Theme for this year: “Accelerating forest solutions through innovation”.

Key highlights 

• Deforestation Rate declined to 10.2 million hectare (ha) per year in 2015–2020 from 15.8 million ha per year in 1990–2000.
  • India ranked 3rd for average annual net gain in forest area from 2010- 2020.
• Non-Timber Forest Products support livelihoods of about 275 million people in India.

Need for Innovation in Forest Sector

• Climate change related stress (wildfire, pest): Innovative forest and land management strategies needed for resilience.
• Shift towards bioeconomy: Zero-carbon bioeconomy needs innovation for diverse, efficient wood-based product uses.
• Opportunity from non-wood forest product: Many wild forest-based foods, including fish, are rich in micronutrients and have high nutritional content. 

Five types of innovation enhancing potential of forests and trees to address global challenges

• Technological: Remote-sensing & cloud computing generate high-quality forest data, thereby, improve forest management processes. E.g., NASA and ESA's Landsat and Copernicus programs.
• Social, Policy and Institutional: All interrelated and dynamic innovations to better engage women, youth and Indigenous People. E.g., India's Joint Forest Management Programme mandates 1/3rd female representation on committees.
• Financial: Innovations to enhance value of standing forests, boost restoration efforts, etc. E.g. Innovations like SCRIPT (Soft Commodity Risk Platform).