Global forest area fell by 129 million hectares between 1990–2015 to just under 4 billion hectares total, due largely to destruction for agricultural purposes, according to the United Nations’ 2016 State of the World’s Forest report.
The report calls for more positive interactions between agriculture and forestry to create sustainable resource systems and improve food security. The report cites studies from seven countries that have improved food security while simultaneously maintaining forest cover.
Vietnam, for example, shifted from state forestry to multi-stakeholder forestry that encouraged long-term investment by local communities in the forest resource. Costa Rica’s forest law, which makes natural forests virtually untouchable, has increased forest cover to 54 percent of the country’s land area in 2015. Tunisia is slowing deforestation by improving agriculture—better irrigation technology, fertilizers, seeds and farming practices—which decreases the total land area needed to yield quality crops.
“In addition to helping mitigate climate change and protect soils and water,” the report said, “forests hold more than 75 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, provide many products and services that contribute to socioeconomic development, and are particularly important for hundreds of millions of people in rural areas, including many of the world’s poorest people.”
