); reporting was below 10 high of 9.38 million ha in 2006 and a low of 2.79 million ha in percent in the other regions. 2015 (Table 77). 94 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE 76. Forest area affected by severe weather events, by region, 2015 Region Data availability Forest affected by severe weather events No. of reporting % Area % countries of total forest area (1 000 ha) Africa 6 6 415 1.1 Asia 4 8 310 0.6 Europe 28 95 866 0.1 North and Central America 4 50 2 076 0.5 Oceania 3 5 n.s. n.s. South America 3 7 160 0.3 WORLD 48 37 3 828 0.3 Note: n.s. = not significant. TABLE 77. Forest area affected by severe weather events, by region, 2002–2015 Region Data availability Forest area affected severe weather events (1 000 ha) No. of reporting % of total Maximum Minimum Average countries forest area Africa 5 3 22 1.1 6.6 Asia 4 8 461 23 139 Europe 20 87 784 230 332 North and Central America 4 50 9 081 2 076 5 481 Oceania 3 5 43 0.0 4.0 WORLD 37 33 9 381 2 790 5 962 Note: No countries or territories in South America provided complete time series for the analysed period. The area affected varied considerably over time, million ha. In Europe, the highest yearly value was 784 000 especially in North and Central America, where it ranged ha in 2005, the lowest was 230 000 ha in 2006, and the from a high of 9.08 million ha in 2006 to a low of 2.08 million annual average was 332 000 ha. ha in 2015; the annual average in that region was 5.48 Box 8. Forest degradation Human activities, severe climatic events, fire, pests, the reporting process. For the first time, FRA requested diseases and other environmental disturbances may countries to indicate whether they monitored forest degrade forests and thereby reduce the provision degradation and, if so, to provide the definition of of forest goods and services, biodiversity values, degraded forest they used and a brief description of the productivity and health. Forest degradation may also monitoring process and results. negatively affect other land uses (e.g. by causing a loss Fifty-eight countries, representing 38 percent of the of downstream water quality) and cause the emission of global forest area, reported that they monitor the area greenhouse gases. Monitoring changes in forest quality, of degraded forest (Table 78). Almost one-third of the therefore, is an essential part of sustainable forest reporting countries were in Africa, and they represented management. 28 percent of that region’s forest area. Reporting was The Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020 most comprehensive in South America, where the collected information on degraded forests as part of (Continued) 7. Disturbances 95 Box 8. (Continued) reporting countries accounted for 79 percent of the Figure 43. Proportion of total forest area region’s forest area. Seventy-two percent of the forest of countries reporting on forest degradation, area of reporting countries was in the tropical climatic by climatic domain domain; the boreal forest domain, in contrast, accounted Boreal 3% for only 4 percent (Figure 43). Subtropical 9% Countries use various definitions of degraded forest and it is infeasible, therefore, to aggregate and compare Temperate 15% data on forest area at the regional and global levels. Tropical 72% Most definitions are based mainly on the presence of forest disturbances. Some countries specify the type of disturbance (mostly anthropogenic factors such as logging and fire) and others are more generic. Other criteria commonly used by countries in their definitions of degraded forest include change in forest Figure 44. Criteria used in national definitions structure (including decrease in forest canopy) and loss of of degraded forest productivity and forest goods (Figure 44). Few countries apply quantitative criteria in their definitions. Forest disturbances Field inventories and observations are the most Change in forest structure/ decrease in forest canopy commonly used methods for monitoring and assessing Loss of productivity and forest goods the area of degraded forest, followed by remote sensing Loss of carbon, biomass and mapping (Figure 45). The low number of reporting and growing stock countries and the overall lack of data on degraded forests Change in forest structure is explained partly by the difficulty of assessing degraded Decrease in forest canopy forest areas and a lack of available tools and methods. Loss of forest services Nevertheless, many countries have started monitoring Loss of biological diversity forest degradation in recent years. Soil damage/erosion Not defined TABLE 78. Number and forest area of countries reporting 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 on forest degradation, by region Number of reporting countries Region No. of Forest area % Note: Many countries use several criteria in their definitions of degraded forest. reporting of reporting of total countries countries forest area (1000 ha) Figure 45. Methods applied by countries Africa 18 178 226 28 for monitoring degraded forest Asia 16 271 887 44 Europe 7 18 063 2 Field inventory and observations North and 6 383 297 51 Remote sensing/mapping Central America Forest inventory Oceania 3 39 519 21 Field observations Not specified/under South America 8 663 849 79 development Expert opinion WORLD 58 1 554 841 38 Production/harvest data Forest management plan report 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Number of reporting countries Note: Some countries use a combination of methods to monitor their degraded forests. b 96 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 @ FAO / NCognome 8 Policies and legislation @ FAO / NCognome ©©FFAAOO//BBaalliinntt PPoorrnneecczzii M any countries have developed policies and affirmative response on the presence of forest legislation. All laws designed to promote the sustainable but one of the countries that responded in the affirmative and multipurpose use of forests and trees. (i.e. 171 countries) indicated that they have specific forest- Such policies and laws serve as a foundation targeted legislation at the national level. Belgium reported for sustainable forest management by, for example, that its forests are regulated through subnational but not promoting legal timber trade, involving stakeholders in national legislation. forest management, addressing forest tenure and providing A total of 142 countries and territories representing incentives. 95 percent of the total forest area reported that they have The findings of FRA 2020 presented in this chapter platforms to enable the participation of stakeholders in show that most countries – encompassing the large forest policy development; 40 countries and territories majority of the world’s forests – have formalized the indicated that they do not have such a platform and 54 did principles of sustainable forest management in forest- not report. Of the 142 countries with platforms, 44 are in related policies and laws. The existence of such policies Africa, 29 are in Asia, 32 are in Europe and 17 are in North and basic legislation, however, does not, on its own, ensure and Central America, and there are ten each in Oceania and sustainable forest management; other possible indicators South America. Only three countries (all in Europe) reported include the existence of specialized legislation on forest use; having subnational rather than national platforms to enable systems for ensuring the legality of timber trade; traceability stakeholder participation in forest policy development. systems for wood products; appropriate capacities in Ninety-four countries and territories reported the relevant institutions; and mechanisms for involving existence of traceability systems for wood products21 at stakeholders in forest-related decision-making processes the national level and another three (including the United and supervision. States of America) reported that such systems exist at the subnational level; in total, these 97 countries and territories Findings represent 84 percent of the total forest area. In South America, 13 of the 14 countries and territories that reported FRA 2020 received information on forest policies in 2020 on this aspect indicated the existence of traceability systems from 187 countries and territories representing 99 percent for wood products. Wood-product traceability systems exist of the total forest area. Of these, 164 countries and in 25 countries and territories in Europe (accounting for territories (also representing about 99 percent of the total nearly 95 percent of the region’s forest area), 11 in North forest area) indicated that they have national forest policies. and Central America (91 percent), 32 in Africa (79 percent), The large majority reported that they have national-level 2 (Australia and Niue) in Oceania (72 percent), and 14 in Asia policy statements; only three countries reported that they (48 percent). have subnational statements but no national forest policy statement (or they did not report on the latter). Twenty- V three countries and territories reported that they had no forest policy statement. 21 Traceability systems for wood products are defined here One hundred and seventy-two countries and territories as systems that provide the ability to trace the origin, location representing 99 percent of the total forest area indicated and movement of wood products by means of recorded that they have forest legislation. The other 64 countries identifications. This involves two main aspects: 1) identification of the product by marking; and 2) the recording of data on and territories (representing 1 percent of the total forest the movement and location of a product all the way along the area) did not report on this aspect or did not provide an production, processing and distribution chain. 8. Policies and legislation 99 @ FAO / NCognome 9 Employment and education @ FAO / NCognome ©FAO/Vasily Maksimov E mployment in the forest sector is an important 2020 suggest an ongoing decreasing trend in employment in indicator of the impact of forests on people, and the forestry and logging sector. it helps quantify the contribution of the sector An in-depth revision of the data-collection process, to broader economic objectives. Employment and collaboration with other global data providers such as provides income; because most forest activities occur in the International Labour Organization, would help improve rural areas that are often poorer than average, this indicator employment statistics. helps in measuring the contribution of the forest sector to poverty alleviation. Data on forest-related education STATUS can indicate a country’s capacity for, and commitment to, FRA 2020 received information on employment in forestry managing, conserving and enhancing forests and building and logging in 2015 from 136 countries representing 91 institutional frameworks to promote sustainable forest percent of the world’s forests. Total employment in the management. forest sector was estimated at 12.5 million people (full- time equivalent) in 2015, almost 90 percent of whom were Employment in Asia and Africa (Table 79). Asia accounted for more than 70 percent (8.90 million people employed) of total FRA 2020 collected data on full-time-equivalent employment globally, led by India (6.23 million people employment in the forestry and logging sector, as defined employed) and China (1.15 million people). by the Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities Seventy-one countries representing 38 percent of the (United Nations Statistics Division, 2008, p. 75): world’s forests reported gender-disaggregated data. The This division includes the production of roundwood total number of employees in forestry and logging in these for the forest-based manufacturing industries (ISIC countries in 2015 was estimated at 3.88 million, of whom 58 [International Standard Industrial Classification] percent were male and 42 percent were female. divisions 16 and 17) as well as the extraction and gathering of wild growing non-wood forest products. Besides the production of timber, forestry activities result in products that undergo little processing, such TABLE 79. Number of people employed in forestry and logging, as fire wood, charcoal, wood chips and roundwood by region, 2015 used in an unprocessed form (e.g. pit-props, Region Data availability No. of people pulpwood etc.). These activities can be carried out in employed No. of reporting % of total natural or planted forests. It excludes employment in (1 000 full-time countries forest area equivalent) forest-based manufacturing industries (ISIC divisions Africa 34 62 2 135 16 and 17). Countries were requested to report disaggregated data by Asia 29 94 8 896 gender, where available, for four reference years, based on Europe 38 99 696 the average of the following three-year periods: 1989–1991 North and 14 98 406 Central America for 1990; 1999–2001 for 2000; 2009–2011 for 2010; and 2014– 2016 for 2015. Overall, the outcomes confirmed the need to Oceania 10 80 28 improve the quality of employment data. Data collection South America 11 97 332 on this indicator presents challenges in terms of definitions WORLD 136 91 12 492 and methodologies; nevertheless, the data collected for FRA 9. Employment and education 103 TABLE 80. Number of people employed in forestry and logging, by region, 1990–2015 Region Data availability No. of people employed (1 000 full-time equivalent) No. of reporting % of total forest 1990 2000 2010 2015 countries area Africa 27 54 1 740 2 003 1 969 2 030 Asia 22 84 9 948 9 338 8 735 8 511 Europe 35 99 1 036 883 658 691 North and Central America 7 88 220 192 169 189 Oceania 4 5 6 9 9 9 South America 9 89 251 252 341 301 WORLD 104 81 13 201 12 677 11 881 11 730 TRENDS forests and related subjects, disaggregated by gender and The number of people employed in forestry and logging level of education. The collected data indicate an increase decreased by 1.47 million between 1990 and 2015, although in the number of students graduating in forestry, including the rate of decrease slowed in the period 2010–2015; the strong involvement of women in forest education and decreases occurred in all regions except Africa and South progress towards gender parity. America (although insufficient data were available to determine employment trends in Oceania) (Table 80). STATUS The decline in employment in Asia mainly reflected FRA 2020 received information on forest education from a steep decline in China, where the number of people 119 countries and territories representing 86 percent of the employed more than halved between 1990 and 2015 (due global forest area. Reporting varied considerably between partly to a partial logging ban in the late 1990s). The decline regions: for example, the reporting countries represented 97 in employment in Europe was due to the restructuring percent of the regional forest areas in Europe and North and of formerly centrally planned economies, which, in Central America and 55 percent in Africa. some countries, led to decreased production and lower Globally, 331 000 students graduated in forestry in 2015 employment. More generally, the privatization of forestry in (Table 81), which is equivalent to 95 graduates per 1 million Eastern Europe led to large increases in labour productivity ha of forest. About 6 000 doctoral degrees were awarded in and consequently to a decline in employment. Increases in forestry in that year, as well as 28 200 master’s degrees, employment in Africa and South America occurred partly 113 000 bachelor’s degrees and 149 000 technical because roundwood production grew faster than labour certificates. Most countries provided data for only a few productivity.22 levels of education; thus, the aggregated numbers at the global and regional levels are underestimated, particularly Education in Africa, Europe (where data by level of education were missing for the Russian Federation) and Oceania. Education on forests will be crucial for enabling societies to The largest number of graduated students in all forestry address challenges such as climate change, energy demand, degrees combined was in Asia, with 194 000 graduated environmental degradation and biodiversity loss and to students in 2015 (Table 82), of whom the majority (60 adapt to changing economic, social and environmental percent) were graduates with technical certificates or conditions. The forest managers of the future are likely diplomas. Asia also had by far the highest ratio of forestry to require a wide range of skills, such as in implementing graduates by forest area (at 336 forestry-graduated students integrated landscape approaches and participatory forest per 1 million ha of forest). The number of graduated students management, the adoption of new technologies, and in China accounted for 82 percent of the regional total. managing the multifunctional roles of forests. The second-largest number of graduated students FRA 2020 sought data on the number of graduates in was in North and Central America, at 65 900, of whom the post-secondary education programmes with a focus on majority (53 percent) graduated with bachelor’s degrees. The number of graduated students was low in Africa and 22 The explanations for employment trends in this paragraph Oceania, at least partly because of the relatively small draw on FAO (2008). number of countries reporting on this parameter. 104 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020ì Women represented about 42 percent of all graduated 23 percent, but the percentage of women in that region forestry students in 2015, with some differences by graduating with doctoral degrees was much higher than the education level. The proportion of women graduating global average, at 43 percent. in forestry in 2015 was highest in Oceania, at 63 percent, although the total number of graduates in that region was TRENDS small. Women accounted for 50 percent of all graduates in The countries and territories providing complete time- North and Central America. series data for one or more education category represent Males and females were represented almost equally in only about half the global forest area; therefore, the trends master’s and bachelor’s degrees (with women accounting reported here should be treated with caution. Overall, there for 48 percent in both), but women were underrepresented was a substantial increase in the number of graduated in doctoral degrees and technical certificates, at about forestry students between 2000 and 2015, with the number one-third of graduated students. The proportion of women more than doubling in all levels of education (Figure 46). by education level varied notably between regions: for For those countries providing time series of gender- example, the lowest proportion of women graduating with disaggregated data, the proportion of women graduating in doctoral degrees was 10 percent in Asia, and the highest forestry increased between 2000 and 2015 (Figure 47). This was 47 percent in North and Central America. Europe had was true for all education levels, although the number of the lowest proportion of women in forestry education, at women graduating with doctoral degrees declined between TABLE 81. Number of graduated students, by level of education, 2015 Level of education Data availability Graduated students No. of reporting % Total no. % countries of total forest area of graduates female Doctoral degree 95 59 5 593 33 Master’s degree or equivalent 104 62 28 210 48 Bachelor’s degree or equivalent 105 62 112 631 48 Technical certificate or diploma 95 47 149 358 31 Not specified 2 20 35 120 42 TOTAL GRADUATES 330 912 33 TABLE 82. Graduated students in forestry, by region and level of education, 2015 Region Doctoral Master’s Bachelor’s Technical Not specified Total No. of % degree degree or degree or certificate or number of graduates female equivalent equivalent diploma graduates per 1 million ha of forest Africa 86 766 1 836 3 035 120 5 843 17 30 Asia 2 002 12 618 63 624 115 379 – 193 623 336 36 Europe 417 3 297 6 705 10 416 35 000 55 835 56 23 North and Central America 1 727 9 559 34 709 19 917 – 65 912 91 50 Oceania 56 3 58 501 – 618 4 63 South America 1 305 1 967 5 699 110 – 9 081 13 36 WORLD 5 593 28 210 112 631 149 358 35 120 330 912 95 42 9. Employment and education 105 FIGURE 46. Number of forestry students, FIGURE 47. Proportion of female and male graduated by degree category, 2000–2015 forestry students, by education level, 2000–2015 160 000 100 90 140 000 80 120 000 70 100 000 60 50 80 000 40 60 000 30 20 40 000 10 20 000 0 0 2000 2010 2015 Doctoral Master’s Bachelor’s Technical Total certificate/ Doctoral Master’s diploma Bachelor’s Technical certificate/diploma Female Male 2010 and 2015 after increasing substantially between 2000 and 2010. Women, therefore, are increasingly participating in forest-related education in many countries, but efforts may still be needed to achieve gender parity, especially for doctoral degrees and technical qualifications. k 106 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020ì Number of forestry students % 2000 2010 2015 2000 2010 2015 2000 2010 2015 2000 2010 2015 2000 2010 2015 @ FAO / NCognome 10 Non-wood forest products removals and value @ FAO / NCognome ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano F orests provide a wide range of non-wood to increase statistical support for those countries lacking forest products (NWFPs), including foods, sufficient capacity to do so. medicines, fodder, aromatic products, wild meat and honey. Most global statistical COVERAGE compilations and reporting on the production, trade and FRA 2020 received information on NWFPs from 124 countries consumption of forest products focus on wood products and territories representing 73 percent of the global forest (Box 9, p. 111), and data collection on NWFPs has rarely area. Information was provided by countries representing been systematic, despite their considerable economic and more than 75 percent of the forest area in all regions except social importance. There are two main reasons for this: Europe, where no data were forthcoming from the Russian NWFPs are largely the domain of the informal sector; and Federation (Table 83). the range of NWFPs is highly diverse. Although countries and territories were asked to For FRA 2020, countries and territories were asked identify their ten commercially most important NWFPs to identify the ten most important NWFPs, estimate the for 2015, not all did so, with the average varying from quantity of removals in 2015 and commercial values five in North and Central America to eight in Africa and of marketed production, and provide information on South America. Some countries identified more than ten key NWFP species. FRA 2020 defined NWFPs as “goods such products, including Argentina (50 products), Brazil derived from forests that are tangible and physical objects (37), Canada (which, in reporting on wild pelts, specified of biological origin other than wood”; information was quantities and values for 24 species), and the Central categorized according to product characteristics (i.e. plant- African Republic (23). or animal-based) and end uses.23 Information on NWFPs is still poor: in addition to the FOREST PRODUCT CATEGORIES OF reasons mentioned above, there is a lack of harmonization MAJOR IMPORTANCE of definitions and difficulties associated with the collation NWFPs that constitute foods represent almost half of all and standardization of data from different sources. NWFPs reported (Figure 48). They include edible non-animal Despite the scarcity of information, NWFPs are products – fruits, vegetables, spices and mushrooms – as well economically important in many countries and for large as animal products such as honey, insects and wild meat. numbers of people. The collection of better data on Edible plant products are of considerable importance NWFPs would help in determining their contributions to in Africa, with 77 percent of reporting countries providing healthy diets, nature conservation, poverty alleviation, information on these. Edible plant products are also economic development and the SDGs and in ensuring important in other regions; for example, a huge diversity their sustainable management. A starting point would – such as nuts and many species of fruits, vegetables be to improve the methods used for data collection and and spices – are marketed in Asia. European plant-based forest foods mainly comprise berries, nuts (pine nuts and 23 For FRA 2020, NWFPs were classified as either plant-based chestnuts) and mushrooms. or animal-based. Plant-based products include food, fodder, Fifty-six of the 124 reporting countries and territories raw material for medicine and aromatic products, raw material for colorants and dyes, raw material for handicrafts, utensils provided information on medicinal and aromatic plants and construction, ornamental plants, exudates, and other plant (this was the second-most reported category in Africa, products. Animal-based products comprised wild meat, honey Asia and Oceania). “Raw material for handicrafts, utensils and beeswax, hides, skins and trophies, living animals, raw material for medicine, raw material for colorants, other edible and construction” – which includes bamboo, rattan, palm products and other non-edible products. leaves, cork and other species – was the most-reported 10. Non-wood forest products removals and value 109 TABLE 83. Reporting coverage for non-wood forest products Region No. of reporting Forest area (2015) Population in 2015* countries (1 000 ha) % Rural population Urban % of regional (1 000 persons) population of regional forest area (1 000 persons) population** Africa 39 497 814 76 520 685 377 572 75 Asia 20 548 334 89 2 005 297 1 864 723 88 Europe 33 193 269 19 149 273 422 155 77 North and Central America 11 734 863 97 100 142 401 610 88 Oceania 10 182 968 99 11 787 26 056 96 South America 11 831 070 97 66 020 343 506 98 WORLD 124 2 988 316 73 2 853 203 3 435 622 85 Note: Population data were obtained from United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). * The table reports data on population and its disaggregation by urban/rural to highlight the potential impacts of the use of non-wood forest products (NWFPs). People living in rural areas are the primary users of NWFPs, both for direct household use and for commercial sale. Urban dwellers often derive indirect benefits from NWFPs, such as the consumption of NWFPs considered to be health products or delicacies and the use of NWFPs such as cork and bamboo manufactured products in their homes and workplaces. ** Regional populations include only those countries in the region reporting on NWFPs. FIGURE 48. Global importance of non-wood forest product categories, 2015 Ornamental Wild meat 9% plants 7% Raw material for medicine 14% Honey and Fodder 2% beeswax 6% Other plant products 6% Raw material for colorants 1% Hides, skins and trophies 2% Living animals 1% Insects 1% Food (edible plants) Raw material 30% for utensils 13% Exudates 6% Other categories 0.3% product group in Central America, South America and even lower in Asia (33 percent of the forest area) and Africa Oceania and the third most-reported product group in Africa (27 percent). Given the low coverage, the data reported here and Asia. should be viewed as a considerable underestimate of the economic value of NWFPs. ECONOMIC VALUE OF Globally, the reported value of NWFPs was about USD NON-WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS 7.71 billion in 2015, with plant products accounting for 80 Eighty-one countries and territories reported quantitative percent of this value. The single-largest product group, information on the economic value of NWFPs, representing by value, was edible plants (37 percent of the total value), 54 percent of the global forest area; the percentage was followed by ornamental plants (22 percent), wild meat 110 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 FIGURE 49. Non-wood forest product categories as a proportion of total reported economic value, 2015 Raw material Exudates 3% for colorants 3% Raw material for Other 1% handicras, utensils and construction 4% (9 percent), other plant products (8 percent), honey and Medicines and beeswax (7 percent), and medicinal and aromatic plants aromatic products 5% (5 percent) (Figure 49). Honey and beeswax In Europe, the main product groups were ornamental 7% Edible plants plants (39 percent), edible plants (30 percent), wild meat 37% (17 percent) and bee products (8 percent). The high value Other plant products 8% of the ornamental plants product group was due mainly (97 percent) to Christmas trees, where the market was Wild meat 9% dominated by Germany (51 percent), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (28 percent) and Ornamental plants 22% Denmark (8 percent). Note: Numbers may not sum to the totals indicated and percentages may not tally In North and Central America and in South America, the to 100 due to rounding. most economically important categories are edible plant products (49 percent of total value), other plant products (21 percent) and exudates (10 percent) (the latter are value, followed by raw materials for handicrafts, utensils especially important in South American countries). and construction (25 percent) and other plant products In Africa, the most commercially important product (21 percent). groups reported were edible plants (45 percent of the In Oceania, honey and beeswax accounted for the commercial value), medicinal and aromatic plants (20 highest reported value, at 68 percent (although this figure percent) and raw material for colorants (19 percent). was due entirely to Australia and New Zealand). The product The most economically important product group in group “wild meat, hides, skins and trophies” accounted for Asia in 2015 was edible plants, at 42 percent of the reported 17 percent of the regional value. Box 9. Wood removals The volume of wood removed from forests is an indicator on wood and paper products (including wood removals) of the economic and social roles of forest resources in have been collected and published annually in the national economies and dependent local communities. FAO Yearbook of Forest Products (e.g. FAO, 2020b) since In most countries, revenue from harvested wood is the 1947. To reduce the reporting burden on countries, and single-largest income source from forests. Information on because detailed annual statistics are already available in wood removals also helps in monitoring the use of forest FAOSTAT, wood removals were not included in the Global and tree resources by comparing actual removals with Forest Resources Assessment 2020 questionnaire. the sustainable potential. Global wood removals were estimated at 3.97 Data on wood removals were requested from billion m3 in 2018 (the latest available data), of which countries in Global Forest Resources Assessments in 2005, about half was industrial roundwood and the other 2010 and 2015; in contrast, the analysis presented here half woodfuel. This amount includes removals from is based on data on removals contained in the FAOSTAT forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests. database (FAO, 2020a). FAO and partner agencies There are significant differences among the regions in (Eurostat, the International Tropical Timber Organization the percentages of the wood harvest used as woodfuel, and the United Nations Economic Commission for ranging from 90 percent in Africa and 62 percent in Asia Europe) annually collect statistics on removals of to less than 25 percent in Europe, North America and roundwood, the production of various wood and paper Oceania (removals were roughly even for woodfuel and products, and trade in these products. Global statistics (Continued) 10. Non-wood forest products removals and value 111 Box 9. (Continued) TABLE 84. Industrial wood and woodfuel removals, by region and subregion, 1990–2018 Region/subregion Wood removals (million m3) Industrial roundwood Woodfuel Total 1990 2000 2010 2018 1990 2000 2010 2018 1990 2000 2010 2018 Eastern and 29 36 35 37 200 250 293 317 229 286 327 354 Southern Africa Northern Africa 3 4 3 2 45 50 54 58 48 53 58 60 Western and 32 35 37 41 245 301 351 383 277 337 388 425 Central Africa Total Africa 61 71 72 79 445 551 644 700 506 623 715 779 East Asia 123 117 184 211 295 236 196 176 418 353 380 387 South and 137 142 177 206 590 563 557 527 727 705 734 733 Southeast Asia Western and 9 14 19 25 11 9 11 15 20 22 29 41 Central Asia Total Asia 268 273 379 442 897 808 764 718 1 165 1 081 1 144 1 161 Europe excl. n.a. 374 371 430 n.a. 97 140 158 n.a. 470 511 588 Russian Federation Total Europe 642 519 533 650 157 109 154 175 799 628 687 824 Caribbean 1 1 1 1 6 4 5 5 7 6 6 6 Central America 3 3 3 4 34 38 42 44 37 42 45 48 North America 591 628 480 527 123 86 82 111 713 714 562 638 Total North and 595 632 485 532 162 129 129 159 757 761 613 691 Central America Total Oceania 34 47 57 77 9 13 11 10 43 60 68 87 Total South 110 147 198 248 162 185 162 181 272 332 359 429 America WORLD 1 710 1 690 1 723 2 028 1 833 1 795 1 863 1 943 3 543 3 485 3 586 3 971 Note: n.a. = not available. Figure 50. Top ten countries for wood removals, 2018 industrial roundwood in South America). Table 84 shows regional and subregional wood removals for selected years United States of America 11% during 1990–2018. The top ten countries for wood removals, led by the India 9% Rest of the world United States of America, accounted for 55 percent of total 44% global removals in 2018 (Figure 50). China 9% Production and trade values for global wood removals and all major wood-based products reached their highest levels since 1947 (when FAO started reporting forest product Brazil 7% statistics) in 2018 (FAO, 2019). Global wood removals have fluctuated in response to changes in the production of Nigeria 2% Russian Federation 6% Canada 4% coniferous industrial roundwood, with significant declines in Democratic Republic of the Congo 2% Indonesia 3% the early 1990s (during the breakup of the Soviet Union) and Ethiopia 3% 2009 (during the global financial crisis). In contrast, global (Continued) 112 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Box 9. (Continued) Figure 51. Global trends in wood removals, 1961–2018 4 000 3 500 3 000 2 500 2 000 1 500 1 000 500 0 Total wood removals Industrial roundwood, non-coniferous Industrial roundwood, coniferous Woodfuel removals of non-coniferous industrial roundwood and removals in Europe moved back up, reaching a record woodfuel have grown steadily since the 1960s (Figure 51). 824 million m3 in 2018, 3 percent higher than in 1990. The proportions of industrial roundwood and woodfuel Removals in North and Central America were reasonably were roughly the same in 1990 and 2018, although there was steady in the 1990s but declined sharply in the 2000s due to variation in this between regions. the global financial crisis, which had negative impacts on the In Africa, wood removals increased steadily between 1990 housing sector and consequently on wood demand, especially and 2018, from 506 million m3 to 779 million m3. The average in Canada and the United States of America. Total removals annual growth of 2 percent in wood removals in Africa over in the region decreased from 761 million m3 in 2000 to 613 the period was in line with population growth. Removals million m3 in 2010 before rebounding – in line with economic increased for both industrial roundwood and woodfuel. recovery – to 691 million m3 in 2018. In addition to increasing In Asia, wood removals were roughly steady over the removals of industrial roundwood, woodfuel removals have period 1990–2018, with the supply of industrial roundwood been growing in the region to meet increasing export demand increasing and woodfuel removals declining correspondingly. for wood pellets. This trend was influenced by the rapid development of forest- There has been a steady increase in removals in Oceania based industries in the region (i.e. increasing demand for in recent decades. Four countries (Australia, New Zealand, industrial roundwood) and growing living standards (which Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands) account for most reduced demand for woodfuel as alternative energy sources of the region’s wood removals, which doubled from 43 million became available), particularly in the East Asia and South and m3 in 1990 to 87 million m3 in 2018, due largely to an increased Southeast Asia subregions. supply of wood from forest plantations in Australia and New A sharp decline in removals in the Russian Zealand. Federation in the early 1990s – a result of the transition Wood removals in South America also grew steadily from a centrally planned to a market-based economy – between 1990 and 2018, from 272 million m3 to 429 million m3. caused an overall reduction in removals in Europe of Similarly to Oceania, a growing supply of industrial 21 percent between 1990 and 2000. Thereafter, however, (Continued) 10. Non-wood forest products removals and value 113 Million m3 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 2015 2018 Box 9. (Continued) roundwood from forest plantations (especially in Argentina, Most of the long-term growth in wood supply is occurring Brazil, Chile and Uruguay) accounted for most of the increase. in countries that have established forest plantations in recent Overall, wood removals are increasing globally as decades (especially in Asia, Latin America and Oceania). demand for and the consumption of wood products escalates Removals in Europe have increased significantly since in line with growing populations and incomes. This trend is 2000, particularly in Eastern Europe (including the Russian expected to continue in coming decades. Federation), where forest industries and demand for wood are Not all wood removals originate in forests, and the expanding rapidly. volume of wood removals in 2018 was less than 1 percent of the forest growing stock. q 114 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 @ FAO / NCognome 11 Discussion @ FAO / NCognome ©FAO/Vasily Maksimov B uilding on the experience obtained over more reduction in the number of variables for which data were than 70 years (FAO, 2018a), FRA 2020 has requested. The introduction of the FRA online platform also achieved several important results, including improved the reporting process and simplified the work of increased country participation, a reduced national correspondents. The main features of this platform reporting burden, stronger capacity-development activities, are easy access to the reporting tables; facilitated data entry; and improved data availability and quality. on-the-fly validation checks; tools for data visualization and analysis; and a communication module that allows direct Enhanced country participation messaging between collaborators and reviewers. FAO’s collaboration with Google has enabled the platform to link Since 2005, FRAs have been based on country reports with Google Earth Engine’s functionalities, thereby providing prepared by a global network of officially nominated all countries with access to remote sensing data and products national correspondents, who are responsible for compiling and allowing them to use these to generate estimates on, for national data for FRA reports and communicating example, tree cover, burned area, protected-forest area and these to the FRA secretariat. For FRA 2020, 187 national mangrove area. correspondents were nominated, an increase of 19 compared with FRA 2015. Stronger capacity development Many national correspondents coordinated the inputs of other collaborators in compiling country reports. To Capacity development is a key factor in delivering successful help in sharing the reporting workload among national FRAs and ensuring consistency and continuity. At its 23rd collaborators, data for FRA 2020 were collected via an and 24th sessions in 2016 and 2018, the FAO Committee on online platform that enabled national correspondents Forestry recommended that FAO “supports the countries to invite other contributors. More than 700 contributors in strengthening collection, analysis and dissemination had registered by the end of the data-collection process, of forest data with a view to support the national SDG showing the strong participation of countries and their indicator framework and country reports”, “continues to commitment to the FRA process. explore new and innovative tools and techniques to further Overall, there was greater participation by countries improve support to Members in collecting, analysing and in FRA 2020 compared with previous assessments. This is reporting data on forest and related aspects”, and “supports illustrated by the number of desk studies prepared by FAO countries with tools, methodologies and capacity-building for countries that did not nominate national correspondents for generating better information and data on forests’ or submit reports, which declined from 79 in FRA 2015 to contribution to the SDGs” (FAO, 2016, 2018b). 47 (compiled mainly for small countries and territories and In responding to these recommendations, FRA 2020 representing less than 0.5 percent of the global forest area) initiated an intensive capacity-development programme in FRA 2020. in early 2018. The programme had two components – FRA 2020 reporting, and remote sensing. The reporting Reduced reporting burden workshops focused on training national correspondents in the FRA methodology and the new online reporting tool FRA 2020 reduced the reporting burden on countries through and on supporting countries to complete their reports. the revision of the reporting content and by excluding data One global and nine regional reporting workshops were already available via other reporting processes. For the convened between March and December 2018 involving first time since FRA 2000, therefore, there was a substantial more than 300 national collaborators. 11. Discussion 117 Box 10. Remote sensing survey, 2020 Since 1990, FAO Global Forest Resources Assessments which FAO developed in collaboration with the National (FRAs) have complemented the information collected Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United through the country reporting process with remote States of America and Google. sensing-based global and regional analyses of the world’s The RSS has a strong capacity-development forest resources. FRA 2020 continues this tradition component, and data are being collected at national and through a global remote sensing survey (RSS), with two regional workshops by national experts with thorough main objectives: to improve the capacity of countries knowledge of local vegetation and land uses. Each to use the latest remote sensing data and products to workshop starts with training on the RSS methodology, improve estimates of forest area and forest-area change, followed by a field visit to illustrate and discuss samples including for reporting on forest-related indicators that are difficult to assess with remote sensing. The for the Sustainable Development Goals; and to derive latter parts of workshops focus on data collection for the independent regional and global estimates of forest area samples assigned to each country and territory. and forest-area change. The RSS was still under implementation in early The RSS was designed in collaboration with the 2020. By then, capacity-development workshops had Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and a involved participants from 70 countries, trained 384 number of international experts. The FRA 2020 RSS builds national experts on the methodology, and obtained on the experience of previous surveys, and it also benefits 134 700 samples. Data collection will be completed in from recent technological developments and improved 2020 and the reporting of results is scheduled for 2021. access to freely available satellite imagery. The resultant methodology is based on the visual interpretation of More information on the RSS is available at www.fao.org/ roughly 430 000 global samples (Figure 52) with the help forest-resources-assessment/remote-sensing/fra-2020- of satellite images and a new tool, Collect Earth Online,24 remote-sensing-survey Figure 52. Sample sites for the remote sensing survey Source: FAO, 2020. 24 https://collect.earth and www.openforis.org/tools/collect-earth-online.html 118 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 FIGURE 53. Data availability for status and trends, 21 main variables Forest area Forest characteristics Primary forest Growing stock Biomass Carbon Production Multiple use Protection of soil and water Conservation of biodiversity Social services Forest within protected areas Forest with management plans Ownership Insects Diseases Severe weather events Policies Employment Education Non-wood forest products 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % of total forest area Trend Status No data The implementation of the remote sensing capacity- based forest inventories, satellite land-monitoring systems, development component started in late 2018 and will or both, mostly in the context of the REDD+ Programme. continue to the end of 2020. The purpose of this activity Combined with specific FRA capacity building, these efforts is to support countries in using remote sensing to derive have had a clear, positive impact on the availability and information on key forest characteristics and especially quality of information on forest resources. forest area and its changes. Sixteen training and analysis The response frequency of countries and territories workshops were convened in 2018 and 2019, which also was generally very good for FRA 2020, and data availability contributed to the collection of global remote sensing for key variables was high. Of the 21 variables shown survey sample data (Box 10). in Figure 53, the global forest area represented exceeded 80 percent for 16 variables reporting on status and for Improved data availability and quality ten variables reporting on trends.25 The preliminary findings of an assessment of national FRA 2020 estimates are based on official national statistics forest monitoring capacities undertaken by the Center for derived from field inventories, remote sensing, expert International Forestry Research and Wageningen University estimates and a combination of these. Many governments suggest that data quality has improved in FRA 2020 (Box 11). in developing countries have invested in the development of self-sustaining national forest monitoring systems in the 25 last decade, often supported by donors and international In some cases, missing values were gap-filled to obtain complete time series for regional and global estimates. The organizations. FAO has assisted more than 50 national percentages presented in Figure 53, therefore, may not always governments since 2009 to develop robust national field- be reproduced by aggregating the reported country data. 11. Discussion 119 Box 11. National forest monitoring tier assessment The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and The assessment applied a three-class tier system for Wageningen University assessed national forest monitoring data quality (Table 85) to a selection of core forest indicators: capacities based on country reports submitted for the Global forest-area status, forest-area trend, growing-stock status, Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020.26 growing-stock trend, biomass, and carbon (Table 86 and Table 87). TABLE 85. The three-class tier system applied in the assessment of data quality Class Variable Status Trend Tier 3 Forest area Data from 2013 or more recent Multiple sets of consistent data (in terms of methods Source: national forest inventories (NFIs), and classes), 2013 or more recent, including remote sensing surveys or wall-to-wall mapping change estimates from (e.g.) REDD+ forest reference (emission) levels Growing stock Data from 2009 or more recent Multiple consistent NFIs or consistent remote Source: NFIs or remote sensing-based method sensing-based estimate calibrated with plot data Biomass Country-specific expansion factors or allometric equations used for deriving biomass estimates Carbon Data provided for all five carbon pools Tier 2 Forest area Data older than 2013 Limited consistency between data sources Source: NFIs, remote sensing surveys or wall-to-wall mapping Growing stock Data older than 2009 Multiple NFIs or remote sensing-based estimates but limited consistency and/or older than 2009 Carbon Data provided for at least two carbon pools Tier 1 Forest area Other data sources, such as registers or Other data sources, including data from registers or questionnaires, expert assessments questionnaires, and expert assessments Growing stock Biomass Use of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change default factors or generic equations Carbon Other TABLE 86. Number of countries by data-reliability tier, for six indicators Indicator FRA 2015 FRA 2020 No data Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 No data Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Forest-area status 0 106 64 66 0 54 57 125 Forest-area trend 0 128 64 44 0 71 62 103 Growing-stock status 34 113 44 45 32 72 40 92 Growing-stock trend 36 129 41 30 32 84 60 60 Biomass* 36 149 – 51 30 146 – 60 Carbon 37 – – – 30 22 139 45 Note: *Only tiers 1 and 3 were used for biomass. 26 The analysis was conducted by Mst Karimon Nesha, Veronique De Sy and Martin Herold (CIFOR/Wageningen University), updating a previous publication by Romijn et al. (2015). The full findings of the FRA 2020 analysis will be published in 2020. 120 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Box 11. (Continued) According to the assessment’s preliminary findings, more are considerably improving their monitoring and reporting than 90 percent of the estimated forest area in 2020 (status) on forests. Given the improvement in national-level data, in FRA 2020 can be categorized as tier 3 (highest reliability of regional and global aggregates are also more reliable than the data sources), with regional variations (Table 88). This is a previously. On the other hand, most countries are still substantial improvement compared with FRA 2015,27 with the reporting on biomass using default factors, and there is number of countries reporting tier 3 for forest-area status and room for improvement in estimates of trends, particularly in trends almost doubling. Africa. Note that this analysis examined only a few indicators Overall, data quality is greatly improved in FRA 2020 and does not reflect the situation for many other variables compared with FRA 2015 for all the selected indicators; this included in FRA 2020 for which data coverage and quality indicates that many countries produced new data and remain poor. TABLE 87. Proportion of forest area (%) by data-reliability tier, for six indicators Indicator FRA 2015 FRA 2020 No data Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 No data Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Forest-area status 0 10 31 59 0 2 5 93 Forest-area trend 0 34 42 24 0 2 12 86 Growing-stock status 6 21 40 32 4 5 7 85 Growing-stock trend 15 37 28 19 4 8 27 61 Biomass* 2 55 – 44 <1 24 – 76 Carbon 3 – – – <1 1 38 61 Note: *Only tiers 1 and 3 were used for biomass. TABLE 88. Proportion of forest area in data-reliability tier 3, by region Region % Forest-area Forest-area trend Growing-stock Growing-stock Biomass Carbon status status trend Africa 79 31 69 24 32 1 Asia 92 92 87 80 53 18 Europe 96 96 96 96 94 90 North and Central America 99 98 99 97 99 97 Oceania 97 97 5 5 78 78 South America 95 95 86 14 82 66 m 27 The tier classification system used in FRA 2020 differs slightly to that used in FRA 2015. This is especially significant for forest-area status, where tier 3 status was given to data sources less than ten years old (2004) for FRA 2015 and to data sources from 2013 for FRA 2020. No data on tiers are provided for FRA 2015 because the classes applied in FRA 2020 and FRA 2015 are not comparable. Also, tiers were self-assessed by countries in FRA 2015. 11. Discussion 121 @ FAO / NCognome 12 Conclusion @ FAO / NCognome ©FAO/Sergei Gapon Take-home messages Forest management is moving towards sustainability. Long-term management plans exist for more than half the The global forest area continues to shrink – by an average global forest area, and the area of forest with management of 4.7 million ha per year. Globally, the rate of net forest plans has increased steadily since 2000. Less than loss has declined since the 1990s, but the latest data show 25 percent of the forest area in Africa and South America that the pace of this decline slowed in the most recent is under long-term management plans, however; this ten-year period, mainly because the forest area in Asia and is cause for concern, given that the existence of such plans Europe expanded less than in the previous decade. Given is an indicator of the intention to sustainably manage the current global trend of a shrinking net forest area, it is forest resources. unlikely that the Global Forest Goal of increasing the world’s forest area by 3 percent will be met by 2030. Production is still an important forest management objective. About 30 percent of all forests globally is Halting deforestation remains a challenge. Deforestation managed primarily for the production of wood and non- continues, albeit at a lower rate than in the past. In the most wood forest products – this has been the case since at least recent five-year period (2015–2020), deforestation occurred 1990. Although the volume of wood removals increased at a rate of 10 million ha per year – 2 million ha less per between 1990 and 2020, the number of people employed in year than in 2010–2015. At this rate of reduction, however, forestry and logging declined because of increases (in some achieving the SDG 15 target of halting deforestation will regions) in mechanization and labour productivity. take another 25 years. Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 (to protect at least 17 The deforestation hotspot is now in Africa. More than percent of the terrestrial area by 2020) has been 90 percent of deforestation is taking place in the tropics. exceeded for forest ecosystems as a whole. Globally, Of the world’s six regions, Africa lost the largest area to 18 percent of the world’s forest area, or more than 700 deforestation in 2010–2020, surpassing South America (the million ha, is in legally established protected areas such as previous leader). Earlier studies have shown that, in tropical national parks, conservation areas and game reserves (IUCN and subtropical countries, agricultural expansion accounts categories I–IV). for 73 percent of deforestation. In Africa, the continuation of a high rate of deforestation largely reflects the combined Urgent action is needed to strengthen the positive trend impacts of high population growth and the need to sustain of declining deforestation and to incentivize afforestation, livelihoods with small-scale agriculture. forest restoration and forest conservation, especially in tropical developing countries. Such action is necessary if Deforestation has halved in Asia and South America. the world is to meet commitments to halt deforestation, Deforestation rates in Asia and South America are only increase forest area, and restore 350 million ha of the about half what they were in the 1990s. In Asia, this is world’s deforested and degraded land. mainly the result of reductions in deforestation in South and Southeast Asia. The decline in deforestation in South Global forest monitoring capacity is greater than ever, America is due largely to a reduction in Brazil, particularly but important information gaps remain. Countries need between 2010 and 2015, although some other countries in additional support to improve their capacity to collect the region have also curbed deforestation. and report data on a number of key forest indicators. By 12. Conclusion 125 facilitating the sharing of tools and data sources, FAO’s The aim behind several changes to FRA 2020 was to new digital reporting platform is helping address such reduce the reporting burden for countries and improve information gaps. data availability and consistency. This effort should continue as a means to assist national and international Next steps policy formulation and decision-making processes. With support from the European Union, the Government of FRA is a country-driven process, which FAO conducts at the Norway, the Global Environment Facility and potentially request of its member states. Future assessments should other donors, and in collaboration with FAO member states, continue to build capacity in countries with the aim of the FRA Advisory Group, Collaborative Forest Resources enabling continuous forest reporting capacity. This is likely Questionnaire partners, and others, FRA will continue to to be increasingly important, with emerging needs for evolve as a dynamic and transparent reporting process that frequent reporting on key variables and indicators – such provides easy access to up-to-date, high-quality data. as the two forest-related SDG indicators, which also have strong linkages with other initiatives such as the New York Declaration on Forests and the Bonn Challenge. g 126 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 @ FAO / NCognome Annexes @ FAO / NCognome Annex 1. Statistical factsheets WORLD 236 countries and territories VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2020a DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Forest area (million ha) 4 236 4 158 4 106 4 059 100 Forest area (% of land area) 32.5 31.9 31.5 31.1 100 Growing stock (billion m3) 560 556 555 557 100c Growing stock (m3/ha) 132.1 133.8 135.2 137.1 100c Carbon stock in biomass (Gt) 298 296 294 295 100c Carbon stock in biomass (t/ha) 70.3 71.1 71.6 72.6 100c Total carbon stock (Gt) 668 663 662 662 100c Total carbon stock (t/ha) 157.8 159.5 161.3 163.1 100c Naturally regenerating forest (million ha) 4 038 3 919 3 816 3 737 99 Planted forest (million ha) 170 211 262 293 99 … of which plantation forest (million ha) 75 95 116 131 99 Primary forest (million ha) 906 872 837 825 57 Mangroves (million ha) 15.8 15.3 14.9 14.7 99 Forest in protected areas (million ha) 438 500 601 629 86 Forest area with management plans (million ha) – 1 758 1 856 1 991 87 Designated management objective Production (million ha) 1 136 1 113 1 097 1 134 89 Protection of soil and water (million ha) 272 296 325 390 71 Conservation (million ha) 311 347 399 422 91 Social services (million ha) 188 180 180 182 66 Multiple use (million ha) 809 780 751 738 79 Other (million ha) 322 336 312 210 68 VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2015 DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Private ownership (million ha) 828 817 841 857 95 Public ownership (million ha) 2 950 2 918 2 859 2 835 95 Other/unknown ownership (million ha) 446 330 299 284 100 Note: a Data for 2020 comprise countries that reported complete time series of data, and values may differ from those presented in the report based on the analysis of exclusively 2020 data. b Data availability refers to the proportion of total forest area represented by reporting countries. c Missing values have been filled with FAO estimates. Annexes 129 AFRICA 58 countries and territories VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2020a DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Forest area (million ha) 743 710 676 637 100 Forest area (% of land area) 24.9 23.8 22.6 21.3 100 Growing stock (billion m3) 88 84 81 76 100c Growing stock (m3/ha) 118.0 118.8 119.8 120.0 100c Carbon stock in biomass (Gt) 59 56 54 51 100c Carbon stock in biomass (t/ha) 79.1 79.3 79.5 79.4 100c Total carbon stock (Gt) 94 90 86 81 100c Total carbon stock (t/ha) 126.9 126.9 127.1 127.1 100c Naturally regenerating forest (million ha) 734 701 665 625 100 Planted forest (million ha) 8.5 8.9 10.6 11.4 100 … of which plantation forest (million ha) 6.0 6.2 7.1 7.7 100 Primary forest (million ha) 143 137 131 123 51 Mangroves (million ha) 3.40 3.33 3.26 3.24 95 Forest in protected areas (million ha) 124 125 129 131 72 Forest area with management plans (million ha) – 79 91 118 64 Designated management objective Production (million ha) 109 104 91 91 79 Protection of soil and water (million ha) 43 41 38 36 52 Conservation (million ha) 95 97 104 107 69 Social services (million ha) 2.0 1.8 1.7 3.0 28 Multiple use (million ha) 95 88 82 73 37 Other (million ha) 0 0 0 0 23 VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2015 DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Private ownership (million ha) 46 39 37 36 93 Public ownership (million ha) 526 508 481 463 93 Other/unknown ownership (million ha) 166 158 154 157 100 Note: a Data for 2020 comprise countries that reported complete time series of data, and values may differ from those presented in the report based on the analysis of exclusively 2020 data. b Data availability refers to the proportion of total forest area represented by reporting countries. c Missing values have been filled with FAO estimates. 130 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 ASIA 48 countries and territories VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2020a DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Forest area (million ha) 585 587 611 623 100 Forest area (% of land area) 18.8 18.9 19.7 20.0 100 Growing stock (billion m3) 52 54 58 63 100c Growing stock (m3/ha) 88.1 92.4 95.3 100.4 100c Carbon stock in biomass (Gt) 34 35 36 38 100c Carbon stock in biomass (t/ha) 58.2 59.7 59.2 60.3 100c Total carbon stock (Gt) 77 79 82 85 100c Total carbon stock (t/ha) 131.7 133.7 134.1 136.1 100 Naturally regenerating forest (million ha) 511 493 491 487 100 Planted forest (million ha) 74 94 120 135 100 … of which plantation forest (million ha) 50 62 72 79 100 Primary forest (million ha) 100 93 86 86 90 Mangroves (million ha) 6.33 6.32 5.93 5.55 96 Forest in protected areas (million ha) 85 102 128 135 85 Forest area with management plans (million ha) – 280 314 353 89 Designated management objective Production (million ha) 202 207 188 190 97 Protection of soil and water (million ha) 103 117 134 132 96 Conservation (million ha) 63 67 81 89 98 Social services (million ha) 3.7 3.5 4.7 5.7 92 Multiple use (million ha) 95 109 120 134 94 Other (million ha) 28 28 29 29 89 VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2015 DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Private ownership (million ha) 64 73 119 132 98 Public ownership (million ha) 490 485 463 464 98 Other/unknown ownership (million ha) 32 25 22 10 100 Note: a Data for 2020 comprise countries that reported complete time series of data, and values may differ from those presented in the report based on the analysis of exclusively 2020 data. b Data availability refers to the proportion of total forest area represented by reporting countries. c Missing values have been filled with FAO estimates. Annexes 131 EUROPE 50 countries and territories VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2020a DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Forest area (million ha) 994 1 002 1 014 1 017 100 Forest area (% of land area) 44.9 45.3 45.8 46.0 100 Growing stock (billion m3) 104 108 113 116 100c Growing stock (m3/ha) 104.9 107.8 111.5 114.2 100c Carbon stock in biomass (Gt) 45 48 51 55 100c Carbon stock in biomass (t/ha) 45.4 47.5 50.5 53.6 100c Total carbon stock (Gt) 159 162 168 172 100c Total carbon stock (t/ha) 159.7 162.1 165.8 169.5 100c Naturally regenerating forest (million ha) 913 913 914 915 97 Planted forest (million ha) 54 62 72 74 97 … of which plantation forest (million ha) 2.9 3.8 4.2 4.0 97 Primary forest (million ha) 0.85 0.99 1.32 1.41 44 Mangroves (million ha) 0 0 0 0 100 Forest in protected areas (million ha) 18 29 41 46 94 Forest area with management plans (million ha) – 934 938 942 96 Designated management objective Production (million ha) 510 473 482 514 95 Protection of soil and water (million ha) 76 90 106 171 94 Conservation (million ha) 18 28 35 39 97 Social services (million ha) 24 17 18 19 96 Multiple use (million ha) 38 38 41 43 94 Other (million ha) 277 303 279 178 96 VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2015 DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Private ownership (million ha) 74 83 90 92 97 Public ownership (million ha) 894 890 895 895 97 Other/unknown ownership (million ha) 18 20 8 28 100 Note: a Data for 2020 comprise countries that reported complete time series of data, and values may differ from those presented in the report based on the analysis of exclusively 2020 data. b Data availability refers to the proportion of total forest area represented by reporting countries. c Missing values have been filled with FAO estimates. 132 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA 41 countries and territories VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2020a DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Forest area (million ha) 755 752 754 753 100 Forest area (% of land area) 35.4 35.3 35.4 35.3 100 Growing stock (billion m3) 90 92 93 95 100c Growing stock (m3/ha) 119.6 122.0 123.6 126.3 100c Carbon stock in biomass (Gt) 39 40 41 42 100c Carbon stock in biomass (t/ha) 52.2 53.7 54.2 55.3 100c Total carbon stock (Gt) 143 144 146 146 100c Total carbon stock (t/ha) 189.6 191.6 193.0 194.1 100c Naturally regenerating forest (million ha) 732 720 714 706 100 Planted forest (million ha) 23 33 41 47 100 … of which plantation forest (million ha) 6.6 9.3 13.5 15.2 100 Primary forest (million ha) 317 314 314 313 97 Mangroves (million ha) 2.43 2.44 2.45 2.55 100 Forest in protected areas (million ha) 42 51 71 73 98 Forest area with management plans (million ha) – 387 401 432 97 Designated management objective Production (million ha) 207 217 225 230 88 Protection of soil and water (million ha) 16 16 17 17 47 Conservation (million ha) 46 53 69 74 97 Social services (million ha) 15 15 15 15 47 Multiple use (million ha) 260 260 258 254 88 Other (million ha) 0.9 1.0 0.9 0.9 47 VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2015 DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Private ownership (million ha) 264 263 262 264 97 Public ownership (million ha) 450 450 455 455 97 Other/unknown ownership (million ha) 41 39 36 32 100 Note: a Data for 2020 comprise countries that reported complete time series of data, and values may differ from those presented in the report based on the analysis of exclusively 2020 data. b Data availability refers to the proportion of total forest area represented by reporting countries. c Missing values have been filled with FAO estimates. Annexes 133 OCEANIA 25 countries and territories VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2020a DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Forest area (million ha) 185 183 181 185 100 Forest area (% of land area) 21.8 21.6 21.3 21.8 100 Growing stock (billion m3) 19 19 19 19 100c Growing stock (m3/ha) 101.2 102.0 103.8 101.8 100c Carbon stock in biomass (Gt) 14 14 14 14 100c Carbon stock in biomass (t/ha) 75.4 75.7 76.6 74.9 100c Total carbon stock (Gt) 33 33 33 33 100c Total carbon stock (t/ha) 180.2 180.6 182.7 178.5 100c Naturally regenerating forest (million ha) 182 179 176 180 100 Planted forest (million ha) 2.8 3.8 4.5 4.8 100 … of which plantation forest (million ha) 2.8 3.8 4.3 4.4 100 Primary forest (million ha) 3 3 3 3 7 Mangroves (million ha) 1.45 1.15 1.31 1.26 100 Forest in protected areas (million ha) 18 21 26 28 78 Forest area with management plans (million ha) – 12 12 12 25 Designated management objective Production (million ha) 8.0 8.7 9.3 9.2 98 Protection of soil and water (million ha) 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 26 Conservation (million ha) 20 24 29 31 98 Social services (million ha) 0 0 0 0 5 Multiple use (million ha) 13 10 12 12 97 Other (million ha) 0 0 0 0 78 VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2015 DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Private ownership (million ha) 78 74 77 84 98 Public ownership (million ha) 103 104 99 95 98 Other/unknown ownership (million ha) 4.7 5.8 4.0 1.2 100 Note: a Data for 2020 comprise countries that reported complete time series of data, and values may differ from those presented in the report based on the analysis of exclusively 2020 data. b Data availability refers to the proportion of total forest area represented by reporting countries. c Missing values have been filled with FAO estimates. 134 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 SOUTH AMERICA 14 countries and territories VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2020a DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Forest area (million ha) 974 923 870 844 100 Forest area (% of land area) 55.8 52.8 49.8 48.3 100 Growing stock (billion m3) 207 199 191 187 100c Growing stock (m3/ha) 212.8 215.7 219.2 222.1 100c Carbon stock in biomass (Gt) 106 102 98 96 100c Carbon stock in biomass (t/ha) 109.4 111.0 112.9 114.1 100c Total carbon stock (Gt) 162 155 148 145 100c Total carbon stock (t/ha) 166.1 167.9 170.0 171.6 100c Naturally regenerating forest (million ha) 967 913 855 824 100 Planted forest (million ha) 7.0 9.4 14.9 20.2 100 … of which plantation forest (million ha) 7.0 9.3 14.7 20.1 100 Primary forest (million ha) 342 325 302 299 72 Mangroves (million ha) 2.15 2.05 1.98 2.12 100 Forest in protected areas (million ha) 150 172 206 216 80 Forest area with management plans (million ha) – 65 99 134 95 Designated management objective Production (million ha) 99 102 102 100 83 Protection of soil and water (million ha) 33 31 30 34 71 Conservation (million ha) 68 78 82 83 86 Social services (million ha) 144 143 141 140 71 Multiple use (million ha) 309 275 238 223 71 Other (million ha) 16 3.0 3.0 2.9 71 VARIABLE (UNIT) 1990 2000 2010 2015 DATA AVAILABILITY (%)b Private ownership (million ha) 302 286 255 248 87 Public ownership (million ha) 488 480 466 462 87 Other/unknown ownership (million ha) 184 82 75 55 100 Note: a Data for 2020 comprise countries that reported complete time series of data, and values may differ from those presented in the report based on the analysis of exclusively 2020 data. b Data availability refers to the proportion of total forest area represented by reporting countries. c Missing values have been filled with FAO estimates. Annexes 135 Annex 2. Global tables TABLE A1. (ECxotnetnint uoefd f)orest, 1990–2020 Country/territory Forest area (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Afghanistan 1 208 1 208 1 208 1 208 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Albania 789 769 782 789 -2.0 -0.25 1.3 0.16 0.7 0.09 Algeria 1 667 1 579 1 918 1 949 -8.8 -0.54 33.9 1.96 3.1 0.16 American Samoa 18 18 17 17 n.s. -0.19 n.s. -0.17 n.s. -0.17 Andorra 16 16 16 16 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Angola 79 263 77 709 72 158 66 607 -155.4 -0.20 -555.1 -0.74 -555.1 -0.80 Anguilla 6 6 6 6 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Antigua and Barbuda 10 9 9 8 -0.1 -0.67 -0.1 -0.73 -0.1 -0.78 Argentina 35 204 33 378 30 214 28 573 -182.6 -0.53 -316.4 -0.99 -164.1 -0.56 Armenia 335 333 331 328 -0.2 -0.06 -0.2 -0.06 -0.2 -0.06 Aruba n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Australia 133 882 131 814 129 546 134 005 -206.8 -0.16 -226.8 -0.17 445.9 0.34 Austria 3 776 3 838 3 863 3 899 6.2 0.16 2.5 0.07 3.6 0.09 Azerbaijan 945 987 1 032 1 132 4.2 0.44 4.5 0.45 9.9 0.92 Bahamas 510 510 510 510 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Bahrain n.s. n.s. 1 1 n.s. 5.34 n.s. 3.46 n.s. 3.02 Bangladesh 1 920 1 920 1 888 1 883 n.s. n.s. -3.2 -0.17 -0.5 -0.03 Barbados 6 6 6 6 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Belarus 7 780 8 273 8 630 8 768 49.3 0.62 35.7 0.42 13.8 0.16 Belgium 677 667 690 689 -1.0 -0.15 2.3 0.33 -0.1 -0.01 Belize 1 600 1 459 1 391 1 277 -14.1 -0.92 -6.8 -0.48 -11.4 -0.85 Benin 4 835 4 135 3 635 3 135 -70.0 -1.55 -50.0 -1.28 -50.0 -1.47 Bermuda 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Bhutan 2 507 2 606 2 705 2 725 9.9 0.39 9.9 0.37 2.0 0.07 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 57 805 55 101 53 086 50 834 -270.3 -0.48 -201.5 -0.37 -225.2 -0.43 Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and 2 2 2 2 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 210 2 112 2 103 2 188 -9.8 -0.45 -0.9 -0.04 8.5 0.40 Botswana 18 804 17 621 16 438 15 255 -118.3 -0.65 -118.3 -0.69 -118.3 -0.74 Brazil 588 898 551 089 511 581 496 620 -3 780.9 -0.66 -3 950.8 -0.74 -1 496.1 -0.30 British Virgin Islands 4 4 4 4 n.s. -0.11 n.s. -0.08 n.s. -0.06 Brunei Darussalam 413 397 380 380 -1.6 -0.39 -1.7 -0.44 0.0 0.00 Bulgaria 3 327 3 375 3 737 3 893 4.8 0.14 36.2 1.02 15.6 0.41 Burkina Faso 7 717 7 217 6 717 6 216 -50.0 -0.67 -50.0 -0.72 -50.0 -0.77 (Continued) 136 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A1. (Continued) Country/territory Forest area (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Burundi 276 194 194 280 -8.3 -3.48 0.0 0.00 8.6 3.73 Cabo Verde 15 40 43 46 2.4 9.95 0.3 0.73 0.3 0.68 Cambodia 11 005 10 781 10 589 8 068 -22.4 -0.21 -19.2 -0.18 -252.1 -2.68 Cameroon 22 500 21 597 20 900 20 340 -90.3 -0.41 -69.7 -0.33 -56.0 -0.27 Canada 348 273 347 802 347 322 346 928 -47.1 -0.01 -48.0 -0.01 -39.4 -0.01 Cayman Islands 13 13 13 13 n.s. -0.15 n.s. -0.16 0.0 0.00 Central African Republic 23 203 22 903 22 603 22 303 -30.0 -0.13 -30.0 -0.13 -30.0 -0.13 Chad 6 730 6 353 5 530 4 313 -37.7 -0.57 -82.3 -1.38 -121.7 -2.45 Chile 15 246 15 817 16 725 18 211 57.1 0.37 90.8 0.56 148.5 0.85 China 157 141 177 001 200 610 219 978 1 986.0 1.20 2 361.0 1.26 1 936.8 0.93 Colombia 64 958 62 736 60 808 59 142 -222.3 -0.35 -192.8 -0.31 -166.6 -0.28 Comoros 46 42 37 33 -0.4 -0.99 -0.4 -1.10 -0.4 -1.24 Congo 22 315 22 195 22 075 21 946 -12.0 -0.05 -12.0 -0.05 -12.9 -0.06 Cook Islands 15 16 16 16 0.1 0.43 n.s. 0.01 0.0 0.00 Costa Rica 2 907 2 857 2 871 3 035 -5.0 -0.17 1.4 0.05 16.4 0.56 Côte d'Ivoire 7 851 5 094 3 966 2 837 -275.6 -4.23 -112.9 -2.47 -112.9 -3.29 Croatia 1 850 1 885 1 920 1 939 3.5 0.19 3.5 0.18 1.9 0.10 Cuba 2 058 2 435 2 932 3 242 37.7 1.70 49.7 1.87 31.0 1.01 Curaçao n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Cyprus 161 172 173 173 1.1 0.63 0.1 0.07 n.s. -0.02 Czechia 2 629 2 637 2 657 2 677 0.8 0.03 2.0 0.08 2.0 0.07 Democratic People's 6 912 6 455 6 242 6 030 -45.7 -0.68 -21.2 -0.33 -21.2 -0.35 Republic of Korea Democratic Republic 150 629 143 899 137 169 126 155 -673.0 -0.46 -673.0 -0.48 -1 101.4 -0.83 of the Congo Denmark 531 572 586 628 4.0 0.73 1.5 0.26 4.2 0.69 Djibouti 6 6 6 6 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 n.s. 0.35 Dominica 50 48 48 48 -0.2 -0.50 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Dominican Republic 1 595 1 972 2 073 2 144 37.8 2.15 10.1 0.50 7.1 0.34 Ecuador 14 632 13 731 13 028 12 498 -90.2 -0.63 -70.2 -0.52 -53.0 -0.41 Egypt 44 59 66 45 1.5 3.06 0.6 1.04 -2.1 -3.71 El Salvador 719 674 629 584 -4.5 -0.64 -4.5 -0.69 -4.5 -0.74 Equatorial Guinea 2 699 2 616 2 532 2 448 -8.4 -0.31 -8.4 -0.32 -8.4 -0.34 Eritrea 1 150 1 118 1 087 1 055 -3.2 -0.28 -3.2 -0.29 -3.2 -0.29 Estonia 2 206 2 239 2 336 2 438 3.3 0.15 9.7 0.43 10.2 0.43 Eswatini 461 473 485 498 1.2 0.26 1.2 0.25 1.2 0.25 Ethiopia 19 259 18 529 17 799 17 069 -73.0 -0.39 -73.0 -0.40 -73.0 -0.42 Falkland Islands (Malvinas)* 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Faroe Islands n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Fiji 940 1 006 1 073 1 140 6.7 0.69 6.7 0.64 6.7 0.61 (Continued) Annexes 137 TABLE A1. (Continued) Country/territory Forest area (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Finland 21 875 22 446 22 242 22 409 57.0 0.26 -20.4 -0.09 16.7 0.07 France 14 436 15 288 16 419 17 253 85.2 0.58 113.1 0.72 83.4 0.50 French Guiana 8 125 8 079 8 037 8 003 -4.6 -0.06 -4.3 -0.05 -3.4 -0.04 French Polynesia 144 149 149 149 0.4 0.28 0.1 0.06 0.0 0.00 Gabon 23 762 23 700 23 649 23 531 -6.2 -0.03 -5.1 -0.02 -11.9 -0.05 Gambia 415 357 300 243 -5.7 -1.48 -5.7 -1.73 -5.7 -2.10 Georgia 2 752 2 761 2 822 2 822 0.8 0.03 6.2 0.22 0.0 0.00 Germany 11 300 11 354 11 409 11 419 5.4 0.05 5.5 0.05 1.0 0.01 Ghana 9 924 8 849 7 943 7 986 -107.6 -1.14 -90.6 -1.07 4.3 0.05 Gibraltar 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Greece 3 299 3 600 3 902 3 902 30.2 0.88 30.2 0.81 n.s. n.s. Greenland n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Grenada 18 18 18 18 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Guadeloupe 73 72 72 72 -0.1 -0.12 -0.1 -0.10 n.s. 0.05 Guam 24 24 24 28 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.4 1.55 Guatemala 4 781 4 209 3 723 3 528 -57.2 -1.27 -48.7 -1.22 -19.5 -0.54 Guernsey n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 n.s. 6.21 0.0 0.00 Guinea 7 276 6 929 6 569 6 189 -34.7 -0.49 -36.0 -0.53 -38.0 -0.59 Guinea-Bissau 2 233 2 149 2 064 1 980 -8.4 -0.38 -8.4 -0.40 -8.4 -0.42 Guyana 18 602 18 564 18 520 18 415 -3.8 -0.02 -4.4 -0.02 -10.4 -0.06 Haiti 383 381 378 347 -0.2 -0.06 -0.2 -0.06 -3.1 -0.85 Holy See 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Honduras 6 988 6 778 6 575 6 359 -21.0 -0.30 -20.3 -0.30 -21.6 -0.33 Hungary 1 814 1 921 2 046 2 053 10.7 0.58 12.5 0.63 0.7 0.03 Iceland 17 30 45 51 1.3 5.74 1.5 4.12 0.7 1.40 India 63 938 67 591 69 496 72 160 365.3 0.56 190.5 0.28 266.4 0.38 Indonesia 118 545 101 280 99 659 92 133 -1 726.5 -1.56 -162.1 -0.16 -752.6 -0.78 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 9 076 9 326 10 692 10 752 25.0 0.27 136.6 1.38 6.0 0.06 Iraq 804 818 825 825 1.4 0.17 0.7 0.09 0.0 0.00 Ireland 462 630 720 782 16.9 3.16 9.0 1.34 6.2 0.82 Isle of Man 3 3 3 3 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Israel 132 153 154 140 2.1 1.49 0.1 0.07 -1.4 -0.95 Italy 7 590 8 369 9 028 9 566 78.0 0.98 65.9 0.76 53.8 0.58 Jamaica 521 521 558 597 n.s. -0.01 3.7 0.70 3.8 0.67 Japan 24 950 24 876 24 966 24 935 -7.4 -0.03 9.0 0.04 -3.1 -0.01 Jersey 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Jordan 98 98 98 98 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Kazakhstan 3 162 3 157 3 082 3 455 -0.5 -0.02 -7.5 -0.24 37.3 1.15 Kenya 3 859 3 961 3 616 3 611 10.3 0.26 -34.5 -0.91 -0.5 -0.01 Kiribati 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 (Continued) 138 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A1. (Continued) Country/territory Forest area (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Kuwait 3 5 6 6 0.1 3.46 0.1 2.57 0.0 0.00 Kyrgyzstan 1 136 1 181 1 230 1 315 4.4 0.38 4.9 0.41 8.6 0.68 Lao People's 17 843 17 425 16 941 16 596 -41.8 -0.24 -48.5 -0.28 -34.5 -0.21 Democratic Republic Latvia 3 173 3 241 3 372 3 411 6.8 0.21 13.1 0.40 3.9 0.11 Lebanon 140 138 137 143 -0.2 -0.11 -0.1 -0.06 0.6 0.43 Lesotho 35 35 35 35 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Liberia 8 525 8 223 7 920 7 617 -30.3 -0.36 -30.3 -0.37 -30.3 -0.39 Libya 217 217 217 217 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Liechtenstein 7 7 7 7 n.s. 0.30 n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. Lithuania 1 945 2 020 2 170 2 201 7.5 0.38 15.0 0.72 3.1 0.14 Luxembourg 86 87 89 89 0.1 0.10 0.2 0.23 0.0 0.00 Madagascar 13 693 13 031 12 562 12 430 -66.3 -0.49 -46.9 -0.37 -13.2 -0.11 Malawi 3 502 3 082 2 662 2 242 -42.0 -1.27 -42.0 -1.45 -42.0 -1.70 Malaysia 20 619 19 691 18 948 19 114 -92.7 -0.46 -74.4 -0.38 16.6 0.09 Maldives 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Mali 13 296 13 296 13 296 13 296 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Malta n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 n.s. 2.77 Marshall Islands 9 9 9 9 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Martinique 48 49 50 52 0.1 0.19 0.2 0.31 0.2 0.39 Mauritania 476 422 367 313 -5.4 -1.21 -5.4 -1.37 -5.4 -1.59 Mauritius 41 42 38 39 0.1 0.21 -0.4 -0.88 n.s. 0.10 Mayotte 19 16 14 14 -0.3 -1.96 -0.1 -0.83 -0.1 -0.37 Mexico 70 592 68 381 66 943 65 692 -221.0 -0.32 -143.8 -0.21 -125.1 -0.19 Micronesia 64 64 64 64 n.s. 0.04 n.s. 0.04 n.s. 0.05 (Federated States of) Monaco 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Mongolia 14 352 14 264 14 184 14 173 -8.8 -0.06 -8.0 -0.06 -1.1 -0.01 Montenegro 626 626 827 827 0.0 0.00 20.1 2.82 0.0 0.00 Montserrat 4 3 3 3 -0.1 -3.31 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Morocco 5 485 5 507 5 675 5 742 2.1 0.04 16.8 0.30 6.8 0.12 Mozambique 43 378 41 188 38 972 36 744 -219.0 -0.52 -221.6 -0.55 -222.8 -0.59 Myanmar 39 218 34 868 31 441 28 544 -435.0 -1.17 -342.7 -1.03 -289.7 -0.96 Namibia 8 769 8 059 7 349 6 639 -71.0 -0.84 -71.0 -0.92 -71.0 -1.01 Nauru 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Nepal 5 672 5 781 5 962 5 962 10.9 0.19 18.1 0.31 0.0 0.00 Netherlands 345 360 373 370 1.4 0.40 1.4 0.38 -0.4 -0.11 New Caledonia 831 838 839 838 0.7 0.08 0.1 0.01 -0.1 -0.01 New Zealand 9 372 9 850 9 848 9 893 47.8 0.50 -0.2 n.s. 4.4 0.05 Nicaragua 6 399 5 399 4 188 3 408 -100.0 -1.68 -121.1 -2.51 -78.1 -2.04 (Continued) Annexes 139 TABLE A1. (Continued) Country/territory Forest area (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Niger 1 945 1 328 1 204 1 080 -61.7 -3.74 -12.4 -0.98 -12.4 -1.08 Nigeria 26 526 24 893 23 260 21 627 -163.3 -0.63 -163.3 -0.68 -163.3 -0.73 Niue 19 19 19 19 n.s. -0.05 n.s. -0.03 n.s. 0.05 Norfolk Island n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 North Macedonia 912 958 960 1 001 4.6 0.49 0.3 0.03 4.1 0.42 Northern Mariana Islands 34 32 30 24 -0.2 -0.50 -0.2 -0.53 -0.6 -2.16 Norway 12 132 12 113 12 102 12 180 -1.9 -0.02 -1.1 -0.01 7.8 0.06 Oman 3 3 3 3 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 -0.1 -1.81 Pakistan 4 987 4 511 4 094 3 726 -47.6 -1.00 -41.8 -0.97 -36.8 -0.94 Palau 38 40 41 41 0.1 0.37 0.1 0.24 0.1 0.21 Palestine 9 9 10 10 0.0 0.00 0.1 0.92 n.s. 0.19 Panama 4 607 4 442 4 328 4 214 -16.5 -0.36 -11.4 -0.26 -11.4 -0.27 Papua New Guinea 36 400 36 278 36 179 35 856 -12.2 -0.03 -9.9 -0.03 -32.3 -0.09 Paraguay 25 546 22 992 19 570 16 102 -255.4 -1.05 -342.1 -1.60 -346.8 -1.93 Peru 76 449 75 298 74 050 72 330 -115.1 -0.15 -124.8 -0.17 -171.9 -0.23 Philippines 7 779 7 309 6 840 7 189 -47.0 -0.62 -47.0 -0.66 34.9 0.50 Pitcairn Islands 4 4 4 4 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Poland 8 882 9 059 9 329 9 483 17.7 0.20 27.0 0.29 15.4 0.16 Portugal 3 399 3 281 3 252 3 312 -11.8 -0.35 -2.9 -0.09 6.0 0.18 Puerto Rico 320 429 491 496 10.9 2.97 6.2 1.36 0.5 0.10 Qatar 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Republic of Korea 6 551 6 476 6 387 6 287 -7.5 -0.12 -8.9 -0.14 -10.0 -0.16 Republic of Moldova 325 344 375 387 1.9 0.57 3.0 0.84 1.2 0.32 Réunion 88 91 94 98 0.3 0.34 0.3 0.33 0.4 0.46 Romania 6 371 6 366 6 515 6 929 -0.5 -0.01 14.9 0.23 41.4 0.62 Russian Federation 808 950 809 269 815 136 815 312 31.9 n.s. 586.7 0.07 17.6 n.s. Rwanda 317 287 265 276 -3.0 -0.99 -2.2 -0.79 1.1 0.41 Saint Barthélemy n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Saint Helena, Ascension and 2 2 2 2 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis 11 11 11 11 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Saint Lucia 21 21 21 21 n.s. -0.12 n.s. -0.11 0.0 0.00 Saint Martin (French part) 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 2 2 1 1 n.s. -1.28 n.s. -1.47 n.s. -1.64 Saint Vincent and the 28 29 29 29 0.1 0.36 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Grenadines Samoa 176 171 166 162 -0.5 -0.28 -0.5 -0.28 -0.5 -0.29 San Marino 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Sao Tome and Principe 59 58 58 52 n.s. -0.04 n.s. -0.04 -0.6 -1.12 Saudi Arabia 977 977 977 977 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 (Continued) 140 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A1. (Continued) Country/territory Forest area (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Senegal 9 303 8 853 8 468 8 068 -45.0 -0.49 -38.5 -0.44 -40.0 -0.48 Serbia 2 313 2 460 2 713 2 723 14.7 0.62 25.3 0.98 1.0 0.04 Seychelles 34 34 34 34 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Sierra Leone 3 127 2 929 2 732 2 535 -19.7 -0.65 -19.7 -0.69 -19.7 -0.75 Singapore 15 17 18 16 0.2 1.39 0.1 0.42 -0.2 -1.30 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Slovakia 1 902 1 901 1 918 1 926 -0.1 -0.01 1.7 0.09 0.8 0.04 Slovenia 1 188 1 233 1 247 1 238 4.5 0.37 1.4 0.11 -0.9 -0.07 Solomon Islands 2 545 2 538 2 530 2 523 -0.7 -0.03 -0.7 -0.03 -0.7 -0.03 Somalia 8 283 7 515 6 748 5 980 -76.8 -0.97 -76.8 -1.07 -76.8 -1.20 South Africa 18 142 17 778 17 414 17 050 -36.4 -0.20 -36.4 -0.21 -36.4 -0.21 South Sudan 7 157 7 157 7 157 7 157 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Spain 13 905 17 094 18 545 18 572 318.9 2.09 145.1 0.82 2.7 0.01 Sri Lanka 2 350 2 166 2 104 2 113 -18.4 -0.81 -6.3 -0.29 0.9 0.04 Sudan 23 570 21 826 20 081 18 360 -174.4 -0.77 -174.5 -0.83 -172.2 -0.89 Suriname 15 378 15 341 15 300 15 196 -3.7 -0.02 -4.1 -0.03 -10.4 -0.07 Svalbard and 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Jan Mayen Islands Sweden 28 063 28 163 28 073 27 980 10.0 0.04 -9.0 -0.03 -9.3 -0.03 Switzerland 1 154 1 196 1 235 1 269 4.3 0.36 3.9 0.32 3.4 0.28 Syrian Arab Republic 372 432 492 522 6.0 1.51 6.0 1.31 3.0 0.59 Tajikistan 408 410 410 424 0.2 0.05 0.0 0.00 1.4 0.33 Thailand 19 361 18 998 20 073 19 873 -36.3 -0.19 107.5 0.55 -20.0 -0.10 Timor-Leste 963 949 935 921 -1.4 -0.15 -1.4 -0.15 -1.4 -0.15 Togo 1 362 1 268 1 239 1 209 -9.3 -0.71 -3.0 -0.24 -3.0 -0.24 Tokelau 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Tonga 9 9 9 9 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Trinidad and Tobago 242 237 232 228 -0.5 -0.23 -0.4 -0.18 -0.4 -0.18 Tunisia 644 668 687 703 2.4 0.36 2.0 0.29 1.5 0.22 Turkey 19 783 20 148 21 083 22 220 36.5 0.18 93.5 0.45 113.7 0.53 Turkmenistan 4 127 4 127 4 127 4 127 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Turks and Caicos Islands 11 11 11 11 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Tuvalu 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Uganda 3 575 3 163 2 750 2 338 -41.3 -1.22 -41.3 -1.39 -41.3 -1.61 Ukraine 9 274 9 510 9 548 9 690 23.6 0.25 3.8 0.04 14.2 0.15 United Arab Emirates 245 309 317 317 6.4 2.36 0.8 0.25 0.0 0.00 United Kingdom of Great 2 778 2 954 3 059 3 190 17.6 0.62 10.5 0.35 13.1 0.42 Britain and Northern Ireland United Republic of Tanzania 57 390 53 670 49 950 45 745 -372.0 -0.67 -372.0 -0.72 -420.5 -0.88 United States of America 302 450 303 536 308 720 309 795 108.6 0.04 518.4 0.17 107.5 0.03 (Continued) Annexes 141 TABLE A1. (Continued) Country/territory Forest area (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr United States Virgin Islands 25 20 18 20 -0.4 -1.80 -0.2 -1.04 0.1 0.78 Uruguay 798 1 369 1 731 2 031 57.1 5.55 36.2 2.38 30.0 1.61 Uzbekistan 2 549 2 961 3 350 3 690 41.2 1.51 38.8 1.24 34.0 0.97 Vanuatu 442 442 442 442 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Venezuela 52 026 49 151 47 505 46 231 -287.5 -0.57 -164.6 -0.34 -127.4 -0.27 (Bolivarian Republic of) Viet Nam 9 376 11 784 13 388 14 643 240.8 2.31 160.4 1.28 125.5 0.90 Wallis and Futuna Islands 6 6 6 6 n.s. 0.02 n.s. 0.02 n.s. 0.02 Western Sahara 665 669 665 665 0.4 0.06 -0.4 -0.06 n.s. n.s. Yemen 549 549 549 549 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Zambia 47 412 47 054 46 696 44 814 -35.8 -0.08 -35.8 -0.08 -188.2 -0.41 Zimbabwe 18 827 18 366 17 905 17 445 -46.1 -0.25 -46.1 -0.25 -46.1 -0.26 Note: The rate of change (%) is calculated as the compound annual change rate. * A dispute exists between the Government of Argentina and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). 142 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A2. (ECxotnetnint uoefd n)aturally regenerating forest, 1990–2020 Country/territory Naturally regenerating forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Afghanistan 1 208 1 208 1 208 1 208 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Albania – – 712 – – – – – – – Algeria 1 334 1 234 1 420 1 439 -10.0 -0.78 18.6 1.41 1.9 0.13 American Samoa 18 18 17 17 n.s. -0.19 n.s. -0.17 n.s. -0.17 Andorra 16 16 16 16 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Angola 78 302 76 767 71 284 65 800 -153.5 -0.20 -548.3 -0.74 -548.3 -0.80 Anguilla – – – – – – – – – – Antigua and Barbuda – – – – – – – – – – Argentina 34 438 32 302 29 027 27 137 -213.6 -0.64 -327.5 -1.06 -189.0 -0.67 Armenia 321 322 310 310 0.1 0.03 -1.2 -0.38 0.0 0.00 Aruba n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Australia 132 859 130 329 127 378 131 615 -253.0 -0.19 -295.1 -0.23 423.7 0.33 Austria 2 037 2 154 2 184 2 228 11.8 0.56 2.9 0.14 4.4 0.20 Azerbaijan 652 681 743 826 2.9 0.44 6.2 0.88 8.3 1.06 Bahamas 510 510 510 510 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Bahrain 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Bangladesh 1 845 1 845 1 816 1 725 n.s. n.s. -2.9 -0.16 -9.1 -0.51 Barbados 6 6 6 6 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Belarus 6 576 6 413 6 484 6 556 -16.3 -0.25 7.0 0.11 7.2 0.11 Belgium 231 259 283 251 2.8 1.15 2.4 0.90 -3.2 -1.20 Belize 1 598 1 457 1 389 1 275 -14.1 -0.92 -6.8 -0.48 -11.4 -0.86 Benin 4 823 4 119 3 615 3 112 -70.4 -1.57 -50.4 -1.30 -50.3 -1.49 Bermuda – – – – – – – – – – Bhutan 2 487 2 586 2 686 2 704 9.9 0.39 9.9 0.38 1.9 0.07 Bolivia (Plurinational State 57 785 55 066 53 036 50 771 -271.8 -0.48 -203.0 -0.37 -226.5 -0.44 of) Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and 2 2 2 2 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina – – – – – – – – – – Botswana 18 804 17 621 16 438 15 255 -118.3 -0.65 -118.3 -0.69 -118.3 -0.74 Brazil 585 340 547 436 504 252 485 396 -3 790.4 -0.67 -4 318.4 -0.82 -1 885.6 -0.38 British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam 412 396 376 375 -1.6 -0.40 -2.0 -0.51 -0.2 -0.04 Bulgaria 2 295 2 442 2 920 3 116 14.7 0.62 47.8 1.80 19.6 0.65 Burkina Faso 7 703 7 148 6 594 6 039 -55.4 -0.74 -55.4 -0.80 -55.5 -0.87 (Continued) Annexes 143 TABLE A2. (Continued) Country/territory Naturally regenerating forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Burundi 115 81 81 167 -3.4 -3.46 0.0 0.00 8.6 7.49 Cabo Verde 14 14 14 14 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Cambodia 10 938 10 681 10 435 7 464 -25.6 -0.24 -24.6 -0.23 -297.0 -3.29 Cameroon 22 482 21 576 20 859 20 279 -90.6 -0.41 -71.7 -0.34 -58.0 -0.28 Canada 343 655 338 416 333 306 328 765 -523.9 -0.15 -510.9 -0.15 -454.2 -0.14 Cayman Islands 13 13 13 13 n.s. -0.15 n.s. -0.16 0.0 0.00 Central African Republic 23 201 22 901 22 601 22 301 -30.0 -0.13 -30.0 -0.13 -30.0 -0.13 Chad 6 719 6 339 5 513 4 293 -38.0 -0.58 -82.6 -1.39 -122.0 -2.47 Chile 13 600 13 539 13 895 15 026 -6.1 -0.04 35.6 0.26 113.1 0.79 China 112 989 122 170 127 286 135 282 918.2 0.78 511.6 0.41 799.6 0.61 Colombia 64 861 62 570 60 426 58 715 -229.1 -0.36 -214.3 -0.35 -171.2 -0.29 Comoros 43 39 36 33 -0.3 -0.80 -0.3 -0.87 -0.3 -0.95 Congo 22 256 22 136 22 016 21 887 -12.0 -0.05 -12.0 -0.05 -12.9 -0.06 Cook Islands 14 14 14 14 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Costa Rica 2 881 2 811 2 804 2 948 -7.0 -0.25 -0.6 -0.02 14.4 0.50 Côte d'Ivoire 7 844 5 081 3 951 2 823 -276.4 -4.25 -112.9 -2.48 -112.9 -3.31 Croatia 1 758 1 803 1 845 1 871 4.6 0.26 4.2 0.23 2.5 0.14 Cuba 1 711 2 093 2 436 2 709 38.2 2.04 34.3 1.53 27.3 1.07 Curaçao n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Cyprus 137 144 142 140 0.7 0.52 -0.2 -0.13 -0.2 -0.17 Czechia 31 47 88 138 1.6 4.28 4.0 6.39 5.0 4.61 Democratic People's 5 782 5 399 5 222 5 043 -38.3 -0.68 -17.8 -0.33 -17.9 -0.35 Republic of Korea Democratic Republic of the 150 574 143 842 137 111 126 098 -673.1 -0.46 -673.1 -0.48 -1 101.4 -0.83 Congo Denmark – – 140 216 – – – – 7.7 4.49 Djibouti 6 6 6 6 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Dominica 50 47 47 47 -0.2 -0.50 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Dominican Republic 1 574 1 929 1 963 1 954 35.6 2.06 3.3 0.17 -0.9 -0.04 Ecuador 14 588 13 660 12 943 12 387 -92.7 -0.65 -71.7 -0.54 -55.7 -0.44 Egypt 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 El Salvador 709 661 614 566 -4.8 -0.69 -4.8 -0.74 -4.8 -0.80 Equatorial Guinea 2 699 2 491 2 407 2 