Protecting and Restoring Forests

The 2019 NYDF Progress Assessment finds that the world is not on track to meet its 2020 targets to halve tropical deforestation and restore 150 million hectares of degraded land. While some regional successes exist, such as a reduction in primary forest loss in Indonesia, global gross tree cover loss has increased by 43% since 2014. The report highlights a critical gap in finance, noting that 'green' finance for forests is dwarfed by 'grey' finance for agriculture, and argues that current corporate and government actions are too isolated and lack the ambition needed for systemic change.

• Global progress toward ending the loss of natural forests has not been achieved; instead, the global rate of gross tree cover loss increased by 43% since the NYDF was endorsed.
• The loss of irreplaceable humid tropical primary forests has accelerated by 44% since 2014, rising from 3.0 to 4.3 million hectares per year.
• Annual carbon dioxide emissions from tropical tree cover loss between 2014 and 2018 averaged 4.7 gigatons, exceeding the total 2017 greenhouse gas emissions of the European Union.
• The 2020 goal to restore 150 million hectares of forest landscapes will not be met, with only 18% (26.7 million hectares) documented as restored since 2000.
• A pilot study of the Mekong region indicates that most tree cover gain since 2010 occurred outside of forests (on croplands and shrublands), while the region still experienced a net loss of natural forests.
• Corporate efforts to eliminate deforestation from agricultural supply chains are insufficient; none of the 350 most influential companies are on track to meet their 2020 commitments, and only 8% have commitments covering all operations and supply chains.
• In Indonesia, primary forest loss dropped by more than 30% in 2017 and 2018 compared to the 2002–16 average, attributed to a combination of government moratoria on peatlands, private sector action, and wetter weather.
• Extractive industries and infrastructure act as 'drivers of drivers,' where the direct footprint of mining or oil and gas is small, but the resulting roads enable further migration and agricultural clearing.
• Poverty and lack of livelihood alternatives drive forest loss in regions like the Congo Basin, where shifting agriculture accounts for 70% of total tree cover loss in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• There is a severe imbalance in finance: public international finance for agriculture in deforestation countries is 15 times higher than climate mitigation finance specifically for forestry.
• Green finance for forests is significantly lower than for other climate sectors; since 2010, the renewables sector received over 100 times more financial commitments than forests.
• Forest governance improvements are too slow, with approximately 49% of tropical deforestation remaining illegal due to corruption, weak enforcement, and insecure tenure.
• Indigenous peoples and local communities manage at least 22% of the total carbon stored in tropical forests, yet a significant portion of their customary land rights remain unrecognized.

APA

Forest Declaration Assessment (2019). Protecting and Restoring Forests. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2019NYDFReport-low-res.pdf

Chicago

Forest Declaration Assessment. Protecting and Restoring Forests. 2019. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2019NYDFReport-low-res.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Forest Declaration Assessment |title=Protecting and Restoring Forests |date=September 2019 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2019NYDFReport-low-res.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forestdeclarationassessment2019protecting, author = {{Forest Declaration Assessment}}, title = {{Protecting and Restoring Forests}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2019NYDFReport-low-res.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }