Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Toolbox

Reducing Forest Degradation

This module is intended for forest and land managers, as well as for stakeholders in all sectors involved in joint efforts to reduce forest degradation. It provides guidance on how to slow, halt and reverse forest degradation within a manager’s sphere of control and influence. Readers may find it helpful to read this module in conjunction with the Reducing Deforestation module.  

Caspari T., Alex­ander, S., Ten Brink, B. & Laestadius, L. 2013. Review of Global Assessments of Land and Ecosystem Degradation and their Relevance in Achieving the Land-based Aichi Biodiversity Targets - A technical report prepared for the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD).

FAO. 2011. Measuring Forest Degradation. Unasylva No. 238. Vol. 62, 2011/2.

FAO. 2011. Submission to the UNFCCC Secretariat on issues identified in decision 1/CP. 16, paragraph 72 and appendix II, in answer to the invitation of paragraph 5 of draft conclusions UNFCCC/SBSTA/2011/L.25.

FAO. 2013. Climate change guidelines for forest managers. FAO Forestry

FAO. 2013. FRA 2015 Terms and definitions. Forest Resources Assessment Working Paper 180

Grau, H. R., & Aide, M. 2008. Globalization and land-use transitions in Latin America. Ecology and Society 13(2): 16.

Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R.S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., Angelsen A. & Romijn, E. 2012. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries. Environ. Res. Lett. 7 (2012) 044009 (12 p.)

Lanly, J. 2003. Deforestation and forest degradation factors. XII World Forestry Congress paper. http://www.fao.org/docrep/article/wfc/xii/ms12a-e.htm

McCormick, N., Jenkins, M. and Maginnis, S. 2014. Biofuels and degraded land: the potential role of intensive agriculture in landscape restoration. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. 48 p.

Prince’s Charities’ International Sustainability Unit. 2015. Tropical Forests. A review.

Simula, M. 2009. Towards defining forest degradation: comparative analysis of existing definitions. Forest Resources Assessment Working Paper 154.