Report, released every five years, was published during Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Plenary in Bali, Indonesia.
- GFOI is a flagship programme of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), which is a network of governments, academia, organizations, civil society and private sector aiming to harness the power of Earth Intelligence.
- India is a member of GEO.
Key highlights of GFRA 2025
- Forest extent: Forests cover 4.14 billion hectares, or 32% of the global land area.
- Nearly half of the world’s forests are located in the tropics, followed by boreal, temperate and subtropical domains.
- Europe has the largest forest area, accounting for 25% of world’s total.
- India’s Forest Extent: India moved up one rank to 9th position in terms of total forest area globally, accounting for 2% of global forest area.
- India ranks 5th in terms of rubber plantation.
- Deforestation and expansion: Deforestation slowed to 10.9 million hectares per year in 2015–2025, down from 17.6 million in 1990–2000.
- Natural Regeneration: More than 90% of world’s forests are regenerating naturally.
- Carbon Stock: Forest carbon stocks have increased, reaching 714 gigatonnes, with soil holding majority forest carbon stock, followed by living biomass, and litter and deadwood.
- Disturbances:Fire is prevalent forest disturbance in subtropics while insects, diseases and severe weather affect mainly the temperate and boreal domains.
