The world’s forests are facing heightened vulnerability to wildfires and pests due to the impacts of climate change, according to a new report released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday.
“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 in ways that compound the local effects of global climate change, with potentially severe consequences for agricultural productivity,” the report emphasized.
The FAO report calls for innovation in the forestry sector and urgent international action to tackle these challenges and make progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Wildfires and Pests
Wildfires are becoming more intense and frequent globally, affecting even regions previously untouched by such fires. In 2023 alone, wildfires released an estimated 6,687 megatonnes of carbon dioxide. Fires in the boreal zone, located 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, including insects, pests, and disease pathogens that threaten tree growth and survival. The pine wood nematode, a microscopic parasitic roundworm, has already caused significant damage to native pine forests in some Asian countries. North America is also projected to experience severe damage from insects and disease by 2027.
This destruction poses a significant threat as global demand for wood production reaches record levels of four billion cubic meters a year. Projections show global roundwood demand could grow by up to 49 percent between 2020 and 2050.
Additionally, 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.
Innovative Solutions
FAO believes science can help address these challenges and identifies five types of innovation to enhance forests’ potential to address global issues: technological, social, policy, institutional, and financial. One example is using AI for data analysis and innovative financing for forest conservation.
Given that innovation can create winners and losers, FAO advocates for inclusive and gender-responsive approaches to ensure fair benefit distribution among all socioeconomic and ethnic groups.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu expressed hope that 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.