Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020

In News: The latest digital report contains the main findings of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 (FRA 2020). 

About Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 

• FRA 2020 examines the status of, and trends in, more than 60 forest-related variables in 236 countries and territories in the period 1990–2020. 
• It is led by the Forestry Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
• The FRA reports the extent of the world’s forest area as well as other variables, including land tenure and access rights, sustainable forest management (SFM), legal and institutional frameworks for forest conservation, and sustainable use.
• FRA 2020 data were collected using commonly agreed terms and definitions through a transparent, traceable reporting process and a well-established network of officially nominated national correspondents that covers 187 countries and territories. More than 700 people were directly involved in this process.

Highlights of the 2020 report

• The rate of forest loss in 2015-2020 declined to an estimated 10 million hectares (mha), down from 12 million hectares (mha) in 2010-2015, according to the FRA 2020.
• The FRA 2020 has examined the status of, and trends in, more than 60 forest-related variables in 236 countries and territories in the period 1990–2020.
• The world lost 178 mha of forest since 1990, an area the size of Libya, according to the report.
• However, the rate of net forest loss decreased substantially during 1990–2020 due to a reduction in deforestation in some countries, plus increases in the forest area in others through afforestation.
• The largest proportion of the world’s forests were tropical (45 per cent), followed by boreal, temperate and subtropical.