Halting deforestation is a critical element in addressing climate change. The way we manage our forests also has a direct impact on the production of our food and food security. The COVID-19 crisis is further increasing pressures on forest resources. Evidence is needed to guide public and individual decisions on addressing these challenges. Two recent flagship reports published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 (FRA) and the State of the World’s Forests (SOFO 2020) present evidence about the state of the world’s forest resources and the policy challenges ahead.

Key findings and insights from the newly published reports were presented at the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Digital Conference, held from 2-5 June 2020. Co-hosted by FAO and the UN-REDD Programme on the occasion of World Environment Day, the session titled “Evidence based transformation of food systems - Building upon the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 and the State of the World’s Forests 2020” gathered over 300 participants to explore the implications for the prioritization of actions by countries and their development partners to transform food systems needed to halt deforestation.

Astrid Agostini, Coordinator of FAO’s REDD+ and National Forest Monitoring Team introduced and moderated the session, noting that evidence based decision making had gained new traction in the response to COVID-19 crisis and that this presented an opportunity in confronting the climate crisis.  Presenting FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment and the State of the World’s Forests reports Mette Wilkie, FAO’s Director of Forestry Policy and Resources Division, emphasized the importance of recognizing the close interlinkages between food and forests. “Feeding humanity and conserving forests are complementary and interdependent goals. We have to treat these two goals as one, otherwise we will not achieve either of them in long run,” Wilkie said.

The findings noted that despite some progress in recent years, deforestation and forest degradation continue at alarming rates, highlighting agriculture as the main driver of deforestation and forest fragmentation. More specifically, “Large-scale commercial agriculture accounts for 40% of tropical deforestation and local subsistence agriculture for an additional 33%,” said Anssi Pekkarinen, FAO’s Senior Forestry Officer. In terms of regional differences, “For the period of 2010-2020, Africa currently has the highest annual net loss of forests of nearly 4 million hectares per year”, Pekkarinen added. In Latin America, the net loss of forests has been considerably reduced during the last ten years. In Asia and Europe, forest areas continue to increase through natural expansion or by planting of trees.

Although the rate of deforestation is down from 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s, the world is still annually losing a forest area twice the size of Costa Rica. Urgent action is needed to scale up the adoption of agroforestry and other sustainable agricultural practices such as the promotion of sustainable intensification, restoration of productivity of degraded agricultural land and the reduction of food loss and waste.

The latest trends in forest biodiversity and the effects of deforestation and forest degradation were presented by Dr. Will Simonson, Senior Programme Officer at the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, pointing to a major decline in forest dwelling animals. According to the State of the World’s Forests 2020 “and data from hundreds of studies of forest dwelling animals worldwide, we find a decline of more than 50% since 1970,” Dr Simonson highlighted.

Nevertheless, solutions that balance conservation and sustainable use are critical and possible. For example, actions to combat deforestation and illegal logging have gathered pace due to the inclusion of forests in climate change agreements and the results-based payments (RBPs) for reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) in developing countries. In addition, “The Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, with the objective to protect 17% of land area, has been exceeded for forests as a whole,” Dr. Simonson added. The emerging message was that identifying replicable success stories with appropriate finance and political leadership to scale them up can help us advance in a win-win agenda to halt deforestation and transform food systems for the benefit of future generations.

Reflecting on the new findings and data, the panel offered a range of perspectives and take-aways addressing the priorities for bold action on the way forward.

Prof. Tony Simons, Director General, World Agroforestry (ICRAF), noted that although we may not be able to retrieve the lost forests, the focus should be on recovering forest functions and forest services in smallholder communities. As one of the central priorities on the way forward,  local communities should be able to see a livelihood benefit in the way they manage their forests. “We have to make sure that there is a business case and that our value chains are sensitive to the needs, prices and costs of tree product and tree service value chains,” Prof. Simons stressed.

Offering an encouraging perspective from Ghana,Roselyn Fosua Adjei, Director of Climate Change, Forestry Commission, Ghana, addressed the challenges in Africa to reconcile food production with forest conservation. Ghana, a country which has made considerable progress in addressing deforestation, is the second largest producer of cocoa in the world. “Last year, Ghana has been able to increase production of cocoa while significantly reducing deforestation” Fosua said. “What has given us the boost is the commitment from the Cocoa and Forest Initiative, where the partnership between the Governments of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, and the private sector are working together to remove deforestation from the supply and value chains,” she highlighted.

The critical role of partnerships in scaling up action was addressed by Gabriel Labbate, REDD+ Team Leader and Regional Coordinator for LAC region, UNEP, highlighting strong ambitions from private sector which translated into a considerable rise in investments in nature-based solutions for climate change. On the other hand, there is an urgency to scale up commitments. “Finance for result-based payments which countries are receiving for their efforts in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is about 2 per cent of what is required,” Labbate concluded.

By investing in nature, we invest in our health, climate, well-being and the future of our planet. At present, we are seeing a substantial increase in zoonosis, including SARS, Ebola, Lyme and COVID-19. Preliminary research indicates that significant biodiversity loss results in a greater transmissibility of human diseases. Since forest remain central to climate and biodiversity, in 2020, more than ever, we need to chart a new path which will emphasize the need for forest solutions.

The recovery from the pandemic presents a tremendous opportunity to build back better, which needs to be driven by stimulus packages put in place by a number of Governments. Nature-based solutions can sustain livelihoods, conserve biodiversity and combat climate change. “We need to repair the damage done to forests - and to the livelihoods of the people that depend on them - by scaling up restoration efforts – so that forests and their biodiversity can continue to support our food systems, conserve biodiversity and help us mitigate and adapt to climate change,” said FAO’s Mette Wilkie.

As we forge ahead, the global collective response to COVID-19 provides a powerful example of the kind of commitment and investment that is required for climate and forest solutions in the years ahead.

Question from the audience

How can we link wild food production and consumption in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, while maintaining indigenous traditional knowledge of food systems?

Response

Wild meat accounts for at least 20 percent of animal protein in rural diets in at least 62 countries worldwide. The total number of forest animals hunted for food is likely to be significant. In rural forest communities and small provincial towns, where there is little access to cheap, domestic meats but still access to wildlife, wild meat is often the main source of nutrients. Maintaining wildlife populations as well their habitats, is critical to preserve them as sources of food, and the traditional knowledge associated with them. Together with preventing illegal wild meat trade, this will also contribute to minimizing the risk of future zoonotic diseases, such as COVID-19, which increases with deforestation and forest fragmentation.

About the publications

Global Forest Resources Assessments(FRA 2020) report examines the status of, and trends in, more than 60 forest-related variables in 236 countries and territories in the period 1990–2020. Through the FRA process, FAO collects, compiles and analyses essential information on the world’s forest resources, which plays a central part in monitoring progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 - Life on Land.

The State of the World’s Forest Report (SOFO 2020): Launched in May 2020, the SOFO 2020 report was jointly prepared by FAO and UNEP to outline concrete examples of successful initiatives demonstrating that solutions that balance conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity are critical – and possible.

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