Knowledge Nugget: What UN FAO’s latest forest report reveals for UPSC aspirants

Why in the news?

India has climbed to ninth spot globally in total forest area and retained its third rank in annual forest area gain, according to a new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said India’s rise from the 10th to the ninth position marks a “major achievement” in sustainable forest management and ecological conservation.

Key takeaways:

1. FAO has been conducting Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRAs). FRAs, produced every five years, are the most comprehensive and transparent global evaluations of the state, management and uses of forest resources, covering all the thematic elements of sustainable forest management.

2. According to the report, the world has 4.14 billion hectares (ha) of forest, or 32 percent of total land area and equivalent to 0.50 ha of forest per person. The report pointed out that the rate of deforestation is declining, but still high at nearly 10.9 million ha per year in 2015–2025.

3. Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States of America, and China remain the top five countries with the largest forest areas globally. However, the annual rate of forest cover loss has increased globally. Between 2000 and 2015, forest loss averaged 3.68 million hectares per year, which has now risen to 4.12 million hectares due to a reduction in net forest gains in China, Canada, and the United States.

4. According to the report, seven countries and areas – the Falkland Islands (Malvinas),8 Gibraltar, Holy See, Monaco, Nauru, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, and Tokelau – reported having no forest at all. In contrast, another 49 countries have less than 10 percent of the total land area, highlighting the stark global disparities in forest distribution.

5. India achieved the third rank in the list of countries for annual net gain in forest area, with an annual increase of 191,000 hectares (0.27 percent of annual net change) between 2015 and 2025. China and Russia are the top countries where annual gain in net-forest area was registered between 2015-2025. On the other hand, Brazil, Angola, and the United Republic of Tanzania are countries registering the maximum annual net loss of forest area.

6. With a total of 72.74 million hectares of forest area, India accounts for 2 per cent of the world’s forest area, placing it just above Peru. In the 2015 assessment, India was ranked 10th. The growth in India’s forest cover is largely driven by the plantation of species such as bamboo and rubber.

7. FAO also publishes the State of the World’s Forests report biannually. According to the 2024 edition, India gained 266,000 hectares of forest annually between 2010 and 2020, ranking third globally in forest area gains.

Importance of Forest

1. Forests are important to recharge drinking water and act as natural filters. Their root systems absorb excess nutrients and pollutants from rainfall-runoff before it enters aquifers, keeping water safe to consume.

2. Those same roots protect landslides by holding the soil together, combat flooding after heavy rainfall by aiding water absorption, and in the case of mangrove forests, act as a coastal bulwark during storms by buffering surges.

3. The most important role of the forests is to ensure that we have enough food to eat, either through directly harboring fruit and wild animals that people eat, or by supporting agriculture through sheltering pollinators and supplying water.

4. Forests support more than 80% of biodiversity on land, including 80% of amphibians, and 75% of birds. Tropical rainforests are especially heavy lifters, holding more than half the world’s vertebrate species.

5. Forests are the largest carbon sinks on the planet alongside oceans and soil. They hold vast quantities of climate-warming gases which are largely released by burning fossil fuels.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Green India Mission

1. In June, the Centre revised the roadmap for the National Mission for Green India, also known as the Green India Mission (GIM). Along with increasing and restoring forest and green cover, the mission will also focus on restoration in the Aravalli ranges, Western Ghats, Himalayas and mangroves.

2. GIM was rolled out in 2014 as one of the eight missions under India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). Its core aim is to combat climate change by increasing forest and tree cover, and the ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems and forests.

3. Between 2015-16 and 2020-21, the mission facilitated tree plantation and afforestation activities across 11.22 million hectares (mha) of land, through central and state schemes.

4. India aims to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide through additional forest and tree cover by 2030, according to its national commitments to tackle climate change submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

5. India has also made an ambitious commitment to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. The GIM and allied interventions, such as the Green Wall project, are all designed to help meet these goals.

Post Read Question

Consider the following statements about the Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) report:

1. Released by UN FAO

2. India is globally ranked ninth in the total forest area

3. Tanzania has reported no forest at all

Which of the above-mentioned statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

(Sources: All about the revised Green India Mission to increase forest cover, address climate change, fao.org, Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) 2025, Knowledge Nugget: Why is International Day of Forest 2025 important for UPSC?)

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