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Global Forest Resources Assessments

FAO has been monitoring the world's forests at 5 to 10 year intervals since 1946. The Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA) are now produced every five years in an attempt to provide a consistent approach to describing the world's forests and how they are changing. The Assessment is based on two primary sources of data: Country Reports prepared by National Correspondents and remote sensing that is conducted by FAO together with national focal points and regional partners. The scope of the FRA has changed regularly since the first assessment published in 1948. These assessments make an interesting history of global forest interests, both in terms of their substantive content, but also in their changing scope.

Key outputs

Synthesis document: “How are the World’s Forests Changing?”

This publication contains a summary of key findings of how forests, forest management and uses have changed over the past 25 years.

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Special Issue Forest Ecology and Management

A Special Issue of the Journal Forest Ecology and Management, contains thirteen peer-reviewed papers with more detailed analyzes both based on FRA 2015 data and other data sources.

Desk Reference

This publication contains summary tables for most of the quantitative and boolean variables collected through FRA 2015.

 

Country Reports

The country reports contain documentation of references and original data used for reporting to FRA 2015

Supporting documents

Terms & Definitions

Guide for country reporting

Process Document

Implementation Plan

Global Forest Resources Assessment Long-Term Strategy (2012-2030)

Related studies

Forest Futures

Forest Futures builds on existing models using country reported data and authoritative spatially explicit global databases (e.g. FRA, FAOSTAT, GAEZ). The existing models project the global expansion of arable land and the economic demand for wood.

Forest Management for Protection of Soil and Water

Reliable data on the soil and water protective function of forest can help sustainable forest management for water security and sediment- and water-related disaster resilience in developing countries.