Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests

The report finds that improvements in forest governance are too slow to measurably reduce deforestation, with rampant corruption and illegal land conversion persisting. While some progress has been made in transparency and demand-side timber regulations, significant gaps remain in recognizing the land rights of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). The document highlights a dangerous increase in violence and criminalization of land defenders and argues that secure tenure for IPLCs is more effective for forest protection than state-managed protected areas.

• Global progress in improving forest governance is insufficient to impact deforestation rates, with a strong correlation between high levels of corruption and high rates of forest loss.
• A significant portion of tropical deforestation is illegal, particularly when driven by commercial agriculture for palm oil, soy, beef, and paper/timber.
• Demand-side regulations to prohibit illegal timber imports have expanded into emerging Asian economies, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, and Vietnam, though some suffer from loopholes and weak enforcement.
• While more countries are adopting access-to-information laws, these are often undermined by broad exceptions for 'national interest' and a lack of proactive data release.
• Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) often protect forests more effectively than legally protected areas, yet 33–39 percent of their occupied lands in 14 assessed countries remain unrecognized by governments.
• Violence against land and forest defenders has increased annually since 2014, with Brazil consistently recording the highest number of killings.
• The implementation of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is limited; only 16 of 60 examined countries have laws requiring FPIC for timber extraction, and many of these are not respected in practice.
• Support for forest and farm producer organizations has led to significant income increases in several countries, including Kenya (46–65%), Nicaragua (30–50%), Myanmar (12–18%), and Vietnam (10–20%).

APA

Forest Declaration Assessment (2018). Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2018NYDFReport.pdf

Chicago

Forest Declaration Assessment. Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests. 2018. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2018NYDFReport.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Forest Declaration Assessment |title=Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests |date=November 2018 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2018NYDFReport.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forestdeclarationassessment2018progress, author = {{Forest Declaration Assessment}}, title = {{Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2018}, month = nov, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2018NYDFReport.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }