Definition forest fao. They include but are not limited to plantation forests.
Definition forest fao. The assessments have to a great extent contributed to the improvement of concepts, definitions and methods related to forest resources assessments. SUSTAINABLE FOREST HARVESTING 1 Environmentally Sound Forest Harvesting Operations by Rudolf Heinrich Forest Harvesting, Trade and Marketing Branch Forest Products Division Forestry Department, FAO, Rome, Italy INTRODUCTION World forestry is challenged by a number of issues such as the loss of the earth's biodiversity, forest decline because of air pollution and transformation of old growth Many forest land cover maps follow the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) modular-hierarchical Land Cover Classifica-tion System. FAO initiated the project “Strengthening Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting on Sustainable Forest Management in Asia” (GCP/INT/988/JPN) in January 2006. The assessments analyze land cover change in countries It should certainly be kept in mind that the FAO uses a ‘broad’ definition of forests, and therefore a ‘narrow’ definition of deforestation. Defining deforestation thus implies a definition of forest Mar 9, 2016 · To meet ambitious global restoration targets, policy makers, governments, scientists, and agencies need to adopt a richer concept of a forest than the dominant FAO definition that has governed forest policy to date (Box 1). 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. L’évaluation en cours, FRA 2025, examine la situation et les tendances de plus de 60 variables liées aux forêts dans 236 pays et territoires pour la période 1990–2020. A planted forest is defined as a forest that at maturity is predominantly composed of trees established through planting and/or deliberate seeding. The biophysical criterion establishes minimum thresholds for the height, canopy cover and extent of trees. The information provided by FRA presents a comprehensive view of the world’s forests and the ways in which the resource is FAO, 2000: a reduction of canopy cover or stocking within the forest. Overview | Sustainable forest management | Food and Agriculture Organization Oct 5, 2017 · Definition Urban forests can be defined as networks or systems comprising all woodlands, groups of trees, and individual trees located in urban and peri-urban areas; they include, therefore, forests, street trees, trees in parks and gardens, and trees in derelict corners. According to the FAO, Forest is defined as: “land spanning more than 0. These area measurements are based on a standardized definition of “forest” adopted by the FAO in 2000, which takes into account biophysical and land use criteria. At the regional scale, Forest Europe makes use of the FAO results under the Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), following a land use definition for reporting on the European for-est area. Urban forests are the backbone of the green infrastructure, bridging rural and urban areas and ameliorating a city’s The definition proposed by FAO to the 1967 World Symposium on man-made forests and their industrial importance, which uses as its criterion land use changes associated with afforestation or reforestation, has been the basis of subsequent official estimates (eg Pandey 1995), and is adopted here for the sake of consistency. Language: english. Approximately half the forest area is relatively intact, and more than one-third is primary forest (i. 0 Introduction 1. The current forest definition under the Kyoto Protocol follows the structure of the FAO forest definition used for the TBFRA (FAO, 1998) by establishing a minimum threshold value for the same three attributes. Trees outside the forest (TOF) include trees in cities, on farms, along roads and in many other locations which are by definition not a forest. Oct 3, 2024 · Forest What is the definition of a forest – and how much forest is there in Sweden? According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), forest is any land area spanning more than 0. This document supports the preparation of FRA 2015 Country Reports by National Correspondents as well as the understanding of the 1 1 | Purpose of this report The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) provides essential information for understanding the extent of the world’s forest resources, their condition, management and uses. Data collected through the FRA reporting process are used to assess progress towards globally agreed targets and inform policy FAO has developed and implemented global terms and definitions of various forest parameters since its first worldwide assessment in 1947. (IPCC, 2003). Oct 4, 2024 · What are planted forests? Planted forests are forests predominantly composed of trees established through planting and/or deliberate seeding (Global Forest Resources Assessment - FRA 2020 Terms and Definitions). Les évaluations des ressources forestières mondiales de la FAO ont largement contribué à améliorer les concepts, les définitions et les méthodes relatives aux évaluations des ressources forestières. Our mission is to improve the sustainable utilization of NWFPs. To define Trees outside forests, we will refer back to a similar blanket definition for forest resources, such as the one used by FAO for forest resource assessment. 5 hectares, and where agriculture is not the dominant land use. FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 – comprehensive new information on the world’s forests Covering nearly one third of the Earth's land area, forests are home to more than half the world's terrestrial species and avital defense against climate change. Oct 24, 2024 · Under FAO’s definition, countries can clear natural forest to establish a timber or rubber plantation and claim that no deforestation occurred. IPCC honoured with the 2007 Nobel Peace PrizeREPORTS - SPECIAL REPORTS Alternate values for definition parameters can have significant impacts. For example, it helps countries assess their forest resources, define the elements of SFM, monitor progress, and identify, test and promote innovative forest management approaches. This is the definition of forest developed by FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. e. Countries participated actively in the Oct 21, 2025 · Every five years, FRA publishes forest area globally and per country. The Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) reports on the status and trends of the world's forest resources. FAO has been monitoring the world’s forests at 5 to 10 year intervals since 1946. Forests cover 31 percent of the global land area. The Forest Resources Assessment Working Paper Series provides an important forum for the rapid release of information related to the FRA programme. FAO supports countries in overcoming these and other forest-related challenges by providing policy advice, technical assistance and capacity building. Classification des terres - Général Note: La définition de forêt appliquée dans FRA 2000 demande un minimum de couvert arboré et peut être différente de la définition légale de forêt (ou terre forestière) (par exemple, dans le cadre d’un Acte forestier ou d’une Ordonnance, les définitions légales peuvent désigner forêt une superficie, sans tenir compte de la International definitions of forest degradation/degraded forest 2 Difficulties in measuring forest hydrological services 6 Defining growing stock and biomass stock 16 Growing stock in the FAO Forest Resources Assessment 17 Estimating tree volume 21 Estimating above-ground tree biomass 22 Forest biomass calculation 22 Definition of indicator species 27 Yield regulation in natural tropical 2. 1 Purpose of this report The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) provides essential information for understanding the extent of the world's forest resources, their condition, management and uses. We generally support this definition which is slightly modified from UNFCCC (2001): "Forest management is the process of planning and implementing practices for stewardship and use of the forest aimed at fulfilling relevant ecological, economic and social functions of the forest. A forest is an area with a high density of trees. The FAO Statistics Resource Repository presents statistics-oriented research on topics related to FAO's mandate. The five-year project is funded by the Government of Japan. Chapter 4. Forest and related land use classifications Forestry Programme Through its Forestry Programme, FAO seeks to have transformational impacts that benefit forests and forest-dependent people and help achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. org. within the framework of the Oct 21, 2025 · L’Évaluation des ressources forestières mondiales de la FAO (FRA) fournit des informations essentielles pour comprendre l’importance des ressources forestières, leur état, leur gestion et leurs utilisations. Figure 1. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 is FAO s latest assessment. 5 hectares with trees higher than five metres and a canopy cover of more than 10 per cent and that is not primarily used for agricultural or urban land use. Aug 1, 2023 · The FAO’s (Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN) definition of “Forest” is well-known and broad enough to be applicable globally, but it is difficult for countries to produce national forest maps according to this definition using only a single source of remote sensing data. naturally regenerated forests of native species, where there are no visible Definitions Related to Planted Forests 1. Definition All government revenue collected from the domestic production and trade of forest products and services. FAO must stop using this mis-definition to claim that forests are expanding, when the reverse is the case. All trees make a contribution to the environment and to the social and economic well Forest areas, including primary forest, where most or all of the principal characteristics and key elements of native ecosystems, such as complexity, structure, and diversity, are present given the physical parameters of climate, geology, hydrology and successional patterns. Page topic: "Terms and Definitions - FRA 2020 - FOREST RESOURCES ASSESSMENT WORKING PAPER 188 - FAO". FAO, 2003 (core definition on common ground reached at at the Harmonizing definition meeting):Forest degradation is the long-term reduction of the overall potential supply of benefits from the forest, which includes carbon, wood, biodiversity and other goods and services. Overview | Forest health and protection Forest management is the process of planning and implementing practices for the stewardship and use of forests to meet specific environmental, economic, social and cultural objectives. FAO has been coordinating global forest resources assessments every five to ten years since 1946. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) in its 2015 Forest Resource Assessment (FAO 2015) defined primary forest as: Deforestation is the conversion of forest to other land use independently of whether human-induced or not (FAO, 2023). 5 million hectares globally, with Asia and South America accounting for 89 percent. Healthy forests are vital for all aspects of a healthy planet. For FAO, the definition of the forest, or forest land, is based on the structure of the formation (percentage of tree cover, height of woody species) and its surface. Data collected through the FRA reporting process are used to assess progress towards globally agreed targets and inform policy and About the report This digital report contains the main findings of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 (FRA 2020). Forest health is the condition of a forest ecosystem (planted and natural) that sustains its ecological state while providing ecosystem services for human needs. Box 1 Defining and measuring deforestation According to the definition used in FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), deforestation is “the conversion of forest to other land use independently of whether human-induced or not”. FAO, at the request of its member countries, regularly monitors the world’s forests and their management and uses through the Forest Resources Assessment Programme. (France) A subcategory of forest land - where the main function is not production. Different organizations and countries use varying criteria to define a forest – often based on the percentage of land covered by trees (canopy cover), the total area of those trees, and the height of those trees. This paper takes into consideration over 50 years of cumulative experience in FAO working in the field of global forest resources The Division also collects, analyses and shares information on the world’s forest resources and the production, trade and consumption of wood and non-wood forest products. When FAO redefined forest between the 1990 and 2000 Forest Resource Assessments, reducing minimum height 1 The IPCC Good Practice Guidance stipulates selecting in addition a minimum strip width for “linear forests”. However, forests face many threats, leading to tree mortality and reduced ability to provide a full range of goods and services. Aug 22, 2025 · The table below summarizes a selection of formal engagements and associated reporting commitments made by the United States relating to forests and the forest definition applied in reporting. There are several definitions of forest currently in use: the FAO defines forest as having a minimum canopy cover of 10%, minimum tree height in situ of 5 meters, a minimum area of 0. In many instances, because there is an extensive range of silvicultural practices applied in varying The conversion of forest to another land use or the long-term reduction of the tree canopy cover below the minimum 10 percent threshold (see the definition of forest and the following explanatory note). 4. FAO’s approach balances economic, social and environmental objectives to enable the present generation to benefit from the Earth’s forest resources Forest Resources Assessment 2000 for the first time established consensus on a single definition of forests as land entailing a minimum of 10 percent tree crown cover. Strong efforts have been made to harmonize and streamline reporting with other international forest-related processes e. Since 1951, FAO has reported on the world s forest resources in fulfilment of its mandate to collect, analyze and disseminate information on forests and forestry. Mar 12, 2025 · Is that a forest? Like mountains, there isn’t an exact definition of what forests are. 4 Brazil has the most primary forest (about 477 million hectares), followed by the Russian Federation (256 million Forests whose composition and structure largely reflect natural processes are known by various terms such as ancient, virgin, intact and old growth forest. It is led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 1 Difficulty in Definition Planted forests are generally defined according to the extent of human intervention in the forest's establishment and/or management, which depends, to a large extent, on the purpose of growing the forest. FAO has developed and implemented global terms and definitions of various forest parameters since its first worldwide assessment in 1947. Oct 21, 2025 · L’Évaluation des ressources forestières mondiales de la FAO (FRA) fournit des informations essentielles pour comprendre l’importance des ressources forestières, leur état, leur gestion et leurs utilisations. This ‘narrow’ definition thus tends to view deforestation as a conversion process normally involving a drastic intervention causing land-use, distinguishing it from forest degradation (logging Chapter 3. " Established in 1991, the promotion and development of non-wood forest products (NWFP) is one of the priority areas of FAO's Forestry Division. We recommend “primary forest” as the preferred term as it is the most widely used internationally. 9. Mar 21, 2017 · The FAO lumps non-oil palm tree plantations into its definition of forest cover when conducting its Global Forest Resource Assessments. A forest, according to FAO's definition, is largely determined by the presence of tree cover and the absence of other land uses such as agriculture and grazing. FAO forestry Towards a harmonized definition of non-wood forest products Over the past two decades an increasing number of governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and institutions, as well as the private sector, have become involved with the promotion and utilization of non-wood forest products (NWFPs). 49 Renegotiating forest definitions theoretically opens up the possibility of using any definitional scenario, or even different Norway Rome, 2014 FAO, at the request of its member countries, regularly monitors the world ́s forests and their management and uses through the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA). Created by: Virginia Elliott. About 3 million hectares Methods FAO develops methods to guide national data producers in generating and using sound statistics. The Forest Resources Assessment Programme The Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) benefits greatly from the consistent use of clear terms and definitions. [1] FRA reports the extent of the world's forest area as well as other variables, including forest growing stock, biomass and carbon, forest designation and management, forest ownership and management In response to the growing international emphasis on land and forest degradation, the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO), the highest FAO forestry statutory body, in its 26thsession held at FAO CONCLUSION 63. It was a joint endeavour, carried out by FAO in co-operation with partners and its member countries. Forest plantations ABSTRACT Forest plantations covered 187 million hectares in 2000, of which Asia accounted for 62 percent. 5). They consist of unmanaged forests: in accessible forest or forest land located on too steep slopes, protective forests (where cuttings are forbidden) and recreation forests, green spaces, no-admittance areas (military grounds for example). Status and trends in forest area Forest ecosystems are a critical component of the world’s biodiversity as many forests are more biodiverse than other ecosystems. The text also refers to the two previous assessments: FRA 1990, which reported FAO, at the request of its member countries, regularly monitors the world’s forests and their management and uses through the Forest Resources Assessment Programme. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 (FRA 2010) has been requested by the FAO Committee on Forestry in 2007 and will be based on a comprehensive country reporting process, complemented by a global remote sensing survey 9. FAO has carried out periodic global forest assessments since 1947, at intervals of approximately ten years. Non-Wood Forest Products – a Definition For the purposes of this paper the following definition of NWFP has been used 5: ‘ Non-wood forest products consist of goods of biological origin other than wood, derived from forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests’. The recent Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA) have been produced every five years in an attempt to provide consistent approach to describing the world’s forests and how they are changing. 2 That is, deforestation is essentially referring to a change in land use, not in tree cover. Jan 31, 2008 · The terms primary forest and old-growth forest are sometimes used interchangeably, although there is no broadly agreed definition of the latter and many forest scientists consider it possible for disturbed forests to retain old-growth structural and functional characteristics. Jun 1, 2025 · In 2000, UN FAO introduced a common definition of forest for the FRA using a combination of a land-cover class and a land-use class (Mather, 2005). FAO defines a threshold of 20 m. Forest Definitions Nov 11, 2024 · Without a global standardized definition of forests, tracking deforestation is challenging, especially for countries that use satellite data. For this purpose, forest products include: roundwood; sawnwood; wood-based panels; pulp and paper; and non-wood forest products. This country report is prepared as a contribution to the FAO publication, the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 (FRA 2015). Those differences in defining a forest can result in large differences in mapping out forest Chapter 6 CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF FORESTS AND FOREST BIODIVERSITY 1. 3 The FAO definition considers forests to be basically just “a bunch of trees The FRA definition refers to changes in the capacity of the forest to supply products and/or services. . g. [1][2] Jun 24, 2019 · Definitions FAO uses the current Global Forest Resources Assessment’s (FRA) definitions for forests. It is conducted once every five years with the next assessment scheduled for release in September 2015. It deals with the administrative, economic, legal, social, technical and scientific aspects of managing natural and planted forests. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines “forest” as a portion of land bigger than half a hectare (5 000m2) with trees higher than 5 meters and a tree canopy cover of more than 10 %, or with trees that will be able to meet these criteria. Plantation forest is defined as an intensively managed planted forest that at maturity is composed of one or two species, has Concepts: To provide a precise definition of the indicator, it is crucial to provide a definition of its two components: “Forest” and “Land Area”. The Committee on Forestry and six regional forestry commissions guide FAO in its technical forestry work. Nov 30, 2006 · Forest biological diversity means the variability among forest living organisms and the ecological processes of which they are part; this includes diversity in forests within species, between species and of ecosystems and landscapes. They include but are not limited to plantation forests. Trees outside the forest ABSTRACT The world has billions of trees that are not included in the FRA 2000 definitions of "forest" and "other wooded land". Planted forest includes but is not limited to plantation forest. The optional approaches to capture it are discussed in relation to forest degradation (see Ch. The forest plantation area represents a significant increase from the 1995 estimate of 124 million hectares. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use. Microsoft Word - Annex 1 to EFI Technical Report 88, 2013Annex 1. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 (FRA 2010) has been requested by the FAO Committee on Forestry in 2007 and will be based on a comprehensive country reporting process, complemented by a global remote sensing survey Jan 29, 2012 · An important key for the interpretation of hegemonic semantics: the FAO definition that is the basis for forest-related international dialogue implicitly establishes that “forest” can also (or mainly) be interpreted and co-defined as a large-scale plantation of a single, fast-growing tree species. Nov 30, 2006 · FAO Definitions Taken from the Forest Resources Assessment 2000 main report (see the report's appendices for more terms and definitions). 5 hectares with trees higher than Oct 4, 2024 · What are planted forests? Planted forests are forests predominantly composed of trees established through planting and/or deliberate seeding (Global Forest Resources Assessment - FRA 2020 Terms and Definitions). Information presented in FRA Working Paper 1 (FAO 1998) for the current global assessment, FRA 2000, reports on this subject. Forest Definitions Verifying connectionprotected by GreenNet using code from haphash Oct 24, 2024 · Under FAO’s definition, countries can clear natural forest to establish a timber or rubber plantation and claim that no deforestation occurred. FAO Forest Definition The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) definition of forests reduces forests to a bunch of trees. FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) provides essential information for understanding the extent of forest resources, their condition, management and uses. central, regional/provincial and municipal level), but it Non wood forest products (NWFPs) are defined as "Goods derived from forests that are tangible and physical objects of biological origin other than wood. The concepts of forest rehabilitation and forest restoration were developed by ITTO (2002) as a complement to their definitions of degraded forest land and degraded primary forest areas FAO has been coordinating global forest resources assessments every five to ten years since 1946. This chapter summarizes the methodology and key findings on forest area and forest management of FAO's most recent and comprehensive forest assessment, the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000). This paper takes into consideration over 50 years of cumulative experience in FAO working in the field of global forest resources Dec 26, 2014 · The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's definition of 'forest' includes commercial plantations of fast growing trees - often replacing biodiverse native forests relied on by local communities. May 16, 2021 · The FAO’s definition for primary forest has appeared in trade-related instruments, such as procurement policies and wood fuel regulations, and inconsistent reporting could lead to non-tariff trade barriers. Should users find any errors in the documents or would like to provide comments for improving their quality they should contact fra@fao. A lot of new information has been collected on the socio-economic importance To meet ambitious global restoration targets, policy makers, governments, scientists, and agencies need to adopt a richer concept of a forest than the dominant FAO definition that has governed forest policy to date (Box 1). It provides guidelines, handbooks, working papers and training materials for statisticians, researchers and academics. Consequently, it considers monoculture tree plantations to be forests, when in fact, these plantations cause deforestation. Mar 21, 2017 · How does the FAO Forest definition harm people and forests? In September 2015, during the XIV World Forestry Congress, thousands of people took to the streets in Durban, South Africa, to protest against the problematic way in which the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), insists on defining forests. As far as possible, this should include revenue collected by all levels of government (i. Explanatory note: For the purpose of having a harmonized set of forest and forest change definitions, that also is measurable with conventional techniques, forest degradation is assumed to be indicated by the reduction of canopy cover and/or stocking of the forest through logging, fire, windfelling or other events, provided Non-wood forest products (NWFPs)/Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) – Non-wood forest products have been defined by the FAO to as goods of biological origin other than wood, derived from forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests (Walter, 2001). Primary forest lands may include smaller lots of record which do not by themselves meet the definition, but which are isolated from other smaller lots of record by lands which do meet the definition of primary forest lands. The reported new annual planting rate is 4. 5 hectares with trees higher than Jan 1, 2014 · An international (FAO definition), governmental (national definition), and regional definition of deforestation with applications at different scales were analyzed and harmonized with two An FAO definition includes the following clause: "Young natural stands and all plantations established for forestry purposes which have yet to reach a crown density of 10 percent or tree height of 5 m are included under forest, as are areas normally forming part of the forest area which are temporarily unstocked as a result of human FOREST (short for " Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco ") is a United Kingdom smokers' rights group primarily funded by the tobacco industry, which campaigns against what it sees as "excessive regulation" of smoking and tobacco products. hvggiokis55nf6gwnntzupdpckywryjyuhdzochw