Forest conservation
Forest conservation protects forest ecosystems and biodiversity while managing forests to maintain their ecological functions and benefits over time.
Protected area: A geographically defined area managed to conserve nature and associated cultural values over the long term. Legal protection can restrict activities that degrade forest habitats.
REDD+: A framework under the UN climate convention for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and supporting forest conservation. It links forest conservation in developing countries to climate finance and emissions accounting.
Deforestation: The conversion of forest to another land use, typically causing a lasting reduction in forest cover. It is the direct forest-cover loss conservation efforts seek to prevent.
Tree plantation: A stand of trees established through planting or sowing, often managed for timber, fuel, or other products. Plantations can supply wood, but they do not necessarily conserve natural forest ecosystems.
Sustainable forest management: Forest stewardship that maintains biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, and ecological functions over time. It seeks to permit forest use without undermining the ecosystem's future.
Forest law enforcement and governance: Efforts to strengthen forest laws, their enforcement, and the institutions that govern forest use. Weak enforcement can make formal forest protections ineffective.
Forest degradation: A decline in a forest's structure, function, or capacity to provide goods and services without complete conversion to another land use. Degradation can erode biodiversity and ecological function even where trees remain.
Afforestation: The establishment of forest on land that has not recently been forested. Planting trees is not equivalent to conserving existing forest ecosystems.
Forest landscape restoration: The process of regaining ecological integrity and improving human well-being in deforested or degraded landscapes. Restoration repairs forest functions where protection alone cannot reverse damage.
Payments for ecosystem services: Incentives that compensate people or organizations for managing land to maintain ecosystem services. Payments can fund forest stewardship that benefits people beyond the forest.