323 -20.9 -0.80 -8.4 -0.34 -8.4 -0.35 Eritrea 1 140 1 097 1 058 1 012 -4.3 -0.38 -3.9 -0.36 -4.6 -0.45 Estonia 2 011 2 041 2 129 2 223 3.0 0.15 8.9 0.43 9.3 0.43 Eswatini 297 330 363 396 3.3 1.05 3.3 0.95 3.3 0.87 Ethiopia 18 919 18 189 17 058 15 865 -73.0 -0.39 -113.1 -0.64 -119.3 -0.72 Falkland Islands (Malvinas)* 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Faroe Islands 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Fiji 855 881 907 933 2.6 0.30 2.6 0.29 2.6 0.28 (Continued) 144 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A2. (Continued) Country/territory Naturally regenerating forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Finland 17 485 17 301 15 334 15 041 -18.4 -0.11 -196.7 -1.20 -29.3 -0.19 France 12 908 13 702 14 346 14 819 79.4 0.60 64.4 0.46 47.3 0.32 French Guiana 8 124 8 079 8 036 8 002 -4.6 -0.06 -4.3 -0.05 -3.4 -0.04 French Polynesia 140 140 140 140 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Gabon 23 731 23 670 23 619 23 501 -6.1 -0.03 -5.1 -0.02 -11.9 -0.05 Gambia 413 356 298 241 -5.7 -1.48 -5.7 -1.74 -5.7 -2.11 Georgia 2 698 2 701 2 750 2 750 0.2 0.01 5.0 0.18 n.s. n.s. Germany 5 650 5 677 5 705 5 710 2.7 0.05 2.8 0.05 0.5 0.01 Ghana 9 874 8 799 7 723 7 689 -107.6 -1.15 -107.6 -1.30 -3.4 -0.04 Gibraltar 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Greece 3 181 3 472 3 763 3 763 29.1 0.88 29.1 0.81 n.s. n.s. Greenland 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Grenada 17 17 17 17 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Guadeloupe 73 72 71 71 -0.1 -0.12 -0.1 -0.10 n.s. 0.05 Guam 24 24 24 28 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.4 1.55 Guatemala 4 757 4 172 3 611 3 376 -58.5 -1.30 -56.1 -1.43 -23.5 -0.67 Guernsey n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 n.s. 3.87 0.0 0.00 Guinea 7 236 6 884 6 517 6 132 -35.2 -0.50 -36.7 -0.55 -38.5 -0.61 Guinea-Bissau 2 233 2 149 2 064 1 979 -8.4 -0.38 -8.5 -0.40 -8.5 -0.42 Guyana 18 602 18 564 18 520 18 415 -3.8 -0.02 -4.4 -0.02 -10.4 -0.06 Haiti 371 361 350 315 -1.0 -0.28 -1.0 -0.29 -3.5 -1.05 Holy See 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Honduras 6 988 6 779 6 575 6 359 -20.9 -0.30 -20.3 -0.30 -21.6 -0.33 Hungary – – 1 253 1 264 – – – – 1.2 0.09 Iceland 11 11 11 12 n.s. 0.40 n.s. 0.39 n.s. 0.36 India 58 223 58 223 56 717 58 891 0.0 0.00 -150.6 -0.26 217.4 0.38 Indonesia 118 400 97 432 95 473 87 608 -2 096.8 -1.93 -195.9 -0.20 -786.5 -0.86 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 8 560 8 810 9 751 9 751 25.0 0.29 94.1 1.02 0.0 0.00 Iraq 743 754 758 735 1.1 0.15 0.4 0.05 -2.3 -0.30 Ireland 81 81 81 108 n.s. 0.02 -0.1 -0.08 2.7 2.92 Isle of Man – – – – – – – – – – Israel 66 65 66 55 -0.1 -0.15 0.1 0.15 -1.1 -1.81 Italy 7 061 7 774 8 394 8 921 71.3 0.97 62.0 0.77 52.7 0.61 Jamaica 512 513 550 589 n.s. 0.01 3.7 0.71 3.8 0.68 Japan 14 663 14 545 14 674 14 751 -11.8 -0.08 12.9 0.09 7.7 0.05 Jersey – – – – – – – – – – Jordan 51 51 51 51 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Kazakhstan 2 645 2 628 2 638 3 034 -1.7 -0.06 1.0 0.04 39.6 1.41 Kenya 3 706 3 808 3 464 3 458 10.3 0.27 -34.5 -0.94 -0.5 -0.02 Kiribati – – – – – – – – – – (Continued) Annexes 145 TABLE A2. (Continued) Country/territory Naturally regenerating forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Kuwait 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Kyrgyzstan 977 1 016 1 045 1 086 3.8 0.38 2.9 0.29 4.1 0.39 Lao People's Democratic 16 237 15 845 15 345 14 824 -39.2 -0.24 -50.0 -0.32 -52.1 -0.34 Republic Latvia 2 859 2 919 2 964 2 945 6.0 0.21 4.6 0.16 -1.9 -0.06 Lebanon 139 138 137 143 -0.1 -0.07 -0.1 -0.04 0.6 0.42 Lesotho 26 26 26 26 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Liberia 8 524 8 213 7 902 7 590 -31.1 -0.37 -31.1 -0.39 -31.1 -0.40 Libya 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Liechtenstein 6 6 6 6 n.s. -0.32 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Lithuania 1 534 1 554 1 634 1 590 2.0 0.13 8.0 0.51 -4.4 -0.27 Luxembourg 58 59 59 59 0.1 0.17 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Madagascar 13 462 12 759 12 147 12 118 -70.4 -0.54 -61.2 -0.49 -2.9 -0.02 Malawi 3 363 2 964 2 565 2 166 -39.9 -1.25 -39.9 -1.43 -39.9 -1.68 Malaysia 18 684 18 064 17 639 17 417 -62.0 -0.34 -42.5 -0.24 -22.2 -0.13 Maldives 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Mali 13 291 13 241 12 766 12 728 -5.0 -0.04 -47.5 -0.36 -3.8 -0.03 Malta n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 n.s. 1.84 Marshall Islands 6 6 6 6 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Martinique 45 46 48 50 0.1 0.16 0.1 0.31 0.2 0.41 Mauritania 466 400 335 269 -6.6 -1.51 -6.6 -1.77 -6.6 -2.15 Mauritius 24 24 20 20 0.0 0.00 -0.4 -1.58 n.s. n.s. Mayotte 20 16 14 13 -0.4 -2.43 -0.2 -1.07 -0.1 -0.41 Mexico 70 552 68 342 66 877 65 592 -221.1 -0.32 -146.5 -0.22 -128.5 -0.19 Micronesia (Federated States 43 47 50 50 0.3 0.74 0.3 0.68 n.s. 0.06 of) Monaco 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Mongolia 14 348 14 255 14 174 14 165 -9.3 -0.06 -8.1 -0.06 -0.9 -0.01 Montenegro 618 618 819 819 0.0 0.00 20.1 2.86 0.0 0.00 Montserrat 4 3 3 3 -0.1 -3.31 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Morocco 5 167 5 162 5 151 5 108 -0.5 -0.01 -1.1 -0.02 -4.4 -0.09 Mozambique 43 340 41 150 38 918 36 669 -219.0 -0.52 -223.3 -0.56 -224.8 -0.59 Myanmar 39 187 34 837 31 135 28 118 -435.0 -1.17 -370.2 -1.12 -301.7 -1.01 Namibia 8 769 8 059 7 349 6 639 -71.0 -0.84 -71.0 -0.92 -71.0 -1.01 Nauru 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Nepal 5 584 5 643 5 741 5 741 5.9 0.11 9.8 0.17 n.s. n.s. Netherlands 50 46 41 38 -0.4 -0.83 -0.5 -1.16 -0.3 -0.75 New Caledonia 822 828 829 828 0.6 0.07 0.1 0.01 -0.2 -0.02 New Zealand 7 841 7 825 7 824 7 808 -1.6 -0.02 -0.2 n.s. -1.6 -0.02 Nicaragua 6 399 5 397 4 172 3 341 -100.2 -1.69 -122.5 -2.54 -83.1 -2.20 (Continued) 146 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A2. (Continued) Country/territory Naturally regenerating forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Niger 1 897 1 255 1 106 957 -64.2 -4.05 -14.9 -1.26 -14.9 -1.43 Nigeria 26 260 24 644 23 027 21 411 -161.6 -0.63 -161.7 -0.68 -161.7 -0.73 Niue 19 19 19 19 n.s. -0.05 n.s. -0.03 n.s. 0.05 Norfolk Island n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 North Macedonia – – – – – – – – – – Northern Mariana Islands 34 32 30 24 -0.2 -0.50 -0.2 -0.53 -0.6 -2.16 Norway – – 11 987 12 072 – – – – 8.5 0.07 Oman 2 2 2 2 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Pakistan 4 733 4 257 3 840 3 472 -47.6 -1.05 -41.8 -1.03 -36.8 -1.00 Palau – – – – – – – – – – Palestine – – – – – – – – – – Panama 4 596 4 409 4 272 4 148 -18.7 -0.41 -13.7 -0.32 -12.4 -0.29 Papua New Guinea 36 339 36 217 36 118 35 796 -12.2 -0.03 -9.9 -0.03 -32.2 -0.09 Paraguay 25 536 22 961 19 519 15 947 -257.4 -1.06 -344.2 -1.61 -357.3 -2.00 Peru 76 186 74 583 73 080 71 242 -160.3 -0.21 -150.3 -0.20 -183.8 -0.25 Philippines 7 488 6 989 6 489 6 808 -50.0 -0.69 -50.0 -0.74 31.9 0.48 Pitcairn Islands – – – – – – – – – – Poland – – – – – – – – – – Portugal 1 326 1 013 1 030 1 056 -31.3 -2.66 1.7 0.17 2.6 0.25 Puerto Rico 320 429 491 496 10.9 2.97 6.2 1.36 0.5 0.10 Qatar 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Republic of Korea 4 642 4 404 4 152 4 024 -23.8 -0.53 -25.2 -0.59 -12.8 -0.31 Republic of Moldova 179 189 163 168 1.0 0.57 -2.7 -1.52 0.5 0.32 Réunion 77 80 83 88 0.3 0.38 0.3 0.37 0.4 0.52 Romania 5 843 5 838 5 975 6 034 -0.5 -0.01 13.7 0.23 5.9 0.10 Russian Federation 796 299 793 908 795 523 796 432 -239.1 -0.03 161.5 0.02 90.9 0.01 Rwanda 204 161 126 126 -4.3 -2.34 -3.5 -2.42 0.0 0.00 Saint Barthélemy n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Saint Helena, Ascension and 2 2 2 2 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis – – – – – – – – – – Saint Lucia 19 18 17 17 -0.1 -0.33 -0.1 -0.34 0.0 0.00 Saint Martin (French part) 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 2 2 1 1 n.s. -1.28 n.s. -1.47 n.s. -1.64 Saint Vincent and the 28 29 28 28 0.1 0.39 n.s. -0.08 n.s. -0.04 Grenadines Samoa 171 166 161 157 -0.5 -0.28 -0.5 -0.29 -0.5 -0.30 San Marino 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Sao Tome and Principe 59 58 58 52 n.s. -0.04 n.s. -0.04 -0.6 -1.12 Saudi Arabia 977 977 977 977 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 (Continued) Annexes 147 TABLE A2. (Continued) Country/territory Naturally regenerating forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Senegal 9 271 8 821 8 436 8 036 -45.0 -0.50 -38.5 -0.45 -40.0 -0.48 Serbia 2 274 2 421 2 533 2 607 14.7 0.63 11.2 0.45 7.4 0.29 Seychelles 29 29 29 29 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Sierra Leone 3 120 2 922 2 718 2 514 -19.8 -0.65 -20.4 -0.72 -20.4 -0.78 Singapore 15 17 18 16 0.2 1.39 0.1 0.42 -0.2 -1.30 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Slovakia 1 164 1 146 1 177 1 177 -1.7 -0.15 3.0 0.26 0.1 0.01 Slovenia 1 154 1 185 1 180 1 192 3.1 0.27 -0.5 -0.04 1.2 0.10 Solomon Islands 2 503 2 505 2 504 2 499 0.2 0.01 -0.1 -0.01 -0.5 -0.02 Somalia 8 280 7 512 6 745 5 977 -76.8 -0.97 -76.8 -1.07 -76.8 -1.20 South Africa 14 998 14 634 14 270 13 906 -36.4 -0.25 -36.4 -0.25 -36.4 -0.26 South Sudan 6 969 6 969 6 969 6 969 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Spain 11 959 14 703 15 949 15 982 274.3 2.09 124.6 0.82 3.3 0.02 Sri Lanka 2 094 1 933 1 898 1 863 -16.1 -0.80 -3.5 -0.18 -3.5 -0.18 Sudan 23 450 21 701 19 954 18 230 -174.9 -0.77 -174.7 -0.84 -172.5 -0.90 Suriname 15 365 15 327 15 286 15 182 -3.8 -0.02 -4.1 -0.03 -10.4 -0.07 Svalbard and Jan Mayen 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Islands Sweden 19 974 17 845 15 592 14 068 -212.9 -1.12 -225.3 -1.34 -152.4 -1.02 Switzerland 971 1 024 1 074 1 120 5.3 0.54 5.0 0.48 4.6 0.42 Syrian Arab Republic 223 259 296 311 3.6 1.51 3.6 1.32 1.5 0.50 Tajikistan 295 297 297 307 0.1 0.05 0.0 0.00 1.0 0.32 Thailand 17 641 17 011 16 831 16 336 -63.0 -0.36 -18.0 -0.11 -49.5 -0.30 Timor-Leste 963 949 935 921 -1.4 -0.15 -1.4 -0.15 -1.4 -0.15 Togo 1 341 1 234 1 192 1 149 -10.7 -0.82 -4.3 -0.35 -4.3 -0.37 Tokelau 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Tonga 8 8 8 8 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Trinidad and Tobago 159 156 151 147 -0.3 -0.17 -0.5 -0.33 -0.3 -0.23 Tunisia 491 491 490 488 n.s. -0.01 -0.1 -0.02 -0.1 -0.03 Turkey 19 238 19 593 20 461 21 503 35.5 0.18 86.8 0.43 104.2 0.50 Turkmenistan 4 127 4 127 4 127 4 127 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Turks and Caicos Islands 11 11 11 11 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Tuvalu 1 1 1 1 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Uganda 3 406 2 895 2 384 1 873 -51.1 -1.61 -51.1 -1.92 -51.1 -2.38 Ukraine 4 707 4 815 4 731 4 842 10.8 0.23 -8.4 -0.18 11.1 0.23 United Arab Emirates – – – – – – – – – – United Kingdom of Great 344 344 344 344 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Britain and Northern Ireland United Republic of Tanzania 56 837 53 117 49 397 45 192 -372.0 -0.67 -372.0 -0.72 -420.5 -0.89 United States of America 284 512 280 976 283 156 282 274 -353.6 -0.12 218.0 0.08 -88.2 -0.03 (Continued) 148 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A2. (Continued) Country/territory Naturally regenerating forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr United States Virgin Islands 25 20 18 20 -0.4 -1.80 -0.2 -1.04 0.1 0.78 Uruguay 597 740 752 849 14.3 2.17 1.2 0.16 9.7 1.22 Uzbekistan 1 356 1 416 1 497 1 423 6.0 0.43 8.1 0.56 -7.4 -0.51 Vanuatu – – – – – – – – – – Venezuela (Bolivarian 51 600 48 411 46 516 44 873 -318.9 -0.64 -189.6 -0.40 -164.3 -0.36 Republic of) Viet Nam 8 631 9 865 10 305 10 294 123.4 1.34 44.0 0.44 -1.1 -0.01 Wallis and Futuna Islands 6 5 5 5 n.s. -0.31 n.s. -0.32 n.s. -0.17 Western Sahara 665 669 665 665 0.4 0.06 -0.4 -0.06 n.s. n.s. Yemen 549 549 549 549 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Zambia 47 355 46 999 46 642 44 762 -35.6 -0.08 -35.7 -0.08 -188.0 -0.41 Zimbabwe 18 673 18 246 17 797 17 337 -42.7 -0.23 -44.9 -0.25 -46.1 -0.26 Note: The rate of change (%) is calculated as the compound annual change rate. * A dispute exists between the Government of Argentina and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). Annexes 149 TABLE A3. (ECxotnetnint uoefd p)lanted forest, 1990–2020 Country/territory Planted forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Afghanistan 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Albania – – 70 – – – – – – – Algeria 333 345 498 510 1.20 0.35 15.30 3.74 1.20 0.24 American Samoa 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Andorra 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Angola 961 942 874 807 -1.88 -0.20 -6.73 -0.74 -6.73 -0.80 Anguilla – – – – – – – – – – Antigua and Barbuda – – – – – – – – – – Argentina 766 1 076 1 187 1 436 31.00 3.46 11.10 0.99 24.90 1.92 Armenia 14 11 21 18 -0.31 -2.52 0.99 6.81 -0.21 -1.07 Aruba 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Australia 1 023 1 485 2 168 2 390 46.18 3.80 68.32 3.86 22.24 0.98 Austria 1 739 1 684 1 679 1 672 -5.57 -0.32 -0.44 -0.03 -0.78 -0.05 Azerbaijan 293 306 289 306 1.32 0.44 -1.69 -0.57 1.65 0.56 Bahamas 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Bahrain n.s. n.s. 1 1 0.02 5.34 0.02 3.46 0.02 3.02 Bangladesh 75 75 72 158 0.00 0.00 -0.32 -0.44 8.61 8.19 Barbados 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Belarus 1 204 1 861 2 146 2 212 65.70 4.45 28.57 1.44 6.57 0.30 Belgium 446 408 406 438 -3.84 -0.90 -0.15 -0.04 3.18 0.76 Belize 2 2 2 2 0.01 0.52 0.01 0.50 0.01 0.47 Benin 13 16 20 23 0.30 2.10 0.40 2.26 0.30 1.41 Bermuda Bhutan 19 20 20 21 0.02 0.11 0.02 0.11 0.11 0.53 Bolivia 20 35 50 63 1.51 5.77 1.51 3.64 1.25 2.25 (Plurinational State of) Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina – – – – – – – – – – Botswana 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Brazil 3 558 3 652 7 328 11 224 9.41 0.26 367.61 7.21 389.53 4.35 British Virgin Islands – – – – – – – – – – Brunei Darussalam 1 1 4 5 0.06 6.93 0.24 10.97 0.16 3.55 Bulgaria 1 032 933 817 777 -9.90 -1.00 -11.60 -1.32 -4.00 -0.50 Burkina Faso 14 68 123 177 5.43 17.17 5.44 6.03 5.44 3.74 (Continued) 150 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A3. (Continued) Country/territory Planted forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Burundi 161 113 113 113 -4.84 -3.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Cabo Verde 2 26 29 32 2.43 31.38 0.30 1.10 0.30 0.99 Cambodia 67 100 155 604 3.26 4.03 5.46 4.46 44.94 14.60 Cameroon 18 21 41 61 0.30 1.55 2.00 6.89 2.00 4.04 Canada 4 618 9 386 14 016 18 163 476.79 7.35 462.96 4.09 414.76 2.63 Cayman Islands 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Central African Republic 2 2 2 2 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Chad 11 14 18 20 0.30 2.48 0.39 2.52 0.21 1.13 Chile 1 646 2 278 2 830 3 185 63.19 3.30 55.23 2.19 35.43 1.19 China 44 152 54 830 73 324 84 696 1067.83 2.19 1849.39 2.95 1137.22 1.45 Colombia 97 166 381 427 6.87 5.50 21.56 8.69 4.61 1.15 Comoros 4 2 1 n.s. -0.11 -3.69 -0.11 -5.91 -0.11 -16.73 Congo 60 60 60 60 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Cook Islands 1 1 1 1 0.06 7.99 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Costa Rica 27 47 67 87 2.00 5.77 2.00 3.64 2.00 2.66 Côte d'Ivoire 7 14 14 14 0.73 7.61 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Croatia 92 82 75 69 -1.07 -1.23 -0.68 -0.86 -0.63 -0.87 Cuba 347 342 496 533 -0.50 -0.15 15.40 3.79 3.67 0.72 Curaçao 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Cyprus 24 28 31 33 0.32 1.25 0.31 1.08 0.21 0.65 Czechia 2 598 2 590 2 570 2 539 -0.83 -0.03 -2.04 -0.08 -3.02 -0.12 Democratic People's 1 130 1 055 1 021 987 -7.48 -0.68 -3.47 -0.33 -3.32 -0.33 Republic of Korea Democratic Republic of 56 57 58 58 0.12 0.21 0.10 0.17 0.00 0.00 the Congo Denmark – – 447 412 – – – – -3.49 -0.81 Djibouti 0 0 0 n.s. 0.00 0.00 0.02 Dominica 1 1 1 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Dominican Republic 21 43 110 190 2.20 7.44 6.73 9.87 7.97 5.59 Ecuador 44 70 85 111 2.57 4.67 1.47 1.92 2.62 2.73 Egypt 44 59 66 45 1.54 3.06 0.64 1.04 -2.07 -3.71 El Salvador 10 12 15 18 0.26 2.32 0.26 1.89 0.26 1.58 Equatorial Guinea 0 125 125 125 12.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Eritrea 10 21 29 43 1.10 7.70 0.75 3.10 1.49 4.30 Estonia 195 198 207 216 0.29 0.15 0.86 0.43 0.91 0.43 Eswatini 164 143 123 102 -2.06 -1.34 -2.06 -1.54 -2.06 -1.82 Ethiopia 340 340 741 1 203 0.00 0.00 40.11 8.11 46.26 4.97 Falkland Islands (Malvinas)* 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Faroe Islands n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Fiji 85 125 166 207 4.07 4.00 4.07 2.85 4.07 2.21 (Continued) Annexes 151 TABLE A3. (Continued) Country/territory Planted forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Finland 4 390 5 145 6 908 7 368 75.42 1.60 176.38 2.99 45.97 0.65 France 1 528 1 586 2 073 2 434 5.80 0.37 48.70 2.71 36.10 1.62 French Guiana 1 1 1 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 1.34 French Polynesia 4 9 9 9 0.41 6.80 0.09 1.02 0.00 0.00 Gabon 30 30 30 30 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Gambia 2 2 2 2 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Georgia 54 60 72 72 0.60 1.05 1.21 1.85 0.00 0.00 Germany 5 650 5 677 5 705 5 710 2.70 0.05 2.75 0.05 0.50 0.01 Ghana 50 50 220 297 0.00 0.00 17.00 15.97 7.71 3.05 Gibraltar 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Greece 118 129 139 139 1.08 0.88 1.04 0.78 0.00 0.00 Greenland n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Grenada n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Guadeloupe 1 1 1 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Guam 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Guatemala 24 37 112 152 1.30 4.42 7.47 11.68 4.02 3.12 Guernsey n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.00 0.00 0.01 8.20 0.00 0.00 Guinea 40 45 52 57 0.50 1.18 0.70 1.46 0.50 0.92 Guinea-Bissau n.s. n.s. 1 1 0.02 5.83 0.03 6.73 0.03 3.99 Guyana 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Haiti 12 20 28 32 0.80 5.24 0.80 3.42 0.40 1.34 Holy See 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Honduras 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Hungary – – 794 789 – – – – -0.50 -0.06 Iceland 7 19 33 40 1.23 11.16 1.44 5.83 0.63 1.74 India 5 715 9 368 12 779 13 269 365.30 5.07 341.07 3.15 49.03 0.38 Indonesia 145 3 848 4 187 4 526 370.25 38.75 33.85 0.85 33.92 0.78 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 516 516 941 1 001 0.00 0.00 42.53 6.20 5.99 0.62 Iraq 61 64 67 90 0.30 0.49 0.32 0.49 2.28 2.97 Ireland 380 549 640 674 16.85 3.74 9.07 1.54 3.46 0.53 Isle of Man – – – – – – – – – – Israel 66 88 88 85 2.20 2.92 0.00 0.00 -0.30 -0.35 Italy 529 596 634 645 6.68 1.20 3.88 0.63 1.07 0.17 Jamaica 9 8 8 8 -0.06 -0.68 0.01 0.10 0.01 0.11 Japan 10 287 10 331 10 292 10 184 4.40 0.04 -3.90 -0.04 -10.80 -0.11 Jersey – – – – – – – – – – Jordan 47 47 47 47 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Kazakhstan 517 529 444 421 1.18 0.23 -8.43 -1.72 -2.37 -0.55 Kenya 153 153 153 153 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Kiribati – – – – – – – – – – (Continued) 152 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A3. (Continued) Country/territory Planted forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Kuwait 3 5 6 6 0.14 3.46 0.14 2.57 0.00 0.00 Kyrgyzstan 159 165 185 229 0.62 0.38 1.94 1.12 4.40 2.16 Lao People's 1 606 1 580 1 596 1 771 -2.60 -0.16 1.58 0.10 17.55 1.05 Democratic Republic Latvia 314 322 408 465 0.77 0.24 8.56 2.38 5.78 1.33 Lebanon 1 1 n.s. n.s. -0.05 -6.12 -0.03 -5.36 0.00 0.29 Lesotho 9 9 9 9 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Liberia 1 10 18 27 0.86 23.38 0.86 6.50 0.86 3.91 Libya 217 217 217 217 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Liechtenstein n.s. 1 1 1 0.04 11.61 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Lithuania 411 466 536 611 5.52 1.27 6.96 1.40 7.52 1.32 Luxembourg 28 28 30 30 -0.01 -0.04 0.20 0.69 0.00 0.00 Madagascar 231 272 415 312 4.10 1.65 14.30 4.32 -10.30 -2.81 Malawi 139 118 97 76 -2.11 -1.63 -2.12 -1.96 -2.11 -2.43 Malaysia 1 935 1 628 1 309 1 697 -30.72 -1.71 -31.86 -2.16 38.82 2.63 Maldives 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Mali 5 55 530 568 5.00 27.10 47.50 25.43 3.80 0.69 Malta 0 0 0 n.s. 0.00 0.00 0.00 Marshall Islands 3 3 3 3 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Martinique 2 3 3 3 0.02 0.60 0.01 0.34 0.00 0.07 Mauritania 10 21 32 44 1.12 7.75 1.12 4.32 1.11 3.00 Mauritius 17 18 18 18 0.09 0.49 -0.01 -0.03 -0.01 -0.06 Mayotte n.s. n.s. n.s. 1 0.01 5.84 0.02 4.37 0.01 1.80 Mexico 39 40 67 100 0.03 0.08 2.68 5.28 3.39 4.20 Micronesia 20 17 14 14 -0.30 -1.60 -0.30 -1.91 0.00 0.00 (Federated States of) Monaco 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Mongolia 4 9 10 8 0.46 7.45 0.11 1.15 -0.24 -2.72 Montenegro 8 8 8 8 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Montserrat 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Morocco 318 344 523 635 2.59 0.79 17.88 4.27 11.15 1.95 Mozambique 38 38 55 74 0.00 0.00 1.66 3.70 1.96 3.12 Myanmar 31 31 305 427 0.00 0.01 27.45 25.81 12.19 3.42 Namibia 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Nauru 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Nepal 88 138 221 221 4.98 4.59 8.29 4.83 0.00 0.00 Netherlands 295 314 333 332 1.82 0.60 1.91 0.59 -0.10 -0.03 New Caledonia 9 10 10 10 0.08 0.85 0.06 0.55 0.00 0.00 New Zealand 1 531 2 025 2 024 2 084 49.40 2.84 -0.08 n.s. 6.02 0.29 Nicaragua n.s. 2 16 66 0.20 22.79 1.37 21.59 5.03 15.30 (Continued) Annexes 153 TABLE A3. (Continued) Country/territory Planted forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Niger 48 73 98 123 2.50 4.28 2.50 2.99 2.45 2.26 Nigeria 265 249 233 216 -1.63 -0.63 -1.63 -0.68 -1.63 -0.73 Niue n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Norfolk Island n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 North Macedonia – – – – – – – – – – Northern Mariana Islands 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Norway – – 115 108 – – – – -0.70 -0.63 Oman 1 1 1 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.05 -6.70 Pakistan 254 254 254 254 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Palau – – – – – – – – – – Palestine – – – – – – – – – – Panama 11 33 56 66 2.18 11.49 2.31 5.47 0.98 1.64 Papua New Guinea 61 61 61 61 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Paraguay 10 31 51 156 2.03 11.54 2.03 5.23 10.49 11.85 Peru 263 715 970 1 088 45.21 10.52 25.48 3.09 11.86 1.16 Philippines 291 321 351 381 3.00 0.99 3.00 0.90 3.00 0.82 Pitcairn Islands – – – – – – – – – – Poland – – – – – – – – – – Portugal 2 073 2 268 2 222 2 256 19.50 0.90 -4.60 -0.20 3.40 0.15 Puerto Rico 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Qatar 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Republic of Korea 1 909 2 072 2 235 2 263 16.31 0.82 16.31 0.76 2.79 0.12 Republic of Moldova 146 155 212 219 0.86 0.57 5.70 3.18 0.68 0.32 Réunion 11 11 11 11 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Romania 