Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA)
FAO has been monitoring the world's forests at 5 to 10 year intervals since 1946.
The Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA) are based on data that countries provide to FAO in response to a common questionnaire. FAO then compiles and analyses the information and presents the current status of the world’s forest resources and their changes over time. The scope of the assessments has gradually expanded. The first assessments were focused on wood supply in response to fears of a wood shortage after the Second World War. Today, the assessments have a much wider scope, providing a holistic perspective on global forest resources, their management and uses. By addressing seven broad topics aimed at monitoring progress towards sustainable forest management, the Global Forest Resources Assessments provide valuable information to policy-makers in individual countries, to international negotiations and arrangements related to forests and to the general public.
The seven broad topics, also known as the thematic elements of sustainable forest management, are as follows:
1. Extent of forest resources and their contribution to the global carbon cycle
2. Forest health and vitality
3. Forest biological diversity
4. Productive functions of forests
5. Protective functions of forests
6. Socio-economic functions of forests
7. Legal, policy and institutional framework related to forests
The Global Forest Resources Assessment Programme is coordinated by the Forestry Department at FAO headquarters in Rome.
For more information, explore this Web site where you will find in-depth information (including downloadable reports, data, maps and figures) on the most recent global assessment (FRA 2010) as well as information on earlier assessments. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at: fra@fao.org.
