Forest products and services

Legal and Sustainable Wood Programme

Micro, small and medium-scale forest enterprises

Sustainable Wood for a Sustainable World

Sustainable forest-based bioeconomy approaches

News

Vienna Call for Action urges progress on sustainable forest-based bioeconomy

26/02/2026

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) welcomed a call today for urgent action to accelerate progress towards a sustainable forest-based bioeconomy.

Global forest products trade and production show signs of recovery in 2024

24/12/2025

After a sharp decline in 2023, the global forest products sector saw signs of stabilization in 2024.

The women replanting Argentina’s future

05/11/2025

Amid deforestation, women are planting new roots, taking the climate into their own hands.

Publications

FAO Forestry Paper 160: Criteria and indicators for sustainable woodfuels

2010

FAO Forestry Paper 159: Impact of the global forest industry on atmospheric greenhouse gases

2010

Planted forests - Uses, impacts and sustainability

2009

The significance of planted forests and recognition of their contributions to a range of development goals are anticipated to increase in coming decades. Planted forests provide not only wood, fibre and fuel, but also other non-wood forest products. Moreover, they sequester carbon, rehabilitate degraded lands, help in restoring landscapes, protect watersheds and agricultural soils, and provide recreational areas and amenities.

Videos

Communicating forestry innovation at FAO

24/10/2025

From fibre to packaging, building materials & even waterproof sinks - innovation in forestry has been on show in Rome, at the From Seeds to Food...

International Day of Forests 2024: New solutions for a better world

21/03/2024

Innovation is unlocking the forests’ long-kept secrets and allowing us to use trees in ways we never imagined possible.

Sustainable wood: The manifesto

06/12/2022

Over the centuries, we’ve moved away from using wood as a building material, at great cost to the planet.

Sustainable wood: Climate-friendly cities

01/12/2022

Find more videos on the FAO Forestry YouTube playlist

Sustainable wood: Housing a growing population

27/10/2022

A growing population means more buildings to fit everyone. By 2030, we will have to house an additional 3 billion people. Using wood from sustainably...

Sustainable Wood: Building the future

13/10/2022

Wood can be a material of the future, helping to build a bio-economy for the planet's health and economic recovery. Durable “cross-laminated timber”...

Forests and sustainable production and consumption

21/04/2022

For millions of people across the world, wood helps provide safe drinking water, food and shelter - but wood can do much more and is a renewable resource...

Is your toothbrush made of plastic or wood?

21/03/2022

Replacing more of the plastic things we use every day with wood-based products from sustainably managed forests can help combat climate change and achieve...

Sustainable forests: a powerful ally against climate change

24/02/2021

Climate change is subjecting our planet to unsustainable pressures. Forests and trees trap and store carbon as they grow – standing at the frontline...