The report High-risk forests, high-value returns: A co-benefits assessment for decision-makers examines the global significance of conserving “high-risk forests” or tropical forests with high deforestation risk, covering about 391 million hectares.
It finds that these forests, while most at risk of being lost, are also among the most essential to people and the planet. Protecting them prevents major carbon emissions and delivers multiple co-benefits, including water and soil regulation, rainfall recycling, pollination, food security, and livelihoods for 25 million materially poor people who depend on fuelwood and non-timber products. Conservation of these forests also helps avoid an estimated US$81 billion in climate-related damages annually.
