Deforestation is responsible for approximately 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and is therefore a major contributor to climate change, but also to the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services and a direct threat to Asias great ape the orangutan.

This publication - the first of a two-part report - is designed to identify and tackle barriers to investment in forest-related projects, such as the UN-backed Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) scheme.

Forests are not only important for the 1.6 billion people who depend on them for their livelihoods, but for the world’s population at large. Forests play a critical role in the Earth’s life support system, including global carbon and hydrological cycles. The Vital Forest Graphics provides an overview of the global trends in forest cover and looks specifically at the four largest forest ecosystems and analyses the trends and challenges in their conservation and management. It scrutinizes some of the key drivers behind forest loss, including the increasing demand for commodities and energy.

Mangrove forests provide critical economic, social and ecological services for the existence of biophysical and socio-economic subsystems on earth, particularly for tropical mangroves that are rich in both floral & faunal biodiversity.

This document provides an overview of the forest fire situation in Latin America and the Caribbean and the impact that fires have had on the region and its population over the past few years. It also covers the causes, effects and implications of fires and links these to fire managements tools available to policy-makers.