State of the World’s Forests 2024 Report

About State of the World’s Forests 2024 Report:

• It is published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
• It provides a comprehensive analysis of forest conditions and trends. 
• Highlights of the Report:
  • It highlighted a decline in deforestation rates compared to previous decades, with several countries showing significant improvements. 
  • The data also reveals a disturbing picture of the challenges forests face due toclimate change.
  • In 2020, the global forest covered approximately 4.1 billion hectares (ha), or 31 percent of the land area.
  • Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States of America, and China account for 54 percent of the global forest area, in descending order. 
  • Another 10 countries, including Australia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Peru, and India, contribute about two-thirds of the global forest area. 
  • The report estimated that between 1990 and 2020, approximately 420 million ha of forest were converted to land use.
  • However, deforestation rates fell from 15.8 million ha per year between 1990 and 2002 to 10.2 million ha between 2015 and 2020. 
  • Deforestation rates in Africa were 4.41 million ha, 2.95 million in South America, and 2.24 million in Asia.
  • It also noted 10 countries recording annual gains in forest area in 2020, which include China, Australia, India, Chile, Viet Nam, Turkey, the United States of America, France, Italy, and Romania. 
• India gained 2,66,000 hectares of forest annually from 2010-2020, ranking third globally in forest area gains.
  • The global mangrove area was recorded to be 14.8 million ha, out of which South and Southeast Asia contributed almost 44 percent of the total global area. 
  • The rate of gross global mangrove loss decreased by 23 percent between the two recent decades (2000-2010 and 2010-2020), and the rate of gain in mangrove area also decreased slightly.
  • Asia was the major contributor to mangrove loss and gains.
  • It is estimated that about 340-370 million ha (equivalent to less than half the land area of Australia) of the earth’s land area is impacted by annual fire.
  • Satellite data revealed that total fires in 2023 emitted 6,687 megatons of carbon dioxide globally, more than double the emissions contributed by the European Union by burning fossil fuels.

Q1: What is the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)?

It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. It is headquartered at Rome, Italy. Its sister bodies are the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Source: State of the World’s Forests 2024: Global efforts curb deforestation, but threats to forests from wildfires and pests remain

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