Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA)

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Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA)

• Concepts and classifications related to the
  valuation of forests

2
FRA - background

• FAO has a mandate to carry out periodic
  assessments of the worlds forest resources
• First assessment 1946, latest assessment 2005.
• The scope has gradually become wider and
  classification systems and definitions have
  evolved over time
• FRA covers both current status and recent trends
  (FRA 2010 will cover the period 1990-2010)

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Current classifications and definitions that
relate to valuation

• Forest, Other wooded land and Other land
• Forest designation and management
• Forest characteristics
• Forest stocks (volume, biomass, carbon)
• FRA covers both current status and recent trends

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Forest - definition
Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees
higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more
than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these
thresholds in situ. It does not include land that
is predominantly under agricultural or urban land
use.

• Current definition is a combination of tree cover
  and land use. Definition has been stable since
  2000 and is now globally accepted.
• Note that there may be a considerable amount of
  trees growing on land that is not classified as
  forest.

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Other wooded land

• Shrubs and bushes and sub-arctic and mountain
  dwarf-tree formations
• Not primarily used for agriculture (e.g. grazing)
• Do not produce timber, but in some areas provides
  substantial amount of fuelwood

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Other land

• Agricultural and urban areas, barren land
• May have tree cover when the tree cover fulfils
  the threshold values in the Forest definition, it
  is reported as Other land with tree cover
• Other land with tree cover may produce timber,
  fuelwood and wood for other purposes

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Forest designation and management

• Designated for production
• Designated for protection of soil and water
• Designated for conservation of biodiversity
• Designated for social services
• Designated for multiple use
• Area of Permanent Forest Estate
• Forest area within protected areas
• Forest area under sustainable forest management
• Forest area with management plan

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Forest characteristics

• Naturally regenerated forests
• Primary forests
• Other (with signs of human impact)
• ...of which of introduced species
• Planted forests
• ...of which of introduced species
• NOTE, the concept of semi-natural forests have
  been dropped, as it was mostly suited to European
  conditions

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Forest stocks

• Growing stock (volume of living trees)
• Biomass stock (above- and below-ground)
• Carbon stock
• in biomass
• in dead organic matter
• in soil
• Carbon and biomass stock estimates based on 2006
  IPCC Guidelines

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Specific issues

• Forest types
• has been discussed whether to include or not
• difficult to establish a global classification
  scheme
• Forest area available for wood supply
• was part of FRA 2000 and the European assessments
• discarded in FRA 2005 and FRA 2010 as it is very
  difficult to apply in developing countries,
  particularly in the tropics.

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More information

• More information and documentation of
  definitions, classifications, etc. can be found
  at
• www.fao.org/forestry/fra

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Forest Valuation Issues
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Classification issues
Forest and other wooded land Cultivated?
Planted forest Yes
Naturally regenerated forest
- Other (with sign of human impact) Yes
- Primary forest No
Other wooded land Mostly not relevant for timber value
Trees outside forest Mostly, yes.

• Statistics on Forest available for wood supply
  are not collected and are, anyway, largely
  irrelevant for valuation.
• Any forest where there has been some human
  intervention is essentially cultivated and
  should be treated as such.
• Primary forest is not cultivated and, as such,
  currently has no timber value.

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What can be quantified?
Flows Flows Stock Stock
Quantity Value Quantity Value
Timber Yes Yes Yes Yes(with care)
Carbon Maybe ? Yes ?
Biodiversity n.a. n.a. Maybe (surrogates) ?
NWFP (including wildlife) Yes (weak) Yes (weak) ? Probably not
Land n.a. n.a. Yes Yes(with care)
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Valuation methodology

• Market value or expectation (NPV) approach
• - Value per ha x number of ha (micro
  approach)
• - Will work for countries with good
  information, developed forest economy, near
  full production
• For others (Russia, Congo, Indonesia, Brazil)
• - Must use a macro approach based on timber
  harvesting scenarios (which are available)
• - Vast areas of these forests have no
  foreseeable timber value
• Valuation of forest land is largely irrelevant