Theme for this year: “Accelerating forest solutions through innovation”.
Key highlights
- Deforestation Rate declined to 10.2 million hectare (ha) per year in 2015–2020 from 15.8 million ha per year in 1990–2000.
- India ranked 3rd for average annual net gain in forest area from 2010- 2020.
- Non-Timber Forest Products support livelihoods of about 275 million people in India.
Need for Innovation in Forest Sector
- Climate change related stress (wildfire, pest): Innovative forest and land management strategies needed for resilience.
- Shift towards bioeconomy: Zero-carbon bioeconomy needs innovation for diverse, efficient wood-based product uses.
- Opportunity from non-wood forest product: Many wild forest-based foods, including fish, are rich in micronutrients and have high nutritional content.
Five types of innovation enhancing potential of forests and trees to address global challenges
- Technological: Remote-sensing & cloud computing generate high-quality forest data, thereby, improve forest management processes. E.g., NASA and ESA's Landsat and Copernicus programs.
- Social, Policy and Institutional: All interrelated and dynamic innovations to better engage women, youth and Indigenous People. E.g., India's Joint Forest Management Programme mandates 1/3rd female representation on committees.
- Financial: Innovations to enhance value of standing forests, boost restoration efforts, etc. E.g. Innovations like SCRIPT (Soft Commodity Risk Platform).
Barriers to development of innovations in forest sector
Recommendations to scale up innovation
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