Forests

Forests are an invaluable natural resource; they help to control the climate, provide us with timber and other products, and are home to well over half of all terrestrial species.

UNEP-WCMC's Assessment & Policy Programme offers information, analysis and capacity building at regional, national and international levels for the conservation, protection and restoration of the world's forests and their biodiversity.

Volcan Momotobo and Lake Managua

Latest Products & Updates 

• Forest Restoration Information Service (FRIS) - new content added, August 2006
• World Atlas of Great Apes & their Conservation launched 1st September 2005. Interactive maps also available
• Mesoamerican Trees in Trade - released August 2005; report on the first of a series of regional workshops on strategies for the sustainable international trade of timber tree species
• BIOCORES final report on forest fragmentation, restoration and sustainable use in Latin America - released August 2005
• Guidelines for Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring for Protected Areas - launched June 2005
• Cloud Forest Agenda - released February 2004
• ... plus many earlier publications

Information Resources & Services

• Data-sets & maps - Forest types, cover, distribution, protection, certification, restoration, biodiversity and more...
  
  
• Analysis for decision-making: trends & indicators - Biodiversity Indicators for National Use (BINU); global scenarios for terrestrial ecosystems (GLOBIO-3); trends in forest ecosystem status (Living Planet Index); protected area gap analyses; priority areas for forest restoration and more...
  
  
• Regional information - Detailed information on forest regions around the world: Europe, Central America, Russian Federation, Australasia and much more...
  
  
• Collaboration & networking - Joint initiatives such as the Global Trees Campaign, the Mountain Cloud Forest Initiative and the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration.
  
  
• Forest links - Other useful forest-related websites, many of which work in close collaboration with UNEP-WCMC.
  
  
• Non-timber forest products - Commercialisation, rural development, gender issues and more...
  
  
• Past projects

Contact Ecosystem Assessment Programme

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