Can Forests Withstand and Recover from Wildfires?

The document examines how climate change and human activity are increasing the vulnerability of both fire-adapted and non-adapted forests. It highlights the severe carbon emissions and ecological losses from recent record-breaking fires in 2023 and 2024, particularly in Canada and South America. The text details the drivers of vulnerability—including forest fragmentation and drought—and proposes resilience strategies such as securing Indigenous land rights, implementing fire breaks, and expanding restoration financing.

• Wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense, affecting forests that have not historically adapted to fire. In 2024, fires burned 13 million hectares of natural and planted forests, emitting 4.1 billion tons of greenhouse gases, which is more than four times the 2023 emissions from air travel.
• Forest resilience varies by type: boreal forests in regions like Canada and Russia have evolved traits like thick bark and heat-resistant seed pods, while tropical rainforests in the Amazon and Congo Basin lack these adaptations and can suffer high mortality even from brief fires.
• Climate change and deforestation are exacerbating fire risk. Nearly half of global forests are now more vulnerable to drought than at the start of the century, and most are twice as likely to face extreme fire weather. Additionally, over 50% of the world's forests became more fragmented between 2000 and 2020, drying out forest floors and removing seed sources for recovery.
• The economic and human costs of wildfires are significant, with an estimated $45 billion to $77 billion in commercial timber destroyed since 2001 and wildfire smoke linked to over 1.5 million annual deaths.
• Effective resilience strategies include protecting Indigenous land rights, as forests managed by these communities tend to regrow faster and store more carbon, and utilizing financial mechanisms like the Tropical Forest Forever Facility and WRI’s Forest Resilience Bond.

APA

van der Sande, M. (2026). Can Forests Withstand and Recover from Wildfires? World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/forests-wildfire-recovery

Chicago

van der Sande, Masha. Can Forests Withstand and Recover from Wildfires? World Resources Institute, 2026. https://www.wri.org/insights/forests-wildfire-recovery.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=van der Sande |first1=Masha |title=Can Forests Withstand and Recover from Wildfires? |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=15 April 2026 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/forests-wildfire-recovery |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vandersande2026can, author = {van der Sande, Masha}, title = {{Can Forests Withstand and Recover from Wildfires?}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2026}, month = apr, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/forests-wildfire-recovery}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }