Rome, 21 March 2023 - In 2020 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) developed the Addressing forestry and agroforestry in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs): Supplementary guidelines in order to support countries in effectively integrating trees, forests, and agroforestry into NAP formulation and implementation. By doing so, these elements can potentially support the adaptation to climate change of other sectors, subsectors, and activities. 

On this year´s World Forestry Day both organizations launched the publication in Russian, to foster global cooperation and understanding across different regions. 

Russia – a country with a large potential for climate action in the forestry sector 

Forests cover around 31 percent of the Earth’s land surface and contain most of the terrestrial biodiversity. It is estimated that nearly one-third of the global population depends on forest goods and services for livelihoods and food security.  

According to the latest FAO 2020 Global Forest Assessment report, the total forest area in Russia accounts for around 814.9 million hectares, which makes Russia the largest forest country in the world, covering 20 percent of the world´s forest area.  

Consequently, Russia´s forests have a great potential to contribute to making a global impact in terms of climate mitigation due to their ability to remove and store carbon from the atmosphere, which consequently leads to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and prevents the planet from warming to more extreme temperatures. As a matter of fact, the world´s forests abilities to mitigate climate change depend also on their capacity to adapt to a changing climate and an increased demand of food supplies. 

Subsequently forests and agroforestry play a critical role in contributing to both biodiversity conservation and footprint reduction, while providing livelihoods and food security to Russia´s and the world population.  

Despite their capacity of mitigating climate change, global forests and trees face severe challenges caused by unsustainable agroforestry practices, deforestation, extreme weather events, and exploitation of soils.  

The guidelines highlight the importance of forestry and agroforestry for adaptation

Forests, agroforestry, and trees offer a variety of nature-based solutions for adaptation like the prevention of floods and soil erosion regulating water cycles, maintaining soil fertility, and supporting biodiversity.  

To realize forests adaptation potential and reduce the negative impacts of climate change, holistic adaptation measures, cross-sectoral policies and long-term investments are necessary to preserve ecosystem functions and biodiversity. 

In order to support countries to best integrate several sectors and considerations into adaptation planning, the FAO - FTA publication “Addressing forestry and agroforestry in National Adaptation Plans: Supplementary guidelines provides specific guidance for national adaptation planning in the forestry sector.  

These guidelines are intended to be used by national planners and decision-makers working on climate change issues in developing countries and authorities and experts who are contributing to climate change adaptation and NAP formulation and implementation. 

The publication also reflects a systemic approach based on the Integrative Framework for NAPs and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG). This approach enables a more explicit integration of the SDGs into NAPs as it strongly advocates for sustainable management of natural resources, and food security for all.  

Download the publication in Russian and other UN languages: Arabic, English, French, and Spanish   

More information:  

• Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag) programme 
• Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture through Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans (SCALA) programme 
• FAO´s Office of Climate Change, Environment and Biodiversity
• FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation 
• FAO Forestry 
• CGIAR Research Program on Forests Trees and Agroforestry (FTA)