Global forest resources assessment discussed in Finland
On 13–15 September 2011 in Finland, the UN FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) brought together 40 experts from 30 countries and international organisations. They were assembled to plan the development of the global forest resources assessment system. The meeting was tasked with drafting recommendations for the UN concerning the implementation of the next global forest resources assessment between 2011 and 2015. Deforestation was one of the participants’ major concerns.
The UN reports on the state of forests at five year intervals – deforestation continues
FAO has been reporting the world’s forest resources since 1946. This assessment work is based on data collected by each FAO member nation, which is then compiled through an extensive network of experts. The latest Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) report was published in the autumn of 2010. According to the report, 13 million hectares of forest was destroyed each year during the first half of the 2000s. This is equal to more than half of Finland’s forest area. In part, deforestation has been compensated for by increased planting. As a result, the estimated net loss was 5.8 million hectares per year. Deforestation is slowing down – the estimated net loss in the 1990s was 8.3 million hectares per year.
‘The world population is growing rapidly. It is estimated that, by 2030, there will be 1.2 billion more people on earth than today. The main reason for deforestation is poverty, because a growing population needs more land for food production. It is estimated that between 2012 and 2030, more than 65 million hectares of forest will be converted to meet agricultural needs,’ states Kari T. Korhonen, Senior Researcher at the Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla.
The FAO uses the Global Forest Resources Assessment tool (FRA) for monitoring the world’s forest resources. The FRA’s goal is to obtain reliable information on the world’s forests and changes in them over time.
Meeting in Pajulahti shapes the FRA’s strategy and future content
The main purpose of the FRA is to promote the sustainable use of forests and trees. To that end, the FRA provides information on the world’s forests and their changes over time. In the pursuit of global goals, agreeing on what is the most relevant data to collect globally and finding common definitions is challenging. Among other issues, the meeting in Pajulahti included making plans for the assessment of forest degradation, trees outside forest, and the various benefits of forests, as well as finding suitable definitions for them. This work will be continued in a more extensive expert meeting held in 2012.
More precise global assessments — forests to be mapped using satellite images
Only a small percentage of the 233 UN member states have a reliable forest monitoring system. For many countries, compilation of the report for 2010 has relied on outdated or insufficient data, which the experts have then supplemented. For the first time, the Global Forest Resources Assessment includes a remote sensing component . This component is expected to provide more reliable information on the area world’s forests, and its development, from 1990 to the end of 2011.
Finland’s data based on Metla’s statistics
The report compiled by the UN is based on information provided by its member states. In Finland, since the 1920s Metla (the Finnish Forest Research Institute) has been using national forest inventories to monitor the status of forests. In addition to data derived from inventories, Metla generates comprehensive statistics on the forest sector as a whole. This data has also been used for the UN reports.
‘Finland’s forests only comprise 0.5 per cent of the world’s forest area. Every four years, an amount of forest equivalent to Finland’s total forest area disappears from the planet. The role of Finnish forests may be minor as regards global development, but Finland’s sustainable use of forests, combined with environmental protection, provides an example to others. Finland’s long history of forestry and forest research has gained a great deal of respect around the world,’ states Korhonen.
Further information
- Background of meeting: Professor Risto Seppälä, tel. +358 (0)50 391 2160, risto.seppala @ metla.fi
- Finnish expert at the meeting: Senior Researcher Kari T. Korhonen, tel. +358 (0)50 391 3030, kari.t.korhonen @ metla.fi
- Finnish forest statistics: Head of Statistics Martti Aarne, tel. +358 (0)40 801 5121, martti.aarne @ metla.fi
- Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010, the report
- Report abstract (pdf)