528 528 540 895 0.00 0.00 1.20 0.22 35.51 5.18 Russian Federation 12 651 15 360 19 613 18 880 270.92 1.96 425.25 2.47 -73.28 -0.38 Rwanda 113 127 138 150 1.35 1.13 1.15 0.87 1.20 0.84 Saint Barthélemy 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Saint Helena, Ascension and 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis – – – – – – – – – – Saint Lucia 3 3 3 3 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Saint Martin (French part) 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Saint Vincent and n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 0.01 10.65 0.01 5.62 0.01 4.67 the Grenadines Samoa 5 5 5 5 n.s. -0.08 n.s. -0.08 n.s. -0.02 San Marino 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Sao Tome and Principe 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Saudi Arabia 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 (Continued) 154 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A3. (Continued) Country/territory Planted forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr Senegal 32 32 32 32 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Serbia 39 39 180 116 0.00 0.00 14.14 16.55 -6.46 -4.33 Seychelles 5 5 5 5 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Sierra Leone 7 8 15 21 0.12 1.63 0.67 6.39 0.67 3.87 Singapore 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Slovakia 739 755 741 749 1.63 0.22 -1.39 -0.19 0.73 0.10 Slovenia 34 48 67 46 1.39 3.49 1.93 3.44 -2.15 -3.78 Solomon Islands 41 33 27 24 -0.84 -2.26 -0.60 -2.01 -0.24 -0.93 Somalia 3 3 3 3 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 South Africa 3 144 3 144 3 144 3 144 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 South Sudan 188 188 188 188 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Spain 1 945 2 391 2 596 2 590 44.62 2.09 20.52 0.83 -0.64 -0.02 Sri Lanka 257 234 206 250 -2.30 -0.93 -2.80 -1.27 4.40 1.96 Sudan 120 125 127 130 0.50 0.41 0.20 0.16 0.30 0.23 Suriname 13 14 14 14 0.12 0.85 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Svalbard and Jan Mayen 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Islands Sweden 8 089 10 318 12 481 13 912 222.90 2.46 216.30 1.92 143.10 1.09 Switzerland 182 172 161 149 -1.06 -0.60 -1.12 -0.67 -1.16 -0.75 Syrian Arab Republic 149 173 196 211 2.40 1.51 2.36 1.29 1.50 0.74 Tajikistan 113 113 113 117 0.05 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.43 0.37 Thailand 1 720 1 987 3 242 3 537 26.70 1.45 125.50 5.02 29.50 0.87 Timor-Leste 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Togo 21 34 47 61 1.33 5.10 1.33 3.36 1.34 2.52 Tokelau 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Tonga 1 1 1 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Trinidad and Tobago 83 81 81 81 -0.27 -0.33 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Tunisia 153 177 198 214 2.43 1.48 2.05 1.10 1.68 0.82 Turkey 546 556 622 717 0.97 0.18 6.63 1.13 9.53 1.44 Turkmenistan 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Tuvalu 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Uganda 170 268 367 465 9.84 4.67 9.84 3.17 9.84 2.41 Ukraine 4 567 4 695 4 817 4 848 12.80 0.28 12.20 0.26 3.10 0.06 United Arab Emirates – – – – – – – – – – United Kingdom of Great 2 434 2 610 2 715 2 846 17.60 0.70 10.50 0.40 13.10 0.47 Britain and Northern Ireland United Republic of Tanzania 553 553 553 553 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 United States of America 17 938 22 560 25 564 27 521 462.20 2.32 300.40 1.26 195.70 0.74 (Continued) Annexes 155 TABLE A3. (Continued) Country/territory Planted forest (1 000 ha) Net annual change 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020 1 000 % 1 000 % 1 000 % ha/yr ha/yr ha/yr United States Virgin Islands 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Uruguay 201 629 979 1 182 42.80 12.08 35.01 4.52 20.29 1.90 Uzbekistan 1 193 1 545 1 852 2 267 35.19 2.62 30.72 1.83 41.44 2.04 Vanuatu – – – – – – – – – – Venezuela 426 740 989 1 358 31.36 5.67 24.97 2.95 36.89 3.22 (Bolivarian Republic of) Viet Nam 745 1 920 3 083 4 349 117.46 9.93 116.37 4.85 126.61 3.50 Wallis and Futuna Islands n.s. n.s. 1 1 0.02 6.35 0.02 3.85 0.01 1.55 Western Sahara 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Yemen 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Zambia 57 55 54 52 -0.20 -0.36 -0.05 -0.10 -0.24 -0.45 Zimbabwe 154 120 108 108 -3.40 -2.46 -1.20 -1.05 0.00 0.00 Note: The rate of change (%) is calculated as the compound annual change rate. * A dispute exists between the Government of Argentina and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). 156 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A4. Proportion of total planted forest area occupied by plantation forest and other planted forest, 1TA99B0L,E 2 A040.0 (,C 2o0n1ti0n uaendd) 2020 Country/territory Plantation forest (% of planted forest) Other planted forest (% of planted forest) 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 Afghanistan – – – – – – – – Albania 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 Algeria 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 American Samoa – – – – – – – – Andorra – – – – – – – – Angola 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Anguilla 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Antigua and Barbuda 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Argentina 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Armenia 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Aruba – – – – – – – – Australia 100 100 93 81 0 0 7 19 Austria 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Azerbaijan 3 3 4 7 97 97 96 93 Bahamas – – – – – – – – Bahrain 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Bangladesh 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Barbados – – – – – – – – Belarus n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 100 100 100 100 Belgium 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Belize 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Benin 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Bermuda 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bhutan 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 100 77 68 62 0 23 32 38 Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba – – – – – – – – Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Botswana – – – – – – – – Brazil 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 British Virgin Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brunei Darussalam 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Bulgaria 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Burkina Faso 5 5 5 5 95 95 95 95 Burundi 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Cabo Verde 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 (Continued) Annexes 157 TABLE A4. (Continued) Country/territory Plantation forest (% of planted forest) Other planted forest (% of planted forest) 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 Cambodia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Cameroon 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Canada 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Cayman Islands – – – – – – – – Central African Republic 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Chad 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Chile 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 China 80 71 58 54 20 29 42 46 Colombia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Comoros 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Congo 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Cook Islands 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Costa Rica 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Côte d'Ivoire 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Croatia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Cuba 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Curaçao – – – – – – – – Cyprus 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Czechia 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Democratic Republic of the Congo 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Denmark 0 0 61 58 0 0 39 42 Djibouti – – – 100 – – – 0 Dominica 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Dominican Republic 25 36 40 40 75 64 60 60 Ecuador 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Egypt 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 El Salvador 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Equatorial Guinea – 100 100 100 – 0 0 0 Eritrea 0 29 30 38 100 71 70 62 Estonia 3 3 3 3 97 97 97 97 Eswatini 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Ethiopia 80 80 80 80 20 20 20 20 Falkland Islands (Malvinas)* – – – – – – – – Faroe Islands 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Fiji 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Finland n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. 100 100 100 100 France 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 French Guiana 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 French Polynesia 63 71 66 66 37 29 34 34 Gabon 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 (Continued) 158 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A4. (Continued) Country/territory Plantation forest (% of planted forest) Other planted forest (% of planted forest) 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 Gambia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Georgia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Germany 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Ghana 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Gibraltar – – – – – – – – Greece 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Greenland 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Grenada 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Guadeloupe 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Guam – – – – – – – – Guatemala 75 73 67 77 25 27 33 23 Guernsey 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Guinea 25 33 38 44 75 67 62 56 Guinea-Bissau 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Guyana – – – – – – – – Haiti 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Holy See – – – – – – – – Honduras – – – – – – – – Hungary 0 0 19 16 0 0 81 84 Iceland 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 India 61 77 76 76 39 23 24 24 Indonesia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Iraq 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Ireland 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Isle of Man 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Israel 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Italy 25 21 20 20 75 79 80 80 Jamaica 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Japan 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Jersey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jordan 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Kazakhstan 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Kenya 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Kiribati 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kuwait 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Kyrgyzstan 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Lao People's Democratic Republic n.s. 1 7 9 100 99 93 91 Latvia 0 0 2 4 100 100 98 96 Lebanon 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Lesotho 61 61 61 61 39 39 39 39 (Continued) Annexes 159 TABLE A4. (Continued) Country/territory Plantation forest (% of planted forest) Other planted forest (% of planted forest) 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 Liberia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Libya 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Liechtenstein 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Lithuania 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Luxembourg 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Madagascar 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Malawi 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Malaysia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Maldives – – – – – – – – Mali 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Malta – – – 100 – – – 0 Marshall Islands 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Martinique 100 100 99 99 0 0 1 1 Mauritania 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Mauritius 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Mayotte 18 10 7 5 82 90 93 95 Mexico 98 87 93 75 2 13 7 25 Micronesia (Federated States of) 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Monaco – – – – – – – – Mongolia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Montenegro 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Montserrat – – – – – – – – Morocco 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Mozambique 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Myanmar 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Namibia – – – – – – – – Nauru – – – – – – – – Nepal 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Netherlands 10 1 1 1 90 99 99 99 New Caledonia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 New Zealand 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Nicaragua 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Niger 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Nigeria 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Niue 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Norfolk Island 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 North Macedonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Northern Mariana Islands – – – – – – – – Norway 0 0 100 100 0 0 0 0 Oman 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Pakistan 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 (Continued) 160 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 TABLE A4. (Continued) Country/territory Plantation forest (% of planted forest) Other planted forest (% of planted forest) 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 Palau 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Palestine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Panama 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Papua New Guinea 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Paraguay 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Peru 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Philippines 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Pitcairn Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Poland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Portugal 28 27 31 31 72 73 69 69 Puerto Rico – – – – – – – – Qatar – – – – – – – – Republic of Korea 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Republic of Moldova 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Réunion 91 91 91 91 9 9 9 9 Romania 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Russian Federation 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Rwanda 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Saint Barthélemy – – – – – – – – Saint Helena, Ascension and – – – – – – – – Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Saint Lucia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Saint Martin (French part) – – – – – – – – Saint Pierre and Miquelon – – – – – – – – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 25 45 53 57 75 55 47 43 Samoa 57 67 77 87 43 33 23 13 San Marino – – – – – – – – Sao Tome and Principe – – – – – – – – Saudi Arabia – – – – – – – – Senegal 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Serbia 0 0 12 30 100 100 88 70 Seychelles 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Sierra Leone 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Singapore – – – – – – – – Sint Maarten (Dutch part) – – – – – – – – Slovakia 0 n.s. 1 1 100 100 99 99 Slovenia 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Solomon Islands 97 97 97 96 3 3 3 4 Somalia 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 South Africa 40 40 40 40 60 60 60 60 (Continued) Annexes 161 TABLE A4. (Continued) Country/territory Plantation forest (% of planted forest) Other planted forest (% of planted forest) 1990 2000 2010 2020 1990 2000 2010 2020 South Sudan 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Spain 39 39 39 39 61 61 61 61 Sri Lanka 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Sudan 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Suriname 100 92 92 92 0 8 8 8 Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands – – – – – – – – Sweden 0 6 5 3 100 94 95 97 Switzerland n.s. n.s. 1 1 100 100 99 99 Syrian Arab Republic 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Tajikistan 69 69 69 69 31 31 31 31 Thailand 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Timor-Leste – – – – – – – – Togo 80 80 80 80 20 20 20 20 Tokelau – – – – – – – – Tonga 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Trinidad and Tobago 72 74 74 74 28 26 26 26 Tunisia 33 33 33 33 67 67 67 67 Turkey 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Turkmenistan – – – – – – – – Turks and Caicos Islands – – – – – – – – Tuvalu – – – – – – – – Uganda 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Ukraine 7 7 7 8 93 93 93 92 United Arab Emirates 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 United Kingdom of Great Britain and 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Northern Ireland United Republic of Tanzania 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 United States of America 34 39 49 51 66 61 51 49 United States Virgin Islands – – – – – – – – Uruguay 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Uzbekistan 52 63 71 64 48 37 29 36 Vanuatu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 99 90 88 91 1 10 12 9 Viet Nam 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Wallis and Futuna Islands 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Western Sahara – – – – – – – – Yemen – – – – – – – – Zambia 100 100 98 87 0 0 2 13 Zimbabwe 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 * A dispute exists between the Government of Argentina and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). 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(technical coordinator). 2018. Blueprint for S.V., Goetz, S.J., Loveland, T.R., Kommareddy, A., wildland fire science in Canada (2019–2029). Edmonton, Egorov, A., Chini, L., Justice, C.O. & Townshend, J.R.G. Canada, Natural Resources Canada. 2013. High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change. Science, 342: 850–853. 163 San Miguel, J., Chuvieco, E., Handmer, J., Moffat, A., United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Montiel-Molina, C. & Sandahl, L. 2017. Chapter 3.10. Affairs, Population Division. 2019. World population Climatological risk: wildfires. In: K. Poljanšek, M. Marin prospects 2019 [online]. [Cited March 2020.] https:// Ferrer, T. De Groeve & I. Clark, eds. Science for disaster population.un.org/wpp risk management 2017: knowing better and losing less. United Nations Statistics Division. 2008. International EUR 28034 EN. Luxembourg, Publications Office of the Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic European Union. Activities Revision 4. Statistical papers Series M No. 4/ Sexton, J., Noojipady, P., Song, X-P., Feng, M., Song, D-X., Rev.4. New York, USA, United Nations. Kim, D-H., Anand, A., Huang, C., Channan, S., Pimm, United Nations Statistics Division. Undated. Methodology. S. & Townshend, J. 2015. Conservation policy and the Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49) measurement of forests. Nature Climate Change, 6: [Online]. New York, USA [Cited March 2020]. https:// 192–196. doi 10.1038/NCLIMATE2816 unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/#fn2 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. 2018. World urbanization prospects: the 2018 revision [online]. [Cited March g 2020]. https://population.un.org/wpp 164 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Corrigendum 12/11/2020 The following corrections were made to the PDF of the report after it went to print. Page Location Text in printed PDF Text in corrected PDF 3 Second column, line 16 Team of Specialists on Sustainable Forest Team of Specialists on Monitoring Management Sustainable Forest Management 15 Table 4 caption Top ten countries and territories for forest Top ten countries and territories for forest cover as a percentage of total land area, area as a percentage of total land area, 2020 2020 48 Table 38 caption Volume of biomass and dead-wood stock, Biomass and dead-wood stock, by region by region and subregion, 2020 and subregion, 2020 70 Figure 32 caption Proportion of total forest area designated Proportion of total forest area designated primarily for other purposes by region, primarily for other management objectives 1990-2020 by region, 1990-2020 79 Second column, starting The share was 100 percent in 48 of those The share was 100 percent in 48 of those from line 14 and 15 countries, of which 29 were in Asia (mostly countries, of which 23 were in Asia (mostly Western and Central Asia) and 26 were in Western and Central Asia) and 16 were in Africa (mostrly Western and Central Africa). Africa (mostrly Western and Central Africa). 83 Table 69 heading Forest ownership Management rights 84 Figure 38 Proportion of total publicly owned forest Proportion of total publicly owned forest area, by holder of administrative rights and area, by holder of management rights and region, 2015 region, 2015 96 Table 78 3rd and 4th column Degraded forest area/Degraded forest area Forest area of reporting countries/% of total heading as % of forest area forest area 120 Note 26 The analysis was conducted by Karimon The analysis was conducted by Mst Karimon Nesha, Veronique De Sy and Martin Herold Nesha, Veronique De Sy and Martin Herold (CIFOR/Wageningen Univesity), updating a (CIFOR/Wageningen Univesity), updating a previous publication by Romin et al (2015). previous publication by Romin et al (2015). Since its creation in 1946, FAO has been monitoring the world’s forest resources through periodic assessments conducted in cooperation with its member countries. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 (FRA 2020), the latest of these assessments, examines the status of, and trends in, more than 60 forest-related variables in 236 countries and territories in the period 1990–2020. This main report of FRA 2020 presents a comprehensive view of the world’s forests and the ways in which the resource is changing. Such a clear global picture supports the development of sound policies, practices and investments affecting forests and forestry. This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union, the Government of Finland and the Government of Norway. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAO and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union, the Government of Finland or ISBN 978-92-5-132974-0 the Government of Norway. 9 7 8 9 2 5 1 3 2 9 7 4 0 CA9825EN/1/07.20 LAST UPDATED 12/11/2020 Design and illustration: Chiara Caproni).

Bioplast tager ikke råvarer fra mad og dyrefoder 
Man hører ofte, at bioplast bruger råvarer, som ellers kunne bruges til mad eller foder. Der bruges for eksempel stivelse, til produktion af bioplast. Men stivelse har altid været brugt til mange andre ting end mad.

Ifølge 'Starch Europe' (https://starch.eu/the-european-starch-industry/) er 44 % af stivelsesproduktionen i EU og Storbritannien til industrielle formål. Af denne procentdel er papir- og bølgepapindustrien (32 %) de største brugere, efterfulgt af den farmaceutiske og kemiske industri (7 %) og andre ikke-fødevaresektorer (5 %). Bioplast er ikke engang nævnt som en specifik stivelsesforbrugende industri.

Komposterbar bioplast er sikkert og rent
Nogle tror, at komposterbar bioplast indeholder farlige stoffer eller for meget oliebaseret plast. Det vigtigste ved komposterbar bioplast er, at det kan komposteres. Mange typer bioplast har et højt indhold af vedvarende råvarer. Fx har nogle af Biobags bioposer helt op til 64% biogent indhold.

Selvom bioplast stadig kan indeholde en andel fra fossile kilder, skal al komposterbar bioplast leve op til strenge krav i EN 13432-standarden. Det betyder, at bioplasten ikke må frigive giftige stoffer eller tungmetaller, der skader jord eller den kompost bioplasten nedbrydes i.

