FAO Pushes for Innovation for a Sustainable Future of Forests

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released the report titled The State of the World's Forests 2024 which highlights the role that innovation play in attaining a sustainable future for the forestry sector. The report was launched during the 27th session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO), held at FAO's headquarters in Rome in July 2024.

The SOFO 2024 reports that climate change contributes to increasing forests' vulnerability to stressors such as pests and wildfires. The intensity and frequency of wildfires are escalating, with more areas getting affected, which released 6,687 megatonnes of carbon dioxide globally.

Aside from wildfires, forests have increased their vulnerability to invasive species due to climate change. For instance, pine wood nematode has been reported to cause a significant change to native pine forest in Asia and North America. These areas are projected to experience devastating damage caused by insects and disease by 2027.

Global wood production continues to be high, and the global roundwood demand is projected to rise by up to 49 percent from 2020 to 2050.

Amidst all the challenges, the report argues that forest-sector innovation is vital in enabling progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. “FAO recognizes that science and innovation are crucial ingredients for achieving forest-based solutions,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu wrote in the report. “This edition of SOFO will inform FAO's work to scale up evidence-based innovation in forestry. I believe it will also support FAO Members and other stakeholders in enabling responsible, inclusive, and essential innovation in the forest sector to strengthen sustainability and the resilience of agrifood systems for a better world and a better future for all,” he added.

Download a copy of the report from FAO.