Open letter to FAO on the occasion of March 21st 2014 – International Day of Forests: Defining Forests by their true meaning!

A coalition of social movements and NGOs argues that the FAO's current forest definition is reductionist and primarily benefits industrial timber, pulp, paper, and rubber companies. The authors contend that by defining forests simply as land with a certain percentage of tree cover, the FAO erroneously classifies large-scale monoculture plantations as 'reforestation' and ignores the structural and cultural importance of forests to the 300 million people who depend on them for their livelihoods. The letter calls for a new, community-led definition process that recognizes the role of forests in food sovereignty and biological diversity.

• The current FAO definition of forests is criticized as reductionist because it focuses solely on tree cover and height, ignoring the biological and functional diversity of non-tree elements and the cultural relationship between forests and local communities.
• The FAO's definition allows industrial monoculture plantations—including eucalyptus, acacia, and rubber—to be classified as 'planted forests' or 'reforestation,' which the authors argue masks actual forest loss and contributes to the destruction of biomes like grasslands and savannas.
• Approximately 300 million people worldwide depend directly on forests for their livelihoods, including indigenous peoples and peasants who rely on non-timber forest products and forest-based agriculture to ensure their food sovereignty.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2014). Open letter to FAO on the occasion of March 21st 2014 – International Day of Forests: Defining Forests by their true meaning! https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Declaration-March-21st-2014-on-Forest-Definition.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. Open letter to FAO on the occasion of March 21st 2014 – International Day of Forests: Defining Forests by their true meaning! 2014. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Declaration-March-21st-2014-on-Forest-Definition.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=Open letter to FAO on the occasion of March 21st 2014 – International Day of Forests: Defining Forests by their true meaning! |date=21 March 2014 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Declaration-March-21st-2014-on-Forest-Definition.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{friendsoftheearthinternational2014open, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{Open letter to FAO on the occasion of March 21st 2014 – International Day of Forests: Defining Forests by their true meaning!}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2014}, month = mar, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Declaration-March-21st-2014-on-Forest-Definition.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }