Research · 28 September 2026 · Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
The State of the World’s Forests 2026
Selected by José Miguel Medeiros
FAO makes the economic case for restoring forests and landscapes, while pledges and actual restoration lag far behind the need.
Key figure
Up to 30 dollars returned for every dollar invested in restoration, under favorable conditions. 1.56 billion hectares of land are degraded.
About the publisher
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The State of the World's Forests is its forestry flagship, published every two years.
Useful for
Landholders, municipalities and investors planning the restoration of degraded or burnt land who need global benchmarks on what it costs and returns.
Credit and license FAO. 2026. The State of the World's Forests 2026. Restoring forests and landscapes: The way forward for a sustainable future. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/ce0633en. Licence: CC BY 4.0. We host this copy unchanged, under the publisher's open license.
Summary and figure by General Value from the published source. The report belongs to its publisher.