UNITED NATIONS, Jul 23 (Alliance News): The world’s forests are increasingly at risk from wildfires and pests due to climate change, according to a new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“Forests and trees are essential components of agrifood systems. The removal of forest cover, especially in the tropics, increases local temperatures and disrupts rainfall patterns, worsening the effects of global climate change and threatening agricultural productivity,” the report warned.
The FAO calls for innovation in the forestry sector and urgent international action to address these challenges and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Wildfires are now more intense and frequent globally, even in previously unaffected areas. In 2023 alone, wildfires released an estimated 6,687 megatonnes of carbon dioxide. Fires in the boreal zone just south of the Arctic reached a new high in 2021, accounting for nearly one-quarter of total wildfire emissions, up from 10 percent previously.
Climate change also increases forests’ vulnerability to invasive species, with insects, pests, and diseases threatening tree growth and survival. For example, the pine wood nematode, a microscopic parasitic roundworm, has caused significant damage to native pine forests in some Asian countries. North America is projected to experience severe damage from insects and diseases by 2027.
This destruction of forests is alarming given the record demand for global wood production, at four billion cubic meters a year. Projections indicate global round wood demand could grow by up to 49 percent between 2020 and 2050. Nearly six billion people rely on non-timber forest products, and 70 percent of the world’s poor depend on wild species for their basic needs.
The FAO believes that science can help address these challenges and identifies five types of innovation to enhance forests’ potential to tackle global issues: technological, social, policy, institutional, and financial. Examples include using AI for data analysis and innovative financing for forest conservation.
To ensure fair distribution of benefits among men, women, and youth in all socioeconomic and ethnic groups, the FAO advocates for inclusive and gender-responsive approaches.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu hopes the new report will “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.
