Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Technical Annexes

The document evaluates the impact of subsistence and smallholder activities on forest loss, noting that while they account for approximately 33% of deforestation and 27-34% of degradation in tropical and subtropical regions, the relationship between poverty and forest loss is non-linear. It identifies clean cookstove distribution and financial support for woodfuel interventions as key proxy indicators for progress. The report highlights a significant increase in Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the woodfuel sector and provides case studies from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru to illustrate localized interventions. It concludes that agricultural ODA and climate mitigation forestry ODA are largely uncoordinated, with the latter concentrating in middle-income countries rather than the least developed countries where food security is most pressing.

• Subsistence and smallholder activities are not the primary drivers of deforestation in most high-loss regions, though they are estimated to be responsible for about 33% of deforestation and 27-34% of forest degradation across tropical and subtropical countries in Africa, Asia, and America.
• The relationship between poverty and forest loss is not linear; while low productivity can increase the land footprint for subsistence, increasing wealth can also drive forest loss by providing the financial and technological means to deforest.
• Financial support for woodfuel interventions is increasing, with ODA for the sector rising from an annual average of US$3.6 million (2006-2009) to US$47 million (2010-2013), and cookstove project developers receiving US$273 million in 2014.
• Clean cookstove distribution is largely targeting priority countries; in 2013, 93.5% of the 13.37 million replacement cookstoves distributed went to countries identified as priority intervention areas, with China receiving 47% of the total.
• In the Mai Ndombe Province of the DRC, a multi-pillar program involving an estimated US$95 million investment (2015-2020) targets agriculture, energy, forest, and enabling activities to reduce slash-and-burn farming and charcoal production.
• The Tambopata-Bahuaja REDD+ Project in Peru addresses small-scale agriculture as a driver of forest loss by working with over 1,100 smallholder farmers to produce certified 'zero-deforestation' organic and Fairtrade cocoa.
• There is a lack of coordination between agricultural ODA and climate mitigation forestry ODA; the former is highest in least developed countries with pressing food security needs, while the latter concentrates in middle-income countries.

APA

Forest Declaration Assessment (2015). Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Technical Annexes. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2015Goal4.pdf

Chicago

Forest Declaration Assessment. Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Technical Annexes. 2015. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2015Goal4.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Forest Declaration Assessment |title=Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Technical Annexes |date=November 2015 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2015Goal4.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forestdeclarationassessment2015progress, author = {{Forest Declaration Assessment}}, title = {{Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Technical Annexes}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2015}, month = nov, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2015Goal4.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }