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World Wildlife Fund
The sun rises in the right side of the image, illuminating mist and trees over forest

© Adriano Gambarini / WWF-Brazil

Forests

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

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

The beauty and tranquility of forests all over the world—from the tropics to the tundra—inspire all of us. We know forests are home to most of the world’s biodiversity on land. More than 3 billion people—75% of all people outside urban areas—live within 1 kilometer of a forest, too. And about one-third of the world’s population has a close dependence on forests and forest products.

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.

A silky sifaka with white fur and a black face looks at the camera from a tree

© WWF-Madagascar / RAKOTONDRAZAFY A. M. Ny Aina

Nature Needs Us Now

Nature gives us everything we need to survive, but it's under threat like never before. The crisis demands immediate action from all of us. Sign the pledge to protect nature.

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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 approximately 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 2030, 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 Canada and the United States.

News and stories

An Indigenous woman makes basket crafts on the steps in front of her house in the Urucurea community in Brazil.

Sustainable futures along Brazil’s Tapajós River

An in-depth look at community-led, sustainable economic development activities—an exciting path forward for the Amazon.

Read the story

© WWF/Tatiana Cardeal

The importance of forests

boat at entry to entry into Ntokou Pikounda National Park, Congo Basin
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.

© WWF / Jaap van der Waarde

Aerial view of Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo
Carbon sink

Forest trees and other plants soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it away as they grow and thrive. Forests contain more than 660 gigatons of carbon, 18 times the amount emitted each year by human activities.

© Thomas Nicolon / WWF DRC

Maned Three toed Sloth climbs tree in Atlantic Rainforest Brazil
Unique biodiversity

Forests are home to most of the world's terrestrial biodiversity, and tropical rainforests are home to more species than any other terrestrial habitat. A single acre of rain forest may be home to thousands of species.

© naturepl.com / Luiz Claudio Marigo / WWF

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WWF's work to protect forests

Deforestation and pasture in Mato Grosso, Brazil

© Jacqueline Lisboa / WWF-Brazil

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 agricultural producers. To address infrastructure-related drivers of deforestation, we seek to influence the financing of roads, mines, and other infrastructure in the developing world by ensuring that the value of forests is factored into decisions about where to create or expand infrastructure. To tackle overconsumption, another significant 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.

A landscape photo showing forest cover in Brazil with a cloudy sky in the background.

© Zig Koch / WWF

Influence funding

WWF seeks to close the gap between how much is available for forest conservation and how much is needed. We help create multimillion-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

WWF supports policies to halt and reverse the destruction of forests intricately connected to some of the most pressing problems we face: climate change, biodiversity loss, wildfires, corruption, and weak governance. These include:

  • Efforts to mobilize large-scale public and private funding for the conservation, management, and restoration of critical ecosystems
  • Debt-for-nature swaps under the Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Act
  • The FOREST Act
  • Full enforcement of the Lacey Act Amendments of 2008
  • The creation and implementation of effective safeguards for the development of linear infrastructure—especially roads, railways, and power lines—that protect people and nature from harm

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.

Two trucks with logs stacked on the back drive down a dirt road transporting materials from an illegal logging source

© Andre Dib / WWF-Brazil

Motivate the marketplace

Forests Forward is a new WWF corporate program that engages companies around the world to help them reduce their forest footprint and support other on-the-ground actions—like forest restoration—to keep forests thriving for people, nature, and climate.

The program is a one-stop shop for companies looking to implement best practices around nature-based solutions to deliver on their sustainability and business goals. Drawing on our deep expertise in forests, science, and climate, WWF works with companies on both long-term and near-term strategies and collaborations that have lasting benefits—not only for the companies but also for local communities.

view from below looking up into the treetops with sunlight bursting through the canopy

© Luis Barreto / WWF-UK

Projects

A large tree and its root structure in a jungle setting.

© Jody MacDonald / WWF-US

Nature-Based Solutions Origination Platform

WWF's Nature-Based Solutions Origination Platform (NbS-OP) is an innovative vehicle to drive impact at scale for people, climate, and nature across selected tropical forest landscapes.
A family of three stands together facing the camera

© Mississippi Center for Justice

The Mobile Basin Heirs’ Property Support Initiative

Helping historically underserved Mississippians keep generational land and conserve working forests.
Orangutans in Thirty Hills, Sumatra

© The Orangutan Project

Thirty Hills

An innovative solution to save one of the most important forests left on this island, Bukit Tigapuluh

Experts

Tiger walks through river in Russia

Protect tigers: switch to forest-friendly products

Simple everyday decisions can make a major impact on saving forests, and tigers. The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) label means the product is from a responsibly managed forest. Take the pledge today to switch to forest-friendly products.

Pledge to buy forest-friendly products

© Shutterstock / Ondrej Prosicky / WWF-Sweden