UN warns of ‘narrowing window’ to restore world’s forests

More than 489m hectares of forests have been cleared since 1990, while an even greater area is degraded. Photo: luoman/Getty Images

The world faces a “narrowing window” to restore forests essential for food security and resistance to the climate emergency, a United Nations report has warned.

More than 489m hectares (1.2bn acres) of forests have been cleared since 1990, while an even greater area is degraded, the world body said in a call for governments to make forest restoration a national priority.

The State of the World’s Forests report acknowledges recent steps forward in protection and tree planting around the globe but says action has not kept pace with commitments.

Over the past two decades, national, regional and global initiatives have promised to place more than a billion hectares of land under restoration, but barely a fifth of that is actually being restored, the report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) notes, saying: “Progress is uneven, and it is insufficient to meet growing global needs.”

Forests, which cover 4.14bn hectares (about a third of Earth’s land surface), store 714 gigatonnes of carbon and host up to 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. 

They also play an important role in regulating rainfall and in reducing hunger, with nearly one-third of the global population depending on them for livelihoods.

Threats are intensifying. Every year, about 127 million hectares of forest are affected by fires, with further damage caused by insects, diseases and severe weather events. 

This is making forests ever more vulnerable, as it comes on top of pressure from farm expansion, the climate crisis, pollution and the extraction of fossil fuels and other resources.

It says remedial action on forests and other degraded ecosystems would benefit people, food security and the economy — with restoration of one billion hectares estimated to generate $1.8tn in benefits each year.

The Guardian

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