During the twenty-seventh session of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Committee on Forestry (COFO 27) themed “Accelerating Forest Solutions through Innovation” focused on the power of technology. 

The convention to discuss best approaches, as well as implementation, means that there could be an increase in the forest cover. Considering the challenges forests are undergoing ranging from ever-increasing pressures, including deforestation and degradation, and industries such as agriculture and mining, urbanization, consumption, and illegal logging.

The forests on the other hand are instrumental in the survival of wildlife, indigenous people, and ecosystems in general. Additionally, forests play a significant and irreplaceable role in feeding the world’s population, mitigating climate change, reducing the risk of natural disasters, and supplying freshwater, not to mention the benefits of wood products across sectors.

State of the World’s Forests 2024 Report (SOFO 24) underscored how innovation is critical if the Global Forest Goal (GFG) of halting and reversing deforestation by 2030 is to be met. Hence betting on technology as a way forward to safeguard the forests and natural ecosystems from diverse threats.

FAO Forestry Roadmap 2024-2031 is anticipated to be the guide of FAO’s forestry work under the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31. The roadmap echoes the essence of urban forestry and its contribution to urban agri-food systems transformation. Hereby it advocates for a forest-based bioeconomy. An emphasis is placed on forestry’s contribution to FAO’s work on climate change and integrated water management. This is closely followed through the scaling up of actions on agriculture, forestry, and integrated wildfire management.

Protection of forests for years has been played by the indigenous peoples who have continually survived on the ecosystem for their livelihoods. This offers an opportunity for their consideration in the broader roadmap as it is scaled down to make it more inclusive. Forestry is a critical component of the ecosystems that have stirred mixed approaches to how it can generally be protected, conserved, and in turn, developed sustainably.