The State of the World’s Forests 2022 (SOFO 2022) was released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on May 2, 2022.
- The report was released on the first day of the XV World Forestry Congress, which is being held in Seoul, Korea from 2 to 6 May. The Congress is co-organized by FAO and brings together experts, policymakers and the private sector to discuss forests and sustainable development.
Salient features of report
- According to the report, forests cover 31 percent of the Earth’s land surface but in recent years have been shrinking by about 10 million hectares per year.
- This poses severe risks for the 68 percent of mammal species, 75 percent of bird species and 80 percent of amphibian species that inhabit forests.
- The world has lost 420 million hectares (mha), approximately 10.34 per cent of its total forest area in the last 30 years.
- It added that although the rate of deforestation was declining, 10 mha of forests were lost every year between 2015 and 2020, says report. Trees and forests are major means for combating climate change.
- Trees and forests are major means for combating climate change. Forests contain 662 billion tonnes of carbon, which is more than half the global carbon stock in soils and vegetation.
- Despite a continued reduction in area, forests absorbed more carbon than they emitted in 2011–2020 due to reforestation, improved forest management and other factors.
- It is estimated that more than half of world gross domestic product (USD 84.4 trillion in 2020) depends moderately (USD 31 trillion per year) or highly (USD 13 trillion per year) on ecosystem services, including those provided by forests.
- The report lays out three “pathways” that can help build carbon-neutral economies that are “resilient for the environment, but also for the people that live from the land.” The pathways include stopping deforestation and maintaining forests, restoring degraded lands and expanding agroforestry, and sustainably using forests and building green value chains.
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