Impact

Together with indicator 15.1.1, this indicator ensures forests are efficiently managed, and a better balance is struck between conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.

Key results

The world is progressing towards sustainable forest management, but the rate of forest loss remains high

While, globally, there has been some progress towards sustainable forest management in the last decade, progress is uneven across regions. Additionally, the world’s forests continue to shrink, mainly because of the expansion of agriculture for crop and livestock production.

In 2022, 444 million hectares of forest were under a certification scheme. Certified forest area showed a 29 percent increase, equivalent to around 100 million hectares since 2010. This positive trend is mainly noticeable in Europe and Northern America, where 65 million hectares were certified in 2010–2022. However, the latest data show that the certified forest area decreased by 19 million hectares (4 percent) between 2021 and 2022.

Although the short- and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on forests are still difficult to measure, the pandemic has likely affected forests and forestry because of changes in the urban–rural population flow and additional demand for certain forest products.

Highlights

Multimedia

Capacity development

Methodology

Tier: I

Data

Related publications

External links