Sustainable forest management

Sustainable forest management addresses forest degradation and deforestation while increasing direct benefits to people and the environment. At the social level, sustainable forest management contributes to
livelihoods, income generation and employment. At the environmental level, it contributes to important services such as carbon sequestration and water, soil and biodiversity conservation.

FAO’s role in sustainable forest management

Managing forests sustainably means increasing their benefits, including timber and food, to meet society’s needs in a way that conserves and maintains forest ecosystems for the benefit of present and future
generations.

Many of the world's forests and woodlands, especially in the tropics and subtropics, are still not managed sustainably. Some countries lack appropriate forest policies, legislation, institutional frameworks and
incentives to promote sustainable forest management, while others may have inadequate funding and lack of technical capacity.Where forest management plans exist, they are sometimes limited to ensuring
the sustained production of wood, without paying attention to the many other products and services that forests offer .

At the same time, other land uses such as agriculture can seem financially more attractive in the short term than forest management, motivating deforestation and land-use changes.

FAO helps countries overcome these challenges by providing policy advice as well as supporting capacity building through field projects, workshops, seminars and hands-on training. The Organization also
helps countries in the assessment of their forest resources, definition of the elements of sustainable forest management and monitoring their progress towards it. FAO helps identify, test and promote
innovative, multipurpose forest management approaches and techniques that respond to the need for mitigating and adapting to a changing climate, increased demand for wood and non-wood forest products
and services, and threats from fires, pests and natural disasters.

FAO promotes sustainable forest management by working at the international level and through collaborative partnerships to address and help solve regional and global forest-related issues.

Sustainable Forest Management Toolbox

FAO has recently launched a Sustainable Forest Management Toolbox , a comprehensive online technical package of tools and examples to facilitate and guide the implementation of sustainable forest
management in various contexts. The Toolbox aims to make the wide body of collective knowledge and experience about sustainable forest management more accessible to forest managers and other
stakeholders, thereby supporting SFM dissemination and implementation on the ground.

Key Facts

In 2010, forests covered about 31 percent of the world's total land area

Forests contain most of the world's terrestrial biodiversity and almost as much carbon as in the atmosphere.

Forests provide livelihoods for more than a billion people and are vital for conservation of biodiversity, energy supply, and soil and water protection.

Deforestation affected an estimated 13 million hectares per year between 2000 and 2010, but thanks to afforestation and natural expansion the net forest loss was 5.2 million hectares per year.

Fire, forest pests and climate change are also contributing to loss of forests around the world.

Forests play a crucial role in the hydrological cycle, influencing the availability of water, regulating surface and groundwater flows, and maintaining high water quality.

Forests and trees reduce water-related risks such as landslides, local floods and droughts and help prevent desertification and salinization.

Why do we need FRA?

FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) provides essential information for understanding the extent of forest resources, their condition, management and uses.

Forests are more than trees and fundamental for food security and improved livelihoods. They contribute to resilience of communities by regulating water flows, providing food, wood energy, shelter, fodder
and fibre, generate income and employment as well as harbor biodiversity. Furthermore, forests support sustainable agriculture and human well-being by stabilizing soils and climate.

Forest management is the process of planning and implementing practices for the stewardship and use of forests and other wooded land to meet specific environmental, economic, social and cultural
objectives. It deals with the overall administrative, economic, legal, social, technical and scientific aspects related to natural and planted forests. It may involve varying degrees of deliberate human
intervention, ranging from actions aimed at safeguarding and maintaining forest ecosystems and their functions, to those favouring specific socially or economically valuable species or groups of species for
the improved production of forest goods and services.

A globally agreed definition of sustainable forest management (SFM) is impractical beyond a very general level because of the huge diversity of forest types, conditions and socioeconomic contexts
worldwide. In general, however, SFM can be viewed as the sustainable use and conservation of forests with the aim of maintaining and enhancing multiple forest values through human interventions. People
are at the centre of SFM because it aims to contribute to society’s diverse needs in perpetuity.