FAO Forestry country profiles - natural woody vegetation

Forest types

Forest cover map

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Map source: Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, base map: ESRI

The above map is an extract from the Global Forest Cover map produced as part of FRA 2000. Please refer to FRA Working Paper 19 for a background to the production of the map.

Forests have an important role in Syria from ecological, economic, social and cultural points of view. Presently, the Syrian forests are generally degraded due to overexploitation, overgrazing, deforestation and fires. They need to be rehabilitated and managed on a sustainable basis.

Although Syrian forests produce only five to six percent of the country´s requirements of wood and wood products, the real value of forest services, benefits and influences are difficult to quantify. They should not be underestimated in a country as arid as Syria, where the forests provide stable feed for a large number of grazing animals and play a significant role in water catchment, desertification control, prevention of soil erosion and flooding and the conservation of biodiversity.