State of the world's forests 2007

This is the 7th edition of the FAO's biennial report on the state of global forest resources, recent developments and emerging issues in the forest sector. This edition focuses on progress towards sustainable forest management at the regional and global levels, with each regional report structured according to seven thematic elements: the extent of forest resources; biological diversity; forest health and vitality; productive functions of forest resources; protective functions of forest resources; socio-economic functions; and legal, policy and institutional frameworks. These summaries are based on the most current information available, including new data from the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005 (FRA 2005). The report goes on to consider 18 key issues in the forest sector, including: climate change, forest landscape restoration, forest tenure, invasive species, wildlife management and wood energy. The overall conclusion is that whilst progress is being made, it is very uneven with those regions with developing economies and tropical ecosystems continuing to lose forest area whilst lacking adequate institutions to reverse this trend.
The biggest limitation for evaluating progress is weak data, with many countries lacking the financial resources to undertake national forest assessments.