Amidst alarming rates of deforestation and land degradation, urgent action is needed to safeguard the biodiversity of the world’s forests, according to a new United Nations report, released on Friday. Published on the International Day for Biological Diversity, The State of the World’s Forests 2020, highlights that since 1990, some 420 million hectares of trees have been lost to agriculture and other land uses. As Food and Agriculture Organization and UN Environment Programme prepare to lead the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration in 2021, both UN agency heads expressed their commitment to increased global cooperation in the race to restore degraded and damaged ecosystems, combat climate change and safeguard biodiversity.
