Panama City, Panama – Countries are focusing on improving sustainable forest management as the most effective strategy for protecting biodiversity in the face of multiple threats, according to a study published today by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests.
What are countries doing for their forest biodiversity? is an analysis of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) submitted by 54 countries under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).
Together, the plans identified 30 different direct and indirect threats to forest biodiversity, with climate change and invasive species at the top of the list. The CPF analysis found that 76 percent of countries’ proposed activities for protecting and enhancing forest biodiversity were centred on practical ways of improving sustainable forest management on the ground.
“It is encouraging that many countries are taking actions on the ground to address biodiversity targets through conservation, restoration, and sustainable management and use of all types of forests,” said FAO Forestry Director and Chair of the CPF Zhimin Wu.
Around 27 percent of CBD Parties have submitted their updated NBSAPs so far, and the study can inform future submissions as well as the activities of the CPF and its individual members.
“Countries should lead the development of their national biodiversity strategies ahead of CBD COP17, integrating key sectors and ecosystems through whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches. Forests play a vital role in this equation, and the CPF Joint Initiative on Biodiversity Mainstreaming in Forestry can support Parties with valuable guidance and foster cooperation,” said Jamal Annagylyjova, Forest Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration Officer, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Findings and recommendations
After climate change and invasive species, other threats to biodiversity frequently cited in the plans were urbanization, infrastructure development, deforestation, fires and unsustainable forest use and practices.
The CPF study further notes that about half of countries’ plans mention challenges or capacity gaps to meeting targets.
The study sets out a number of recommendations, including strengthening the integration of forest conservation in forest production and addressing the under-prioritization of primary forests, combined with the need to improve capacity in financing and data management to ensure that forests can fulfill their potential in global biodiversity protection.
The publication was launched at the 27th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 27), under the CPF Joint Initiative on Biodiversity Mainstreaming in Forestry. The initiative aims to assist countries in understanding the role of the conservation and sustainable use of forests in achieving the KMGBF goals and targets. A further activity under this Joint Initiative, "Mainstreaming Forest Biodiversity: The key to KM-GBF Success", will be held on 22 October 2025.
Importance of forests for biodiversity
Covering nearly one-third of the Earth’s surface, forests sustain livelihoods, produce wood and non-wood products, and regulate the carbon and water cycles. They also harbour a large part of terrestrial biodiversity –80 percent of amphibian species, 75 percent of bird species and 68 percent of mammal species, and 60 percent of all vascular plant species in tropical forests.
The KMGBF sets out four goals and 23 targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 many of which support forest conservation, restoration and sustainable management and use.
The CPF is an inter-agency partnership of 16 international organizations working together to support countries in scaling up forest action to conserve biodiversity, adapt and mitigate for climate change and advance sustainable development.
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