Forests

Conserve the world's most important forests to sustain nature's diversity, benefit our climate, and support human well-being

Overview

8 out of 10

Eight out of 10 land-dwelling species and nearly 750 million people live in forests.

The dawn chorus of birds singing, monkeys howling, frogs calling and insects buzzing. The crystal clear waterfalls that are perfect for a refreshing afternoon swim. Fireflies illuminating trees at night.

The beauty and tranquility of forests all over the world—from tropics to the tundra—inspire all of us. We know that eight out of 10 species found on land live in forests. Approximately 750 million people, including 60 million Indigenous people, live in forests, too.

But threats to the world’s forests are growing. Expanding agriculture, due to an increased population and shifts in diet, is responsible for most of the world’s deforestation. Illegal and unsustainable logging, usually resulting from the demand for cheap wood and paper, is responsible for most of the degradation of the world’s forests—the largest threat to the world’s forests. In degraded forests, small trees, bushes and plants often are severely damaged or dead; rivers are polluted; slopes are eroded; and more.

The threats are so severe that we are losing huge swathes of forests at an alarming rate. The Amazon, the planet’s largest rain forest, lost at least 17% of its forest cover in the last half century due to human activity—mainly clearing trees to create new or larger farms and ranches.

WWF is working to address the threats to forests: By 2020, we must conserve the world’s forests to sustain nature’s diversity, benefit our climate and support human well-being.

Most of WWF’s work is being done in tropical rain forests, which are the most biologically diverse and complex forests on Earth—forests in the Amazon, the Congo Basin, the Greater Mekong and other regions near the equator. But it also is taking place in temperate regions, such as the Russian Far East and the United States.

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Deforestation fronts

A new WWF report on global forest cover and forest loss finds that over 160,000 square miles, an area roughly the size of California, were lost in deforestation hot spots around the world between 2004 and 2017. Deforestation puts human health and the health of our planet at risk.

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Why It Matters

People Depend on Forests

Deforestation can disrupt the lives of local communities, sometimes with devastating consequences. Forests provide a vast array of resources to all of us, including food, wood, medicine, fresh water, and the air we breathe. Without the trees, the ecosystem that supports the human population can fall apart.
Carbon Sink

Forest trees and other plants soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it away as they grow and thrive. Tropical forests alone hold more than 210 gigatons of carbon, seven times the amount emitted each year by human activities.
Unique Biodiversity

Eighty percent of the world’s known terrestrial plant and animal species can be found in forests, and tropical rainforests are home to more species than any other terrestrial habitat. A square kilometer of forest may be home to more than 1,000 species.

What WWF Is Doing

Eliminate Deforestation Threats

To eliminate one of the largest drivers of deforestation—the irresponsible expansion of agricultural operations—WWF is focused on ensuring that agribusinesses, governments and others meet their commitments to help conserve the world’s forests. Doing so marries the strengths of two approaches WWF uses to stop deforestation. One is the ability, via REDD+ programs, to engage with governments. The other is the ability, via market-based certification schemes, to engage with agriculture producers. To address infrastructure-related drivers of deforestation, we seek to influence the financing of roads, mines and other infrastructure in the developing world, largely by ensuring that the value of forests are factored into decisions about where to create or expand infrastructure. And to tackle overconsumption, also a large threat, we strive to raise awareness about how the food people eat is produced, particularly in the context of how much and what land is used to produce it.

Influence Funding

WWF seeks to close the gap between how much is available for forest conservation and how much is needed. We help create multi-million dollar funds to properly manage forests that are designated as protected. The funding is to train park officials about responsible forest management, buy satellite GPS collars to monitor and track endangered wildlife, and more. We also support Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), a global initiative designed to pay groups or countries for protecting their forests and reducing emissions of greenhouse gas pollutants, especially carbon dioxide.

Influence Policies

Effective policies related to forest conservation are as important as the funding. That’s why WWF helps countries, like Myanmar and Belize, assess the value of their natural resources and the services they provide, such as forests that absorb carbon and provide habitat for endangered wildlife. Decision makers use the assessments in a variety of ways, including promoting a green economy approach—one in which the sustainable use of natural capital is integrated into a country’s new plans and policies for the economy, agriculture, energy and more.

Stop Illegal and Unsustainable Logging

Forests will not survive unless the responsible management of them becomes the norm. That requires eliminating illegal and unsustainable logging. To do so, WWF works to strengthen the US government’s ability to prosecute illegal timber cases; stop illegal logging in countries that export high volumes of timber; ensure full implementation of the Lacey Act, a US law that prohibits illegal timber and timber products from entering the US market; and design rural energy programs that rely on fuels other than firewood.

Motivate the Marketplace

We tap into the power of US companies that buy and sell forest products. For example, through our Global Forest & Trade Network, we help US companies source products from responsibly managed forests, particularly those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). We also encourage them to invest directly in increasing the acreage of responsibly-managed working forest and to help increase the demand for FSC-certified products.

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Press Releases

An Area Roughly the Size of California—166,000 Square Miles—Lost to Deforestation Worldwide Between 2004 and 2017 January 13, 2021
2020 Forest Fires Globally Could be Worse Than 2019, WWF Warns August 27, 2020

Projects

Biogenic Carbon Footprint Calculator for Harvested Wood Products

WWF, in partnership with Quantis, Intl., has developed a free, user-friendly calculator to calculate biogenic emissions for a variety of forest-based products. The calculator's aim is to support companies in the dynamic accounting of biogenic emissions of wood-based products, improving the quality of their greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories and facilitating decision-making around the sustainable sourcing, design, and use of those products. This calculator is a beta test and, if useful and aligned with forthcoming Greenhouse Gas Protocol guidance, will be updated and improved.
Transforming the global rubber market

Forests in Asia, home to elephants, tigers and other endangered species—are often cleared to make room for growing rubber trees. They are among the most threatened forests in the world. That’s why WWF has set an ambitious goal of transforming the global rubber market.

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