The area of land covered by forest and trees is an important indicator of environmental condition. This study presents and analyses results from the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 (FRA 2015) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FRA 2015 was based on responses to surveys by individual countries using a common reporting framework, agreed definitions and reporting standards. Results indicated that total forest area declined by 3%, from 4,128 M ha in 1990 to 3,999 M ha in 2015. The annual rate of net forest loss halved from 7.3 M ha.y-1 in the 1990s to 3.3 M ha.y-1 between 2010 and 2015. Natural forest area declined from 3,961 M ha to 3,721 M ha between 1990 and 2015, while planted forest (including rubber plantations) increased from 168 M ha to 278 M ha. From 2010 to 2015, tropical forest area declined at a rate of 5.5 M ha.y-1 - only 58% of the rate in the 1990s - while temperate forest area expanded at a rate of 2.2 M ha.y-1. Boreal and sub-tropical forest areas showed little change. Forest area expanded in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, East Asia, and Western-Central Asia, but declined in Central America, South America, South and Southeast Asia and all three regions in Africa. Analysis indicates that, between 1990 and 2015, 13 tropical countries may have either passed through their forest transitions from net forest loss to net forest expansion, or continued along the path of forest expansion that follows these transitions. Comparing FRA 2015 statistics with the findings of global and pan-tropical remote-sensing forest area surveys was challenging, due to differences in assessment periods, the definitions of forest and remote sensing methods. More investment in national and global forest monitoring is needed to provide better support for international initiatives to increase sustainable forest management and reduce forest loss, particularly in tropical countries.JRC.H.3-Forest Resources and Climat

Key message: Adaptation of forest management to climate change requires an understanding of the effects of climate on forests, industries and communities; prediction of how these effects might change over time; and incorporation of this knowledge into management decisions. This requires multiple forms of knowledge and new approaches to forest management decisions. Partnerships that integrate researchers from multiple disciplines with forest managers and local actors can build a shared understanding of future challenges and facilitate improved decision making in the face of climate change. Context: Climate change presents significant potential risks to forests and challenges for forest managers. Adaptation to climate change involves monitoring and anticipating change and undertaking actions to avoid the negative consequences and to take advantage of potential benefits of those changes. Aims: This paper aimed to review recent research on climate change impacts and management options for adaptation to climate change and to identify key themes for researchers and for forest managers. Methods: The study is based on a review of literature on climate change impacts on forests and adaptation options for forest management identified in the Web of Science database, focusing on papers and reports published between 1945 and 2013. Results: One thousand one hundred seventy-two papers were identified in the search, with the vast majority of papers published from 1986 to 2013. Seventy-six percent of papers involved assessment of climate change impacts or the sensitivity or vulnerability of forests to climate change and 11 % (130) considered adaptation. Important themes from the analysis included (i) predicting species and ecosystem responses to future climate, (ii) adaptation actions in forest management, (iii) new approaches and tools for decision making under uncertainty and stronger partnerships between researchers and practitioners and (iv) policy arrangements for adaptation in forest management. Conclusions: Research to support adaptation to climate change is still heavily focused on assessing impacts and vulnerability. However, more refined impact assessments are not necessarily leading to better management decisions. Multi-disciplinary research approaches are emerging that integrate traditional forest ecosystem sciences with social, economic and behavioural sciences to improve decision making. Implementing adaptation options is best achieved by building a shared understanding of future challenges among different institutions, agencies, forest owners and stakeholders. Research-policy-practice partnerships that recognise local management needs and indigenous knowledge and integrate these with climate and ecosystem science can facilitate improved decision making.

Flooding is the most common natural hazard and third most damaging globally after storms and earthquakes. Anthropogenic climate change is expected to increase flood risk through more frequent heavy precipitation, increased catchment wetness and sea level rise. This paper reviews steps being taken by actors at international, national, regional and community levels to adapt to flood risk from tidal, fluvial, surface and groundwater sources. We refer to existing inventories, national and sectoral adaptation plans, flood inquiries, building and planning codes, city plans, research literature and international policy reviews. We distinguish between the enabling environment for adaptation and specific implementing measures to manage flood risk. Enabling includes routine monitoring, flood forecasting, data exchange, institutional reform, bridging organizations, contingency planning for disasters, insurance and legal incentives to reduce vulnerability. All such activities are ‘low regret’ in that they yield benefits regardless of the climate scenario but are not cost-free. Implementing includes climate safety factors for new build, upgrading resistance and resilience of existing infrastructure, modifying operating rules, development control, flood forecasting, temporary and permanent retreat from hazardous areas, periodic review and adaptive management. We identify evidence of both types of adaptation following the catastrophic 2010/11 flooding in Victoria, Australia. However, significant challenges remain for managing transboundary flood risk (at all scales), protecting existing property at risk from flooding, and ensuring equitable outcomes in terms of risk reduction for all. Adaptive management also raises questions about the wider preparedness of society to systematically monitor and respond to evolving flood risks and vulnerabilities.

Clear-cutting is a controversial practice that is widely applied in forests managed for wood production in many parts of the world. This paper aims to provide an objective synthesis of the ecological effects of clear-cutting as a basis for more informed discussion of its merits and disadvantages. A definition of clear-cutting is put forward, and its place in modern productive forestry is described. Effects on microclimate, water, soil, nutrient cycling, and the diversity and composition of plant and animal species are reviewed. The effects of clear-cutting vary considerably depending on site conditions (such as climate, geology, and topography) and on the structure and composition of the forest, the extent and distribution of harvesting, the method used to extract the logs, and the length of time before the forest is removed again. However, it is evident that many of the ecological impacts commonly ascribed to clear-cutting, in fact, result from other stages of the wood-production process, such as the quality and intensity of roading, site preparation practices (such as mechanical disturbance or slash burning), and the intensity of control of noncrop vegetation. Situations where clear-cutting is inappropriate are described. It is argued that in the right situations, with appropriate safeguards, it is an environmentally sound practice that offers many advantages in terms of the production of wood fibre.Key words: clear-cutting, environmental impacts, microclimate, hydrology, soil, forest production, nutrient cycling, wildlife.