As part of its 80th Anniversary celebrations, FAO is organizing a Global Agrifood Biotechnologies Conference entitled “Biotechnologies for a Sustainable Future: Driving Agrifood Systems Transformation” from 16 to 18 June 2025 at FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy. The conference aims to discuss the latest advancements, opportunities and risks associated...

Forests and woodlands provide a huge array of essential benefits for people and the planet – such as hosting biodiversity, supporting livelihoods, protecting soils, regulating water cycles and mitigating climate change. At the heart of such benefits are forest genetic resources: the heritable materials maintained within and among tree and...

A new global information system on forest genetic resources - SilvaGRIS - was launched today in conjunction with the Twentieth Regular Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Rome, 24-28 March 2025). SilvaGRIS makes available the data countries report to FAO for monitoring the implementation...

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests in 2012. The Day celebrates and raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests. On each International Day of Forests, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities...

The Eight Session of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Forest Genetic Resources will be held at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy from 26 to 28 November 2024. The meeting will open on Tuesday, 26 November 2024 at 10:00 hours. The Session will be held in Arabic, Chinese,...

The revised – unedited – draft of The Second Report on the State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources is now out for review (click here to download).

A first draft of the Second Report was presented to the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and...

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests in 2012. The Day celebrates and raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests. On each International Day of Forests, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities...

Ensuring the availability of seeds and seedlings from a range of tree species is crucial if we are to meet global targets on the restoration of degraded forests and landscapes, according to a new forestry working paper from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the...

In 2022, FAO made a worldwide call inviting stakeholders to submit abstracts of case studies where agricultural biotechnologies had been applied to solve the problems of smallholders in developing countries in the aquaculture, crop, forestry and livestock sectors. The 15 case studies selected here cover a wide range of different...