FAO report: Restoring forests and landscapes is critical to meeting global food security and development goals

State of the World's Forests 2026 report identifies restoration as a high-impact investment that benefits people, agrifood systems and the environment

The 2026 edition of FAO’s SOFO report examines how forest and landscape restoration can be expanded to deliver lasting benefits for people and the environment.

Rome – Forest and landscape restoration is a cost-effective response to food security, biodiversity, climate, and other development challenges, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which warns that scaling up action will require greater investment, inclusive governance and sustained political commitment.

The 2026 edition examines how forest and landscape restoration can be expanded to deliver lasting benefits for people and the environment. Drawing on evidence and experiences from around the world, it identifies four pathways for accelerating progress: empowering people and strengthening rights; implementing restoration at the landscape scale; mobilizing finance and business models that support restoration; and creating coherent policies, institutions and laws.

“The State of the World’s Forests 2026 makes clear that forest and landscape restoration is more than an environmental priority – it is a strategic investment in resilient agrifood systems and rural development,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu wrote in the report’s Foreword.

“The window for action is narrowing, and delayed or poorly designed restoration will increase long-term costs, exacerbate inequalities and risk locking landscapes into unsustainable trajectories,” he added.

Forests cover 4.14 billion hectares (about 32 percent of the Earth’s land surface), store 714 gigatonnes of carbon and host up to 80 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. They also underpin resilient agrifood systems, with nearly one-third of the global population depending on forests and trees for food security and livelihoods.