Forests provide a wide range of services. For example, they protect soils from erosion, regulate the water regime, capture and store carbon, produce oxygen, provide freshwater and habitat, help reduce fire risk (in the tropics), and produce wood and non-wood forest products. Forest degradation, therefore, adversely affects millions of people who depend, wholly or in part, on forest goods and services at a local scale, and billions of people who benefit from forest services at a regional or global scale. Specifically, for forest owners and managers, forest degradation is a direct threat to their livelihoods as it reduces a forest’s productivity and profitability, and it is a clear indication of unsustainable practices in the forests under their supervision.

It has been estimated that more than 2 billion hectares of deforested and degraded forest land worldwide is potentially suitable and available for restoration. Bringing degraded areas under sustainable management would reverse the trend of degradation, help forest landscapes to recover, and restore the associated forest goods and services. This would not only replenish the productive capacity and diversity of forest and land resources, it would yield economic, social and environmental benefits, including the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.

Degradation is mentioned explicitly in Goal 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2020, in the Global Objectives on Forests of the United Nations Forest Instrument, and in the Aichi Biodiversity Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reduce GHG emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (known as REDD+) is a potential source of incentives for developing countries that could be used to reduce forest degradation (and related GHG emissions) and to restore or otherwise improve the management of forests (thereby increasing forest-based carbon sequestration).

Forest degradation is a global challenge, and it should be addressed at all levels (local, subnational, national and international). It is often the consequence of unsustainable forest management, the excessive exploitation of forest resources, and factors outside the specific forest area being managed. Forest degradation may be considered as a signal to alert us that sustainable forest management (SFM) is not being achieved.

It is difficult to implement SFM when the enabling conditions for SFM – that is, conducive policies, governance regimes, institutions, incentives, regulations, tenure, rights, transparency and stakeholder engagement – are absent. Forest and land managers can advocate for an enabling environment for SFM, and they can be key actors in halting and reversing forest degradation through their local-level actions.

The most important thing that forest managers can do is to adhere to the principles of SFM in their management approach, with the aim of ensuring that today’s uses and practices maintain and enhance the economic, social and environmental values of forests in perpetuity while also providing appropriate livelihoods. More specifically, forest managers should define and apply sound management plans, define and respect harvesting limits, monitor and detect signs of forest degradation and environmental impacts, and take appropriate and timely measures to halt or reverse degradation – including by requesting assistance and technical support when needed.

In forests under SFM, forest managers should regularly monitor the effects of management practices and assess whether they are causing degradation (see the Forest Management Monitoring module). SFM is a dynamic process, and forest management plans and practices should be adapted over time in light of monitoring and assessment and evolving economic, social and environmental conditions (see the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation module).

Forest degradation is best addressed by a comprehensive approach aimed at its direct and underlying drivers. The table provides examples of technical actions that can help prevent or halt forest degradation.

The Silviculture in Natural Forests module provides additional information.

When forest degradation is the result of natural causes such as storms, droughts, pests or wildfires, forest managers should aim to strengthen forest resilience so that stands are better prepared for future events. This can be done, for example, by maintaining biodiversity at varying forest scales (e.g. stand, landscape and region); applying integrated fire management (mainly risk reduction and recovery); applying integrated pest management; and (in planted forests) selecting tree species and varieties likely to be resilient in the face of expected future conditions (see also the Forestry Responses to Natural and Human-conflict Disasters module).

Forest and land managers can reverse degradation by restoring and rehabilitating forest landscapes (see Forest Restoration and Rehabilitation module) and through appropriate land-use planning. 

In order to do so in a way that is efficient for the community and the environment, both men and women forest managers must take gender considerations into account. Overall, the degradation of forests affects men and women differently. In rural areas, a woman’s life is fundamentally dependent on nature, since she has to maintain her family by managing and using natural resources (e.g. women are primary providers of household food, fuel and water for cooking, heating, drinking and washing). Climate and biodiversity alterations caused by forest degradation largely hinder women’s livelihoods.

When assessing forest conditions and planning a reverse degradation project, forest managers must consider women’s needs, as well as the role they play as mitigating agents. If trained and empowered, women can lead the fight against degradation. They have a very close relationship with forests and trees and can recognize the undesirable effects of forest degradation such as soil depletion, reduced productivity and regeneration, and the presence of pests. This knowledge can be applied to adopt mitigation measures. For instance, composting kitchen waste may provide soil-enriching fertilizer. Since women know the life cycles of the trees and plants, they are inestimable resources for land use planning, especially when it comes to sustainable harvests, seed conservation and maintenance.