By Rocío Cóndor-Golec, Örjan Jonsson, Sara Maulo, Anssi Pekkarinen, and Cosimo Togna The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) is unveiling the language adaptations of our innovative open data platform on forests. First launched in English in July 2020, and recently translated in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and Russian, the platform aims to bolster global efforts to tackle climate change, halt deforestation, and increase sustainable forest management. Building on the Global Forest Resources Assessment The platform features data and metadata reported to FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020. FRA supports countries in reporting to the main forest-related processes, including the Convention on...

27 April 2021, New York - A group of 15 international organizations working on forestry today issued a joint statement highlighting the need to halt the destruction of the world's forests. Chaired by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) comprises UN agencies, four conventions and other organizations with substantial programmes on forests, and supports the work of the United Nations Forum and Forests and its member countries In the joint statement released on the sidelines of the 16th Session of the UN Forum on Forests at UN Headquarters, the CPF outlined the impacts of deforestation as well as...

Follow the conversation with Anssi Pekkarinen and Julian Fox from U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Veronique De Sy from Wageningen University and Research as they discuss a recent global study that shows promising development in forest monitoring capacity across the globe. Some 85 percent of global forests are now monitored with adequate remote sensing or field inventory system, according to the study. The study, conducted by analyzing data from 236 countries, found that the number of countries using remote sensing and national forest inventories to monitor their forest are increasing from 55 countries in 2005 to 99 countries in 2020. The progress has been driven by increasing interest...

Nestled in the heart of the Congo Basin, the world’s second-largest rainforest, lies the Republic of the Congo. A nation covered in vast forests, the Congo boasts an estimated 23 million ha of forest area — nearly 70% of the country’s total land area. However, climate change and land-use changes pose serious threats to the Congo’s lush forests. The Republic of the Congo is particularly vulnerable to climate change and lacks a robust adaptive capacity. Highly dependent on farmland, agriculture employs 70% of the country’s workforce. The low production capacity of subsistence agriculture and changes in climate leave local communities and indigenous populations...

Forests play a pivotal role in combating climate change by absorbing and storing carbon from the atmosphere. Forest monitoring is critical to ensuring that countries stay on target with emission reduction goals within the framework of the Paris Agreement. Robust and easy-to-access forest data can support the formulation, monitoring and adjustment of forest-related policies, inform citizens and stakeholders, help track progress towards sustainable forest management and reduce emissions related to forest loss. As for other forested countries eager to generate reliable forest data, forest monitoring activities are an important step on Thailand’s journey to combat deforestation and climate change. Under the...