Sustainable Forest Management

By halting deforestation, managing forests sustainably, restoring degraded forests and increasing the global forest area, can help avoid potentially damaging consequences for the planet and its people. Governments need to foster holistic and participatory approaches that promote the benefits of forests and trees. Integrating landscape approaches into forest policies and programmes is essential for addressing drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, and to increase the contribution of forests and trees to sustainable productive landscapes.

These benefits include increased food production, employment and income generation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and enhanced well-being of both urban and rural communities. 

Forest governance gains its power from including and maximally engaging all relevant forest stakeholders, such as formal and informal institutions, smallholder and Indigenous organizations, small, medium-sized and large enterprises, and civil society organizations, as well as stakeholders from other relevant sectors. These actors should negotiate, make and enforce decisions about the management, use and conservation of forest resources.

Clear legal frameworks and coherent policy measures that balance stakeholder interests are part of the required enabling environment. Evidence-based forest policy and programmes enhance a balanced delivery of environmental and socioeconomic benefits from forests and trees, and can harness forest contributions to achieve several SDGs, climate change objectives and the Global Forest Goals.

FAO provides active support and guidance to countries’ forest policy development, implementation and review processes at the national and regional levels.