At the landmark 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit), solemn resolutions were made both to protect the world’s biodiversity and to co-operate on managing natural forests in a sustainable and ecologically responsible way. If anything, given recent developments in issues such as climate change and poverty, the problem of protecting and sustaining forests should logically have become more important globally. Yet public interest in, and development support for, forest activities have declined and rates of forest loss remain stubbornly high. Why has this happened? This book seeks answers to this question. It examines the often dysfunctional relationships between various members of the international forest constituency, which have so often prevented the formation of consensus. It also explores the tendency to pursue technical and politically convenient ‘fixes’ focused on the internal workings of the forest sector, while ignoring the overwhelming influence of external forces on the fate of forests. The result, all too often, has been programs which benefit a few powerful players and fail to provide real solutions. The book provides a new examination of and perspective on the international forest policy debate. It clarifies the reasons for global forest conflicts and provides insight for future policy development. Including examples from both the developed and developing world, it provides an invaluable resource for researchers and graduate students in forest policy and international relations, as well as a useful reference for policymakers and professionals in the forest sector, the development community and conservationists. With significant global attention now focused on reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), the authors examine the promise and the potential problems that apply to this initiative.

Nearly three years ago, world leaders agreed to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the central framework for guiding development policies throughout the world. This edition of The State of the World’s Forests is aimed at enhancing our understanding of how forests and their sustainable management contribute to achieving several of the SDGs. Time is running out for the world’s forests: we need to work across sectors, bring stakeholders together, and take urgent action. The State of the World’s Forests 2018 identifies actions that can be taken to increase the contributions of forests and trees that are necessary to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. It is now critical that steps be taken to work more effectively with the private sector, and the informal forest sector must be transformed in order to bring broader economic, social and environmental benefits. Seventy years ago, when FAO completed its first assessment of the world’s forest resources, the major concern was whether there would be enough timber to supply global demand; now we recognize the greater global relevance of our forests and trees. For the first time, The State of the World’s Forests 2018 provides an assessment of the contribution of forests and trees to our landscapes and livelihoods. The purpose of this publication is to provide a much wider audience with an understanding of why forests and trees matter for people, the planet and posterity.

A unique report of the current status and future survival of the world's forests compiled by an international independent commission.

An urgent and illuminating portrait of forest migration, and of the people studying the forests of the past, protecting the forests of the present, and planting the forests of the future. Forests are restless. Any time a tree dies or a new one sprouts, the forest that includes it has shifted. When new trees sprout in the same direction, the whole forest begins to migrate, sometimes at astonishing rates. Today, however, an array of obstacles—humans felling trees by the billions, invasive pests transported through global trade—threaten to overwhelm these vital movements. Worst of all, the climate is changing faster than ever before, and forests are struggling to keep up. A deft blend of science reporting and travel writing, The Journeys of Trees explores the evolving movements of forests by focusing on five trees: giant sequoia, ash, black spruce, Florida torreya, and Monterey pine. Journalist Zach St. George visits these trees in forests across continents, finding sequoias losing their needles in California, fossil records showing the paths of ancient forests in Alaska, domesticated pines in New Zealand, and tender new sprouts of blight-resistant American chestnuts in New Hampshire. Everywhere he goes, St. George meets lively people on conservation’s front lines, from an ecologist studying droughts to an evolutionary evangelist with plans to save a dying species. He treks through the woods with activists, biologists, and foresters, each with their own role to play in the fight for the uncertain future of our environment. An eye-opening investigation into forest migration past and present, The Journeys of Trees examines how we can all help our trees, and our planet, survive and thrive.

This book addresses current global and regional issues concerning the world's forests, societies and the environment from an independent and non-governmental point of view. A main message is that cooperation on a global scale is not only commendable, but essential if solutions to the problems facing the world's forests are to be found. To achieve this, modern science needs to find a clearer picture of relationships between forests, human activity and the environment and of the consequences of environmental change for the ability of societies to survive. Part I, Editorial Perspectives, is analyzing the ongoing globalization processes of forests, societies and the environment. Part II, Society and Environment, reviews worldwide trends with significance for the future of forests and forestry. While the trends are influenced by forest sector issues, that sector is influenced to a much larger extent by external factors - such as demography, urbanization, or technological development. Part III, Importance of Forests, looks at the value of the goods and services of forests; tangible and intangible; market and non-market; and concludes that failure to recognize their full value is one of the crucial impediments to sustainable development. In Part IV, Global Forum, scientists take up global forestry themes - deforestation, trade and the environment, climate change, biodiversity - with the aim of stimulating wider discussion. Part V, Regional Forum, looks at major themes of particular relevance to Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, North America and Europe, such as farm and agroforestry, corruption and concessions, urban forestry and environmental conflicts. Part VI introduces the special theme - forest sectors in transition economies. Teams of scientists from Russia and China focus on the implications of the transition from plan to market economy, illuminating both the very different nature of the forest sector in the two countries and the different transition paths that they have adopted. In the past millennium the entire world has been discovered. In the past half century the contribution of forests to the economy worldwide has been perceived, while only recently have their societal and environmental benefits been globally recognized. Globalization is a demanding process requiring knowledge and information. This book offers knowledge, facts and information – but also values from diverse human and cultural perspectives – about world forests, society and environment to help us towards equity in our use of the global forest, to create a clearer vision on a unasylva.