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International Mountain Day

11 December 2024, New York, United States of America

International Day of Forests

21 March 2024, New York, United States of America

Webinar to celebrate 10 years of the Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative on the occasion of the International Day of Forests

21 March 2024, Online

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the International Day of Forests, 21 March 2024

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the International Day of Forests, 21 March 2024

Webinar to celebrate 10 years of the Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative on the occasion of the International Day of Forests, 21 March 2024, online

Reference: SCBD/SSSF/JL/SK/JA/LJ/91539 (2024-014)
To: CBD national focal points and SBSTTA focal points, indigenous peoples and local communities, and relevant global and regional organizations and initiatives, cc: Cartagena Protocol focal points, ABS focal points

International Mountain Day

11 December 2023, New York, United States of America

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Forests for our Future, a High-Level Event of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), on the occasion of the 2023 SDG Summit, 18 September 2023

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Forests for our Future, a High-Level Event of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), on the occasion of the 2023 SDG Summit, 18 September 2023

International Forum facilitated by the Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative: Workshop on ecosystem restoration-related planning and capacity-building needs for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

12 September 2023, Online

Global Soil Partnership Plenary Assembly (FAO)

12 - 14 July 2023, Rome, Italy

Global Symposium on Soil and Water (FAO)

31 May - 2 June 2023, Rome, Italy

11th session of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITWG-PGRFA)

18 - 20 April 2023, Rome, Italy

International Day of Forests: "Forests and health"

21 March 2023, Rome, Italy

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the International Day of Forests, 21 March 2023

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the International Day of Forests, 21 March 2023

7th session of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Forest Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITWG-FGR) - FAO

7 - 9 March 2023, Rome, Italy

Midwest forests lost 8,000 years of stored carbon in just 150 years new animated maps track the changes, revealing lessons for climate projects today

“Plant a tree” seems to be the go-to answer to climate change concerns these days. Booking a rental car online recently, I was asked to check a box to plant a tree to offset my car’s anticipated carbon dioxide emissions. In 2020, the governor of my state, Indiana, launched an initiative to plant ...

UP Forest Department to tap technology to check human-wildlife conflict

The Uttar Pradesh Forest Department will install light and sound-emitting devices in villages adjoining the Dudhwa-Katarniaghat forest buffer zone to prevent wild animals from entering human habitats.

How Forest Structure Drives Productivity

Forests make large contributions to Earth’s climate, from releasing water vapor to pulling in carbon dioxide from the air, which mitigates global warming. The arrangement of trees affects how forests use light and water for photosynthesis, and it is known that more complex forests have higher pr ...

Namibia loses nearly 20 percent of forest in last 30 years

Namibia has lost nearly 20 percent of its forest area during the past 30 years as a result of unsustainable use of resources, a government official said Wednesday.

‘In 10 years, we might not have forests’: DRC struggles to halt charcoal trade – a photo essay

Every few seconds a handful of reddish clay is scraped out of a bucket, rolled briskly into a ball, coated in charcoal dust and left in the sun to dry. For the past three years, Nzigire Ntavuna, 39, has been making these balls on the outskirts of Kahuzi-Biega national park, in the rainforest in ...

Firefighters attempt to save giant sequoias as Yosemite wildfire grows

A grove containing some of the world’s oldest giant sequoia trees is under threat from a rapidly growing wildfire at California’s Yosemite national park.

Rubber used by leading European tire makers linked to forest loss in Africa: Report

Top European tire makers, including France’s Michelin and Germany’s Continental AG, are sourcing rubber from agribusinesses implicated in deforestation and undermining land rights in western and central Africa, a report by the non-profit Global Witness found.

New disease strikes Michigan trees. Arborists don't know how to treat it

A mysterious invasive disease has hit a stand of southeast Michigan trees, adding to a long list of threats faced by state forests.

Ambulances for plants: Meet India’s ecological emergency service

An ambulance speeds through the streets, but it doesn’t have blue lights or any kind of siren. And instead of medical equipment, it is stocked with gardening tools, fertilizers and ladders.

Planting trees for the Planet’s beating heart

Reconnecting rural areas, mountains, plains, urban space – reconstructing woodlands and forests, placing with care the right trees in the right places, creating ‘ecological pathways’ able to recreate the natural beauty of world communities: this is the commitment of the Alberitalia Foundation to ...

UN Secretary-General António Guterres says Suriname gives ‘hope and inspiration to the world to

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says Suriname gives “hope and inspiration to the world to save our rain forests.” He made the comment on Saturday as he saw first-hand the commitment of the Surinamese people to protect their natural treasures and ancestral knowledge.

The roots of sustainability: 5 reasons why cities need trees

As most cities and countries continue to report hotter summer days that are breaking 100-year records, indoor cooling can offer only little respite and to the privileged few.

Coal mining threatens Ethiopia’s ancient coffee forest

Sitting high in the hills of southwestern Ethiopia, the thick green forest of Yayu is a haven of biodiversity where Nuradin Aliyi, a third-generation wild-coffee farmer, has lived his whole life intertwined with nature.

In Nigeria's disappearing forests, loggers outnumber trees

Deep in a forest in Nigeria's Ebute Ipare village, Egbontoluwa Marigi sized up a tall mahogany tree, methodically cut it down with his axe and machete, and as it fell with a crackling sound, he surveyed the forest for the next tree.

End old-growth logging in carbon-rich ‘crown jewel’ of U.S. forests: Study

A recent study of the Tongass National Forest, the largest in the United States, found that it contains 20% of the carbon held in the entire national forest system.

Alerce tree in Chile may be the oldest in the world

Chilean environmental scientist Jonathan Barichivich has been making waves in the dendrochronology community of late due to his study and findings regarding an alerce tree in Alerce Costero National Park—he believes the tree may be the oldest in the world.

Planting Trees Isn’t Enough. Here’s Why We Need Tiny Man-Made Forests.

In 2019, Ethiopia famously planted 350 million trees. The same year, Turkey planted 11 million of its own. It’s no exaggeration that tree-planting has taken root around the world as a popular fix for the climate crisis through campaigns like the Trillion Trees initiative and Bonn Challenge, but ...

Spatial aspects of biodiversity and the homogenization threat to forest ecosystems

A study from the Missouri Ozarks highlights the importance of spatial aspects of biodiversity for healthy functioning of naturally occurring forests.

In Jordan, the Middle East’s first Miyawaki-style ‘baby’ forests take root

It’s a quiet day in Omar al-Faisal Park, in the impoverished industrial outskirts of Jordan’s capital, Amman. Sandwiched between the runway of a military airport and residential streets, the park seems unimpressive at first glance, but it shelters a little-known gem.

Drastic declines in Neotropical birds in a protected Panamanian forest

Tropical forests harbor around two-thirds of the world’s biodiversity. The Neotropics—comprising Central America, the Caribbean and South America—are home to a third of the world’s known bird species, the highest among all biogeographical realms.

Borneo: Forests for a better future

Indonesia has lost nearly a fifth of its forests in just the last 20 years. But the island of Kalimantan, also known as Borneo, is beginning to see signs of change.

How illegal logging is threatening Romania's unique virgin forests

Romania is home to Europe's richest forests in terms of biodiversity. But every day they're being diminished - by illegal logging

Tree may be the world's oldest, dating to 3,400 years before the birth of Christ

In the lush green forest of the Alerce Costero national park in southern Chile, one majestic tree that towers over the rest could give what's currently recognized as the world's oldest tree a run for its money.

New clues about the secretive lives of tree hyraxes

Tree hyraxes are non-descript, mid-sized mammals that wake after dark in the canopies of Tropical African forests. Because they’re a shy nocturnal mammal living high in trees, little has been discovered about their behavior.

Working to save an urban forest gave me back my confidence

I stood on the street corner — my first Saturday protest at the Fairview forest — filled with dread. Would I be able to handle the two hours on my own? I didn't like being away from home where I knew it was safe; I'd been through too many panic attacks in public spaces over the last 10 years.

How can Indonesia improve the REDD+ project to stop deforestation?

Indonesia is home to the world's third-largest tropical forest area and since 2009 has operated a forest-based climate action project developed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Forest Forecast

These are strange times for the Indigenous Nenets reindeer herders of northern Siberia. In their lands on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, bare tundra is thawing, bushes are sprouting, and willows that a generation ago struggled to reach knee height now grow 3 meters tall, hiding the reindeer. Su ...

