Forests and people from around the globe – in pictures
Forests a key feature of food security landscape
The photos below were entries in the XIV World Forestry Congress ‘Forests and People’ photo contest. Take a tour with us around the world and learn interesting facts on forests and the socioeconomic benefits they provide to people around the world.
GABON
I never met someone who knew about the forest like Jean Pierre. He was able to locate the trees better than a GPS. He saved my life twice. ©FAO/Liliana Vanegas
Close to 1.6 billion people – more than 25% of the world’s population – rely on forest resources for their livelihoods and most of them (1.2 billion) use trees on farms for food and income.
INDIA
Wood forms a major source of fuel and women are often involved in the collection of wood fuel. ©FAO/Dakshina Murthy
Worldwide, one in three households rely on wood fuel for cooking. In addition, some 764 million people use wood fuel to boil and clean their water.
PORTUGAL
A small non-governmental organization in Portugal called the Flamingo Group has a forestry nursery. In this photo one of the workers is transplanting a baby Quercus canariensis that will be planted in the Serra de Monchique. ©FAO/Mauro Hilário
The species used in planted forests vary by region. Overall, however, conifers account for 52 percent and broadleaved species for 37 percent of the global planted forest area.
INDONESIA
Do you want to try something different? I am so grateful to live near the forest so I can eat these jengkol fruits every day with my family. ©FAO/Yunita Kopjanski
Forest foods such as leaves, fruits, nuts, mushrooms, honey and insects have long been an important part of the diets of people living in and around forests and provide them with essential vitamins and minerals.
AUSTRALIA
Andrew, at the ground plot measuring data for the Victorian Forest Monitoring Programme. ©FAO/Salahuddin Ahmad
Reliable forest-related information is essential for planning, policy development and sustainable forest management, and for meeting international reporting requirements.
PERU
We tend to get too wrapped up in our daily problems and forget that we are part of a whole and that we are as fragile as a leaf. ©FAO/Sofía Alvarez Capuñay
Forests are critical to the Earth's carbon balance and hold about three-quarters as much carbon as is in the whole atmosphere. Deforestation and forest degradation increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but forests and trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow.
CHINA
A young forest worker holding his saw takes a short rest from cutting larch trees. ©FAO/Jun Lu
Around 13.2 million people, or 0.4 percent of the global workforce, are employed in the formal forest sector– but many more are directly dependent on forests for their livelihoods.
ETHIOPIA
Dorze Woman travelling through the mountains of Entoto carrying eucalyptus branches and leaves to sell at the local market. ©FAO/Tsigie Befekad
In many places, women collect, process and market forest products such as essential oils, gum arabic, honey, nuts, shea, mushrooms and rattan. This generates additional income for their families and contributes to the food security of their households.
