New paradigm for saving the world’s forests?

Conserving forests, especially tropical forests, and curbing deforestation have been among the most important issues in the global environmental processes and discussions for decades. Despite the international efforts and policy dialogue, the world’s forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization annually 13 million hectares of forest are converted to other land uses or lost through natural causes (FAO 2010). Most of the forest loss is taking place in the tropics. The global importance of forest based goods and services has now been widely acknowledged. In addition to timber and woodfuel, forests provide numerous non-wood forest products such as food, fibre, resins, oils, and plant and animal products used for medicinal, cosmetic or cultural purposes, as well as vital ecosystem services. Forests play a crucial role in carbon sequestration and storage, in regulating water flows, air filtration, controlling erosion and in the provision of habitat for 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. With climate change the role of forests in the global carbon balance has become one of the most important topics in the global environmental policy processes. According to a new report (FAO & ITTO 2011), the world’s three rainforest basins (Amazon basin, Congo basin and Southeast Asia) account for 33% of the world’s forests and for an estimated 42% (or 271 Gt) of the carbon stored in the world’s forests. Between 2000 and 2010 the net loss of forests in these areas was 5.4 million hectares per year, which resulted in a reduction of the carbon stock by an estimated 1.2 Gt of carbon annually.