US forests provide 83 million people with half their water

Forested lands across the U.S. provide 83 million people with at least half of their water, according to a broad new study of surface water sources for more than 5,000 public water systems.

Turkey’s forests thrive again after devastating wildfires

Images shared by the General Directorate of Forestry this week show the progress in Turkey’s efforts to replenish areas that fell victim to last year’s forest fires. Barren land has lost its pale hue as saplings planted after the fires rapidly grow.

Phantom Forests: What They Are, and Why They’re Controversial

Environmentalists are doing everything they can to save the planet, and one increasingly popular tactic is to plant trees — but oftentimes, they lead to phantom forests.

Extinction obituary: why experts weep for the quiet and beautiful Hawaiian po’ouli

The last po’ouli died in an unusual nest. Too weak to perch, the brownish-greyish songbird rested in a small towel twisted into a ring. He was the last of his species, the last in fact of an entire group of finches, and occurred nowhere on Earth outside its native Hawaii.

The story of Bremji Kul, Kashmir’s sacred tree

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “the creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.” A few hundred years ago, the Kashmir Valley was a gathering place for spiritual activities, a holy place that attracted dozens of men and women and encouraged them to live a life closer to God.

These seed-firing drones are planting 40,000 trees every day to fight deforestation

Let’s face it. Talk about biodiversity loss at a party and you’re unlikely to make friends. Talk about an army of seed-firing drones, however, and suddenly you’re the coolest person there.

15th World Forestry Congress 2022: "Building a Green, Healthy and Resilient Future with Forests"

2 - 6 May 2022, Coex, Seoul, Republic of Korea

‘Relentless’ destruction of rainforest continuing despite Cop26 pledge

Pristine rainforests were once again destroyed at a relentless rate in 2021, according to new figures, prompting concerns governments will not meet a Cop26 deal to halt and reverse deforestation by the end of the decade.

2021 tropical forest loss figures put zero-deforestation goal by 2030 out of reach

The world lost a Cuba-sized area of tropical forest in 2021, putting it far off track from meeting the no-deforestation goal by 2030 that governments and companies committed to at last year’s COP26 climate summit.

Forests in the tropics are critical for tackling climate change – yet the people showing how are being exploited

Nowhere is nature more vibrant than in Earth’s tropical forests. Thought to contain more than half of all plant and animal species, the forests around Earth’s equator have sustained foragers and farmers since the earliest days of humanity.

10 Shocking Statistics About Deforestation

Through land clearing for agricultural farming, logging for products such as timber and paper, urban expansion, and infrastructural development, humans are destroying one of Earth’s most important natural resources: forests.

Turkey’s forest losses spike in 2021, a year of country's worst fires

Forest fires, exacerbated by the fallout from climate change, threaten Turkey’s evergreen land. The country saw 226,845 hectares of forests damaged or completely burned between 2012 and 2021, with more than 61% of this loss taking place in 2021 alone.

Forest coverage along upper reaches of Yellow River increases in decade

The forest coverage rate in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in Haidong City, Qinghai Province, has increased to 36 percent in 2021 from 28 percent in 2020 since Haidong implemented an ecological conservation strategy a decade ago.

The amazing — and unknown — diversity of insects living in the Amazon canopy

Small and often imperceptible to the human eye, insects play a vital role in the environment. “They appeared more than 400 million years before humans,” says Dalton de Souza Amorim, a researcher from the University of São Paulo.

International Day of Forests

21 March 2022, New York, United States of America

Statement by Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of International Day of Forests

Statement by Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of World Water Day

Using DNA to uncover the secrets of Liberia's rainforests

A group of conservationists is using environmental DNA to track animals in Liberian forests to help better understand their intricate biodiversity and ensure further protection of these environments.

Forest Edges Are More, Not Less, Productive Than Interior Forest

Trees at the edges of forests often seem like an afterthought, but those trees may play an outsized role in carbon storage, new research from the northeastern United States has found.

A more potent CO2 sink than the Amazon, Brazil’s mangroves remain overlooked

Tropical forests play a fundamental role in storing carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. And while the Amazon rainforest is often top of mind when it comes to stores of CO2, there’s another ecosystem in Brazil that stashes away a much larger amount of carbon pe ...

Bridges in the sky carry sloths to safety in Costa Rica

Every morning, Anna Baltodano and Michael Chizkov look out from their terrace in search of sloths. Notoriously slow-moving and with fur the color of tree branches, the animals blend into the trees where they sleep, eat and move — ever so languidly — among monkeys, iguanas and toucans.

Turkey eyes win-win with mastic trees for burned forest areas

Located right across the Greek island of Chios, the Çeşme peninsula of Turkey lags behind the island in terms of its most famous product: mastic, a plant used in the production of chewing gums and as a spice in cuisines of the two neighboring countries.

Eucalypt of the Year: 25 species from tall to small vie for top tree

As a teenager, Dean Nicolle dreamed of planting one of every eucalypt species in Australia. He took his parents to nurseries and requested that they buy “any eucalypt with a different name on it”. Nicolle, a self-described “gum nut” who is now a botanist and ecologist, has been fascinated by pla ...

Cocoa farming for forest conservation in Ghana

Cocoa cultivated in Ghana's forests is encroaching on natural ecosystems. Boosting the productivity of existing plantations could keep their expansion in check.

How Residents Of Two MP Villages Turned Their Barren Land Into A 1,030-Acre Forest In 20 Years

Deforestation is one of the biggest threats the world is currently facing and is adding to the pace at which global warming has accelerated in recent years.

What does lightning actually do to a tree?

The huge storms many Australians have experienced recently have damaged or toppled old trees which had withstood the vagaries of our weather for the past century or more.

Can we save our sequoias and fire lilies from climate change?

Standing in a sunlit grove of stately giant sequoias is a simultaneously humbling and uplifting experience. Dwarfed by the world's largest living organisms, some of which have stood since the fall of ancient Egypt and the onset of the Iron Age, we are reminded of our own insignificance in the gr ...

Implementation of the visual aesthetic quality of slope forest autumn color change into the configuration of tree species

Urban expansion leads to changes in the visual aesthetic quality and ecological degradation of the surrounding slope forest landscapes. Color is a crucial visual element to examine when viewing this large-scale slope forest landscape from a long distance.

‘Like witnessing a birth in a morgue’: the volunteers working to save the Joshua trees

The trees are not exactly imposing. Slim and spiny, with limbs that grip small poms of sharp leaves, they look like something a child might dream up. Or maybe Salvador Dalí. Even the name, Joshua tree, sounds kind of awkward.

Trees bear fruit in winter thanks to charity for birds in Turkey

Reviving what they call an Ottoman tradition, crews from a municipality in eastern Turkey adorn the dried branches of trees amid a harsh winter with fruit for birds who cannot find food easily during the bad weather.

Forest Report brings out Arunachal Pradesh's loss of green gold

The India State of Forest Report 2021 has vindicated what activists, lawyers and academicians have been saying all along - Arunachal Pradesh, which is the second largest forested state in India, is losing its primary forests and that too at a large scale every passing year.

In the Atlantic Forest, the lowland tapir is at risk of extinction

Lowland tapir populations in the Atlantic Forest in South America are at risk of almost complete disappearance, scientists have estimated. Weighing up to 250 kg, the animal can adapt to most habitats in South America—but its populations continue to decline across its range.

Mysterious velvet worm lurks in local forests

Did you know an animal is lurking in the forests of Trinidad and Tobago that is so rare and strange, you may think it’s something right out of a science fiction movie?

Baby elephant enjoys lovely forest feast, watch viral video here

Well-aware of her habits, the keepers always have a stash of lucerne pellets ready in their pockets to treat the baby elephant.A video clip showcasing the antics of a baby elephant is winning hearts on the internet. In the video, baby elephant Enkesha can be seen enjoying her lovely forest feast ...

Bare-faced curassows return to Argentina’s Iberá after 50-year absence

Biologist Sofía Zalazar wasn’t born yet the last time a bare-faced curassow was seen in the Iberá forests in Argentina. The bird began disappearing from the wild in the 1970s, surviving only in small populations in forest areas in the provinces of Chaco and Formosa, in the northeast of the country.

Ambitious tree planting goals in Asia lack diverse tree seeds from native species

Four Asian countries—the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and India—aim to restore 47.5 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. This is roughly equal to the size of Sumatra, Indonesia's third biggest island.

Forest, Tree Cover In India Increased By 2,216 Sq Km In 2 Yrs; Andhra Added The Most

India's total forest and tree cover is now spread across 80.9 million hectares, which is 24.62 per cent of the geographical area of the country.

Telangana: Indian Muntjac found in Asifabad forests after 25 years

Forest department officials in this district are elated, after they recorded the movement of Indian Muntjac, also known as barking deer in the jungles of this district. The recorded sighting assumes significance as last time these deers were recorded was a quarter century ago.

How to save the future of Africa's forests

Africa’s forests are a significant component of the “lungs of the world”, but what does their future look like, especially in the face of increasing agricultural expansion — the primary driver of deforestation?

Scientists step up hunt for ‘Asian unicorn’, one of world’s rarest animals

Weighing 80-100kg and sporting long straight horns, white spots on its face and large facial scent glands, the saola does not sound like an animal that would be hard to spot

In Madagascar, beekeepers persist in the face of fires and forest loss

Madagascar — Requiring a turbulent two-hour car ride followed by a two-hour walk across paddy fields and mountains, access to the small group of beekeepers in the village of Dobolalina is no easy task for newcomers. Their apiculture project isn’t for the faint-hearted, either.

The Old Man and the Tree

I meet Bob Leverett in a small gravel parking lot at the end of a quiet residential road in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. We are at the Ice Glen trailhead, half a mile from a Mobil station, and Leverett, along with his wife, Monica Jakuc Leverett, is going to show me one of New England’s rare pock ...

For epic trees and eco rays of hope, take a train to Epping Forest

I’m no slouch, but I’m struggling to keep up with Jeremy Dagley as he opens a gate off the A104, the main road through Epping Forest, and bounds into the woods.

Rainforests in 2022: A look at the year ahead

Between rising deforestation in the Amazon, new financial and political commitments to reduce deforestation, and growing interest in “nature-based solutions” like conservation and reforestation, 2021 may prove to be a fateful year for the world’s tropical rainforests. Take a look at The year in ...

To end illegal deforestation, Brazil may legalize it entirely, experts warn

Governmental actions have fueled skepticism about Brazil’s real commitment to its climate goals and pledges the country embraced at the COP26 U.N. climate summit.

Interweaving ecosystems in Indonesia

Indonesia — The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is working with local communities in Indonesia’s Kalimantan forests to protect biodiversity and generate sustainable livelihoods.

In Punjab, sacred forests are shrinking due to encroachments and invasive species

Better documentation of the flora and fauna in the groves and traditional practices can help in conserving biodiversity in the green pockets, say experts.

Scientists urge creating strategic forest reserves to mitigate climate change, protect biodiversity

The United States should immediately move to create a collection of strategic forest reserves in the Western U.S. to fight climate change and safeguard biodiversity, according to a scientific collaboration led by an Oregon State University ecologist.

YLE: Leppä’s views on biodiversity regeneration questioned by experts

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä has raised eyebrows among researchers and conservationists by estimating that forest types will adapt and relocate as forests are felled in Finland.

Extreme droughts also afflicting Leipzig floodplain forest

The Leipzig floodplain forest was not equipped to endure two consecutive hotter drought years. Although the trees were able to partially cope with the 2018 drought, the accumulated and ongoing damage from drought stress caused their growth to collapse in the second drought year 2019.

Wales plans £1.8bn green initiative to fight climate change

Three-year package will include a national forest, increased biodiversity and active travel.

How forestry conservation is sustaining both the climate and livelihoods in the Congo

Oliver Griffith explains how a Wildlife Works Carbon forest conservation project is helping to both protect the environment while also sustaining local livelihoods in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Brazil wildfires killed an estimated 17 million animals

Amid the bleakness of 2020, scientists in Brazil concluded a particularly grim conservation study - attempting to count the animals killed by huge wildfires in the Pantanal wetlands.

European stores pull products linked to Brazil deforestation

Several European supermarket chains are dropping Brazilian beef products linked to destruction of the Amazon rainforest and tropical wetland, the US activist group Mighty Earth said Thursday.

Ottawa reveals its latest plans to plant 2 billion trees by 2030

Plan ramps up to 300 million trees in the ground annually by 2027, the government says

Scottish forestry’s ambitious targets to balance environmental, economic and social outcomes

Well before world leaders headed to Glasgow for November’s COP26, the Scottish Government, along with the rest of the UK, had already committed to some very ambitious tree-planting targets.