Trees, forests and land use in drylands. The first global assessment
Publication year
Resource type
UNCCD Library
Material Type
Web resource
Drylands are a vital but often overlooked resource.
Those that live in drylands depend on forests and other wooded lands, and grasslands for their livelihoods and to meet basic needs.
Trees and forests in drylands also provide habitats for biodiversity, protect against erosion and desertification, and help increase the resilience of landscapes and communities in the face of global change.
However, these ecosystems are vulnerable to water shortage, drought, desertification, land-use change and degradation, and climate change impacts, with dangerous ramifications for the food security, livelihood and well-being of their populations.
Urgent action is needed to improve the management and restoration of drylands to achieve land degradation neutrality.
The report - the first of its kind –provides a baseline for future monitoring and will support countries in their efforts to identify appropriate investments for the restoration and sustainable management of drylands.
The assessment results demonstrate that drylands are not wastelands, but productive landscapes with considerable economic potential and environmental value. They highlight the importance of investing in forest and woodland resources in drylands, including trees outside of forests.
Main messages
1) The global drylands contain 1.1 billion hectares of forest, which is 27 percent of the global forest area, estimated at approximately 4 billion hectares.
2) Two-thirds of the dryland forest area has a closed canopy (canopy cover greater than 40 percent), and around 30 percent has canopy cover between 10 and 39 percent.
3) The least-arid zones have the most forests. The proportion of forest is 52 percent in the dry subhumid zone, 41 percent in the semi-arid zone, 7 percent in the arid zone and less than 1 percent in the hyperarid zone.
4)Trees are present on almost one-third of the world’s drylands (1.9 billion hectares, or 31 percent of the dryland area). An estimated 60 percent of built-up areas (41 million hectares) and 27 percent of cropland (228 million hectares) have at least some tree cover.
5) Drylands are not wastelands, but productive landscapes with considerable economic potential and environmental value.
Those that live in drylands depend on forests and other wooded lands, and grasslands for their livelihoods and to meet basic needs.
Trees and forests in drylands also provide habitats for biodiversity, protect against erosion and desertification, and help increase the resilience of landscapes and communities in the face of global change.
However, these ecosystems are vulnerable to water shortage, drought, desertification, land-use change and degradation, and climate change impacts, with dangerous ramifications for the food security, livelihood and well-being of their populations.
Urgent action is needed to improve the management and restoration of drylands to achieve land degradation neutrality.
The report - the first of its kind –provides a baseline for future monitoring and will support countries in their efforts to identify appropriate investments for the restoration and sustainable management of drylands.
The assessment results demonstrate that drylands are not wastelands, but productive landscapes with considerable economic potential and environmental value. They highlight the importance of investing in forest and woodland resources in drylands, including trees outside of forests.
Main messages
1) The global drylands contain 1.1 billion hectares of forest, which is 27 percent of the global forest area, estimated at approximately 4 billion hectares.
2) Two-thirds of the dryland forest area has a closed canopy (canopy cover greater than 40 percent), and around 30 percent has canopy cover between 10 and 39 percent.
3) The least-arid zones have the most forests. The proportion of forest is 52 percent in the dry subhumid zone, 41 percent in the semi-arid zone, 7 percent in the arid zone and less than 1 percent in the hyperarid zone.
4)Trees are present on almost one-third of the world’s drylands (1.9 billion hectares, or 31 percent of the dryland area). An estimated 60 percent of built-up areas (41 million hectares) and 27 percent of cropland (228 million hectares) have at least some tree cover.
5) Drylands are not wastelands, but productive landscapes with considerable economic potential and environmental value.
Keywords
drylands
forests
land use
land degradation
dryland forest ecosystems
desertification
biodiversity
Web resource
land restoration
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