Global Forest Resources Assessments

FRA history

At the first session of the FAO Conference in the autumn of 1945, participants emphasized the need for up-to-date information on the forest resources of the world. In May 1946 the Forestry and Forest Products Division was founded and began working on FAO's first worldwide assessment of forests. The sixth session of the FAO Conference in 1951 recommended that the organization maintain a permanent and continuing capability to provide information on the state of the world's forest resources. Since then, various other regional and global surveys have been conducted every five to ten years. Each has taken a somewhat different form.

As knowledge on the forest resources has improved at national levels and as technology has advanced, the Global Forest Resources Assessments have increased in breadth and quality.

Statistics released by FAO on world forest cover from 1948 through 1963 were largely collected through questionnaires sent to the countries. The assessments since 1980 have taken a more solid technical form. Instead of questionnaires, the assessments are based on the analysis of country references supported by expert judgements, remote sensing and statistical modelling.

Statistics from the different assessment phases are difficult to use for comparative purposes, owing to changes in baseline information, methods and definitions. However, better correlations can be achieved for time series in many countries for certain assessments, especially with information generated since 1980, when reporting parameters stabilized. Consistent definitions were applied to developing countries for subsequent assessments.

All the assessments undertaken by FAO can be found here and we invite you to explore the history of the Global Forest Resources Assessment.