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The world has a total forest area 4.06 billion hectares (ha) which is 31% of the total land area. this area is equivalent to 0.52 ha per person. The world has lost a net area of 178 million ha of forest since 1990, which is an area bout the size of Libya. The rate of the net forest loss decreased substantially over the period 1990-2020 due to a reduction in deforestation in some countries, plus increases in forest area in others through afforestation and the natural expansion of forests.

Forests harbour most of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. The conservation of the world's biodiversity is thus utterly dependent on the way we interact with and use the world's forests.

This edition continues to demonstrate the significant and growing role of fisheries and aquaculture in providing food, nutrition and employment. It also shows the major challenges ahead despite the progress made on a number of fronts.

The world has a total forest area of 4.06 billion hectares (ha) which is 31 percent of the total land area. This area is equivalent to 0.52 ha per person - although forests are not distributed equally among the world's peoples or geographically. The tropical domain has the largest proportion of the world's forests (45 percent) followed by the boreal, temperate and subtropical domains.