Forests for People

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Forests in a green economy

Niklas Hagelberg, United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya

he contribution of forest ecosystems to socio-economic

development and human well-being – including

construction material, food, energy and cultural iden-

tity – is undeniable, but is often sidelined in development

decision-making. On the other hand, human behaviour and

economic development continue to have impacts upon the

quality and extent of forest cover, both positively and nega-

tively. Human expansion has partly caused the extensive

decline in forests, which today remain at almost half of their

original cover of 8,000 years ago. Additionally, most remain-

ing forests are disturbed, possess less biodiversity and have a

lower level of ecosystem functioning and resilience compared

to pristine natural forest.

Even though forests today still cover some 31 per cent of the global

land area, the reduction of forest cover continues, totalling approx-

imately 13 million hectares (ha) per year. Globally,

however, forest cover is recovering at a rate of about

5 million ha per year. This growth is attributable to

secondary forest being regenerated through reforesta-

tion, mainly in Asia.

Forest ecosystems have been recognized under the

three Rio conventions as both a source of climate change

and a solution to it, providing habitats for terrestrial

biodiversity and helping to combat land degrada-

tion and fight poverty in dry lands. These ecosystems

are even deeper at the heart of humanity when one

considers the 350 million humans (60 million of them

indigenous people) depending directly on them and the

cultural identity that many people have built around

forests. The contributions by the forest industry alone

are estimated at 1 per cent of global gross added value

Although forests cover almost one third of the Earth’s land area, they are declining at a rate of millions of hectares a year