Global Forest Goals Report 2021:

In News: The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) recently published the Global Forest Goals Report 2021.

Key Highlights-

• To combat the challenges of COVID-19, climate change, and the biodiversity crisis facing forests, the study recommended a potential course of action that included greater sustainability and a greener, more inclusive economy.
• 252 million people living in forests and savannas are expected to earn less than US$1.25 a day, which was the World Bank’s poverty line calculation until 2015.
• Nearly 18 percent of the world’s forests were legally protected areas in 2020, compared to just over 14 percent in 2000.
• Between 2010 and 2020, the global area of protected forests increased by approximately three million hectares per year, with increases in every country.
• Currently, 73 percent of the world’s forests are owned by the government, 22 percent by private individuals, and the rest is classified as “unknown” or “other”.

About Global Forest Goals Report-

• It is the first assessment of where the world stands in terms of meeting the UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2030.
• It is based on 52 voluntary national reports and 19 voluntary national contributions that constitute 75% of the world’s forests.
• It was created by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and its United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat (UNFFS).
• It is based on global quantitative and biophysical evidence, primarily from the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020.

It gives an initial assessment of progress toward achieving the six Global Forest Goals and the 26 related priorities outlined in the UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2030.