A boreal forest or taiga. Photo: Wikimedia Commons While forest area has declined all across the world in the past three decades, the rate of forest loss has declined due to the growth of sustainable management. The rate of forest loss in 2015-2020 declined to an estimated 10 million hectares (mha), down from 12 million hectares (mha) in 2010-2015, according to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 (FRA 2020). The FRA 2020 was released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on May 13, 2020. The FRA 2020 has examined the status of, and trends in, more than 60 forest-related variables in 236 countries and territories in the period 1990–2020. The world lost 178 mha of forest since 1990, an area the size of Libya, according to the report. However, the rate of net forest loss decreased substantially during 1990–2020 due to a reduction in deforestation in some countries, plus increases in forest area in others through afforestation and the natural expansion of forests, it added. The rate of net forest loss declined from 7.8 mha per year in the decade 1990–2000 to 5.2 mha per year in 2000–2010 and 4.7 mha per year in 2010–2020. Among […]
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