The State of the World’s Forests 2020 has been produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for the first time.
As FAO and UNEP prepare to lead the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration from 2021, the report looks at the
need to protect the vast numbers of plants and animals found in the world’s forests, which are home to the majority of
terrestrial biodiversity.
While global deforestation slowed in the last decade, some 10 million hectares are still being lost each year. With
agricultural expansion the main driver, the report highlights the need for transformational change in the way we produce
and consume food.
Forests also have a direct impact on human survival, providing more than 86 million green jobs and supporting the
livelihoods of many others.
The report emphasizes the need for large-scale forest restoration efforts and notes that solutions that balance
conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity are both critical and possible.
FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen, will launch the report at a virtual event
in Rome. A media briefing will follow in Geneva.