UN FAO, 2010 - Two Sides

Socio-economic functions of forest resources 147
Status
Globally, an estimated 3.7 percent of the world’s forests were designated for the
provision of recreation, tourism, education or conservation of cultural and spiritual
heritage. However, the only subregions and regions with fairly good data were East
Asia and Europe. The provision of such social services was reported as the primary
management objective for 3 percent of the total forest area in East Asia and 2 percent
in Europe (see Table 7.14).
The top five countries with forest areas designated for social services were Brazil,
the Russian Federation, China, Japan and Ukraine, which together designated some
142 million hectares for this purpose. Brazil has designated 119 million hectares, or
more than one-fifth of its forest area, for the protection of the culture and way of life of
forest-dependent peoples. This area accounts for more than three-quarters of the total
area of forest designated for social services worldwide.
At the regional level, South America contributed 78 percent (mainly in Brazil) of
the total area in this category; Europe 14 percent; and Asia 7 percent. The remaining
regions together accounted for around 1 percent of the total area designated for the
provision of social services.
Trends
The analysis of trends of forest area designated for social services is based on those
countries and areas that reported a complete time series.
The strong trend towards increasing area in South America (see Figure 7.13)
is entirely accounted for by Brazil, where large areas of forest were designated as
‘indigenous lands’ and ‘sustainable development reserves’ during the 1990s. Europe
shows a decrease in forest area designated for social services between 1990 and 2000
and an increase from 2000 to 2010, while Asia (mainly East Asia) reported a slight
increase in the last decade. The trend in Africa was stable.
TABle 7.14
Area of forest designated for social services by region and subregion, 2010
region/subregion information availability Area designated for social
services
number of
countries
% of total
forest area
1 000 ha % of forest
area
eastern and Southern Africa 23 100.0 464 0.2
Northern Africa 7 99.1 3 n.s.
Western and Central Africa 24 100.0 434 0.1
Total Africa 54 99.9 901 0.1
east Asia 5 100.0 8 347 3.3
South and Southeast Asia 17 100.0 283 0.1
Western and Central Asia 24 100.0 823 1.9
Total Asia 46 100.0 9 453 1.6
europe excl. Russian Federation 45 100.0 6 432 3.3
Total europe 46 100.0 19 377 1.9
Caribbean 12 53.8 19 0.5
Central America 7 100.0 767 3.9
North America 5 100.0 0 0
Total north and Central America 24 99.5 786 0.1
Total Oceania 21 99.8 67 n.s.
Total South America 14 100.0 119 561 13.8
world 205 99.9 150 146 3.7