Forests are very critical to human existence. The ever-depleting amounts oxygen on the surface of the earth is direct correlation to the deletion of the world, forest cover. Half of the world’s forests have disappeared. This is partly due to Privatization, trade liberalization and urbanization. Yet forests provide livelihoods for many local communities and indigenous peoples. They help to regulate our climate, and are home to some of the most species-diverse habitats on earth.
According to FRA 2020, forests currently cover 30.8 percent of the global land area (FAO, 2020). The total forest area is 4.06 billion hectares, or approximately 0.5 ha per person, but forests are not equally distributed around the globe. More than half of the world’s forests are found in only five countries (the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the United States of America and China) and two-thirds (66 percent) of forests are found in ten countries.
https://www.fao.org/3/ca8642en/ca8642en.pdf#page=34
Global distribution of forests showing the ten countries with the largest forest area, 2020 (million hectares and % of world’s forest)
Russian Federation Brazil Canada United States of America China Australia Democratic Republic of the Congo Indonesia Peru India Rest of the world
SOURCE: FAO
Ecofocus works with local forest fringe communities and indigenous people, Forest Restoration experts to conserve forests, and strengthen communities’ rights and community management of forests. We also work with regulatory institutions to formulate appropriate regulations and manage forest resources in the most sustainable manner.