Indicator 15.2.1 - Progress towards sustainable forest management
This indicator measures progress towards Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) through five subindicators. As an aid to interpretation, a dashboard of traffic lights is used, with green, yellow and red indicating the direction and rate of change in each of the subindicators. The indicator will contribute to track progress towards SDG Target 15.2.
Target 15.2
By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.
Indicator 15.2.1: Progress Assessment
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
SDG 15 - Indicators of sustainable forests and mountains
01/01/2019
An overview of SDG indicators 15.1.1, 15.2.1, 15.4.2, measuring forest area, mountain vegetation cover, and sustainable management...
Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators (2022)
01/09/2022
Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators offers detailed analyses and trends on selected indicators for which...
Capacity development
19/ 9
2022
Report's launch: "Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators 2022"
Hybrid Event, 19/09/2022
Seven years into the 2030 Agenda, there is an urgent need to understand where the world stands in eliminating hunger and food insecurity, as well as in ensuring sustainable agriculture. FAO's new report, “Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators”, offers analysis and trends on indicators across eight SDGs (1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 12, 14 and 15), highlighting areas o...
Methodology
Tier: I
Data
Related publications
- The State of the World's Forests
- The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture
- The State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture
- Keeping an eye on SDG 15