Editing Forest (section)

=== The forest transition ===
The transition of a region from forest loss to net gain in forested land is referred to as the forest transition. This change occurs through a few main pathways, including increase in commercial tree plantations, adoption of [[agroforestry]] techniques by small farmers, or spontaneous regeneration when former agricultural land is abandoned. It can be motivated by the economic benefits of forests, the ecosystem services forests provide, or cultural changes where people increasingly appreciate forests for their spiritual, aesthetic, or otherwise intrinsic value.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Sarah Jane |last2=Schelhas |first2=John |last3=Grau |first3=Ricardo |last4=Nanni |first4=A Sofia |last5=Sloan |first5=Sean |title=Forest ecosystem-service transitions: the ecological dimensions of the forest transition |journal=Ecology and Society |date=2017 |volume=22 |issue=4|doi=10.5751/ES-09615-220438 |hdl=11336/67453 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> According to the [[Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5&nbsp;°C]] of the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]], to avoid temperature rise by more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, there will need to be an increase in global forest cover equal to the land area of Canada ({{convert|10|e6sqkm|e6sqmi|abbr=off}}) by 2050.<ref name=IPCC/>

China instituted a ban on logging, beginning in 1998, due to the erosion and flooding that it caused.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ban on Logging Saves Forests |url=http://english.people.com.cn/english/200110/25/eng20011025_83160.html |date=25 October 2001 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629191535/http://english.people.com.cn/english/200110/25/eng20011025_83160.html |archive-date=29 June 2011 |newspaper=[[People's Daily]] |access-date=16 February 2022}}</ref> In addition, ambitious tree-planting programmes in countries such as China, India, the United States, and Vietnam – combined with natural expansion of forests in some regions – have added more than {{convert|7|e6ha|abbr=off}} of new forests annually. As a result, the net loss of forest area was reduced to {{convert|5.2|e6ha|abbr=off}} per year between 2000 and 2010, down from {{convert|8.3|e6ha|abbr=off}} annually in the 1990s. In 2015, a study for ''[[Nature Climate Change]]'' showed that the trend has recently been reversed, leading to an "overall gain" in global biomass and forests. This gain is due especially to [[reforestation]] in China and Russia.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Yi Y.|last1=Liu|first2=Albert I.J.M.|last2=van Dijk|first3=Richard A.M.|last3=de Jeu|first4=Josep G.|last4=Canadell|first5=Matthew F.|last5=McCabe|first6=Jason P.|last6=Evans|first7=Guojie|last7=Wang|title=Recent reversal in loss of global terrestrial biomass|journal=Nature Climate Change|volume=5|issue=5|page=470|date=30 March 2015|doi=10.1038/nclimate2581|bibcode=2015NatCC...5..470L}}</ref> New forests are not equivalent to old growth forests in terms of species diversity, resilience, and carbon capture. On 7 September 2015, the FAO released a new study stating that over the last 25 years the global [[deforestation]] rate has decreased by 50% due to improved [[forest management|management of forests]] and greater government protection.<ref>{{cite web|title=World deforestation slows down as more forests are better managed|url=http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/326911/icode/|website=fao.org|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation|access-date=2 October 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012010007/http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/326911/icode/|archive-date=12 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=MacDicken|first1=K.|last2=Jonsson|first2=Ö.|last3=Piña|first3=L.|last4=Maulo|first4=S.|last5=Adikari|first5=Y.|last6=Garzuglia|first6=M.|last7=Lindquist|first7=E.|last8=Reams|first8=G.|last9=D'Annunzio|first9=R.|title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015|url=http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4793e.pdf|website=fao.org|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|date=2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003140455/http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4793e.pdf|archive-date=3 October 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020.svg|thumb|Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020<ref name=":0"/>]]

There is an estimated {{convert|726|e6ha|e9acre|abbr=off}} of forest in protected areas worldwide. Of the six major world regions, South America has the highest share of forests in protected areas, at 31 percent. The area of such areas globally has increased by {{convert|191|e6ha|abbr=off}} since 1990, but the rate of annual increase slowed in 2010–2020.<ref name=":0"/>

Smaller areas of [[woodland]] in cities may be managed as [[urban forestry]], sometimes within public parks. These are often created for human benefits; [[Attention Restoration Theory]] argues that spending time in nature reduces stress and improves health, while [[Forest School (education)|forest schools]] and [[Forest kindergarten|kindergartens]] help young people to develop social as well as scientific skills in forests. These typically need to be close to where the children live.