Se mere om vores certificeringer her https://www.zenzo.dk/dk/certifications

Komposterbar bioplast er godt for miljøet 
Undersøgelser viser, at komposterbar bioplast har en mindre miljøpåvirkning end almindelige materialer. Det hjælper med at reducere CO2-udledning og fremmer en cirkulær økonomi. Især når vi taler om sortering, afgasning og kompostering af madaffald.

Når madaffald og andet organisk materiale nedbrydes til kompost og kan det bruges til jordforbedring i en cirkulær økonomi. Kompostering er en proces, som danner kuldioxid, der er langt mindre skadeligt end metangas, når man taler om global opvarmning.

Udover kuldioxid er der gode næringsstoffer i komposten, som kan berige og opbygge jordkvaliteten på landbrugsarealer. Behov for vanding og brug af kunstgødning kan også begrænses, hvis man bruger kompost til dyrkning af fødevarer.

I Danmark sorteres bioposer fra madaffaldet inden afgasning. Men de små rester, der altid vil være tilbage i biopulpen, vil kompostere på markerne. De frasorterede poser bliver ofte sendt til forbrænding. Også her har bioposerne en miljøfordel, fordi de udleder mindre CO2 ved afbrænding pga. af det biogene indhold.

Læs mere om bioposens rolle i cirkulær økonomi her https://www.zenzo.dk/dk/blogDetail?blog=229

Komposterbar bioplast komposterer som det skal 
Mange tests har vist, at komposterbar bioplast nedbrydes fuldstændigt i både laboratorier og på rigtige komposteringsanlæg. Dette gælder også for anlæg, der først producerer biogas og derefter kompost.

En undersøgelse fra et hollandsk anlæg viste, at certificeret komposterbar bioplast nedbrød på højst 22 dage. Selvom en fuld komposteringsproces kan tage 45-90 dage, er det vigtigt, at man følger de rette behandlingstider. Kortere cyklusser kan føre til dårligere kompostkvalitet.

Bioplast skal ikke erstatte almindelig plastik overalt og er ikke en løsning på affald i naturen 
Fra bioplastindustriens side er der ingen illusioner om, at alt plast kan og skal erstattes af bioplast. Bioplast skal anvendes der, hvor det løser et problem. F.eks. ved at bruge komposterbare bioposer til indsamling af madaffald. Konventionel plast, der er forurenet af madrester, kan ikke genanvendes, og sendes derfor til afbrænding. Når vi sorterer vores madaffald, sikrer brugen af komposterbare poser, at der ikke sker en mikroplastforurening af både kompost og landbrugsjord.

Selvom bioplast er certificeret komposterbart og vil nedbrydes i naturen, er det vigtigt at understrege, at ingen produkter bør smides i naturen. Alt skal indsamles og genanvendes korrekt.

Biobags certificerede komposterbare bioposer er designet til indsamling af madaffald og kompostering – ikke til at ende i naturen. Dette gælder for alle bionedbrydelige materialer.

Bioplast skaber ikke giftige stoffer under nedbrydning
Gældende standarder for komposteringsevne inkluderer tests, der udelukker, at der frigives giftige stoffer under nedbrydningsprocessen. Hvis et materiale frigiver skadelige stoffer, kan det ikke opnå en certificering. Alle Biobags produkter er certificerede, og man kan derfor, som forbruger, være sikker på at bioposerne ikke efterlader miljøskadelige stoffer.

Komposterbar bioplast nedbrydes fuldt ud – men det tager den tid, det tager
Kompostering af organisk materiale tager tid. Det vigtige element omkring bioposer er netop, at de nedbrydes og forsvinder, i modsætning til konventionel plast, som kan ligge i naturen i mere end 100 år uden at forsvinde, men derimod blive til mikroplast. Den store plastforurening, både på land og i havene, viser, at vi må finde andre måder at bruge konventionel plast på og at håndteringen af vores affald på verdensplan skal gøres anderledes end hidtil.

Bioplast forurener ikke plastfraktionen til genanvendelse
Påstande om, at bioplast forurener genanvendelse af almindelig plastik, er ikke underbygget af data. I Italien er der lovgivning, som fremmer brugen af bioplast, og her viser tal, at bioplast udgør mindre end 1 % af plastaffaldet, hvilket er en meget lav andel.

Plast er en stor familie af forskellige materialer, der alle skal sorteres i flere underfraktioner for at kunne genanvendes. Derfor sker der altid en form for "krydskontaminering" mellem forskellige plasttyper. Det er altså ikke et problem, der er unikt for bioplast, som desuden kan sorteres fra med optiske læsere.

Den virkelige udfordring er store mængder ikke-komposterbart materiale i madaffaldet, som skader genanvendelsen af madaffaldet, som kan føre til mikroplast forurening af både kompost og landbrugsjord. Undersøgelser viser at renhedsgraden af madaffald bliver højere, når madaffaldet indsamles i certificerede komposterbare bioposer.

Vi håber at du er blevet klogere på myter og fakta om bioplast. Hvis du har yderligere spørgsmål, er du velkommen til at ringe til Biobag Zenzo på 70 27 19 00.