Working together to halt deforestation
Why we must focus on systemic shifts in agrifood systems as solutions
Deforestation and forest degradation are among the most pressing crises of our time. Each year, millions of hectares of forests are lost, undermining global efforts to combat climate change, protect biodiversity, and ensure food security. At the same time, forests remain essential for the well-being of billions of people worldwide, especially rural communities whose livelihoods depend on them.
The urgency to act cannot be overstated. Global commitments on climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable development all hinge on our ability to halt deforestation. Forests are vital for agriculture – forests moderate temperatures, sustain rainfall, regulate the water cycle, and support pollination, biological pest control, and nutrient cycling, directly supporting crop productivity and stabilizing local climates (FAO 2025). They store carbon and sustain biodiversity at a scale no other system can match, while also preventing soil erosion and protecting the health, safety, and well-being of rural communities.
Yet agricultural expansion, the sector most dependent on healthy forests, is also one of the drivers of their loss. Without sustainable management of the land, expanding cropland for soy, palm oil, and cocoa, clearing forests for cattle ranching, or excessive and unsustainable harvesting of fuelwood erodes the very foundation of long-term food security. What we face is not simply an environmental issue, but a structural imbalance between how societies might value short-term economic gain and how they account for long-term ecological stability.
The good news is that many solutions already exist, and countries are proving that enhanced agriculture practices and strengthening capacities of small-scale farmers lay down key solutions that can drive balanced prosperity. Farmers around the world are practicing agroforestry, communities are managing their forests sustainably, and countries are piloting policies that balance protection with production. The problem is not the lack of ideas, but the lack of coherence, alignment with underlying drivers, and scale.
If we are to succeed, at least six major systemic shifts deserve our attention:
1. Strengthen land governance
Effective forest protection begins with clear and fair land governance. Many countries still struggle with overlapping land claims, weak institutions, and unclear tenure rights. Strengthening governance means harmonizing sectoral policies, improving enforcement, and securing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Inclusive and transparent land-use planning builds trust and helps align conservation with local development goals.
2. Scale sustainable agricultural production models
The transformation of agricultural systems is vital to relieving pressure on forests. Practices such as agroecology, agroforestry, and silvopastoral systems enhance productivity while maintaining ecosystem functions. Restoring degraded lands, supporting crop diversification, and investing in sustainable intensification can increase yields without expansion into forests. Strengthened extension services and access to finance are key to enabling smallholders to make this shift.
3. Promote responsible consumption and trade
Global supply chains connect local land-use decisions with international markets. Promoting deforestation-free commodities, strengthening traceability, and improving consumer awareness are critical to breaking the link between consumption and forest loss. Partnerships with the private sector and alignment of trade regulations with sustainability goals can help ensure that agricultural growth supports rather than undermines environmental commitments.
4. Create incentives to maintain forest integrity
Economic signals must reward conservation. Financial and fiscal mechanisms - such as payments for ecosystem services, carbon finance, ecological fiscal transfers, and repurposed subsidies - can make forests more valuable standing than cleared. Aligning financial systems with climate and biodiversity goals encourages both public and private investments in sustainable land use.
5. Enhance availability and use of data
Reliable, transparent, and accessible data is the foundation for informed decision-making. Strengthening forest and land-use monitoring through remote sensing, and supply chain traceability through community-based systems, and digital platforms increases accountability and helps track progress. Integrating these systems across sectors and levels of government ensures coherence between agriculture, forestry, and climate action.
6. Improve rural livelihoods and promote equity and inclusion
Deforestation often stems from poverty and lack of alternatives. Sustainable forest management must go hand in hand with social development - empowering women, youth, and vulnerable groups through training, access to markets, and fair benefit-sharing. Equitable participation in decision-making and livelihood diversification make conservation both viable and fair.
These shifts are intertwined and progress in one area reinforces progress in others. To capture and connect these dynamics in a practical way, FAO and partners have developed the Solutions-tree: Solutions to halting deforestation – through sustainable agrifood systems transformation . Developed through collaboration of over 60 experts across sectors, and skills sets, including agriculture, trade, finance, gender and social protection, food systems, with forest country governments, and partners like Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the UN-REDD Programme, it provides a structured tool to rethink how we design strategies, policies, and projects to halt deforestation. The toolkit organizes solutions under the six systemic shifts, helping decision-makers identify, compare, and adapt measures that directly address the underlying drivers in a given context. It also highlights interlinkages, how better governance underpins sustainable production, how information systems support trade transparency, and how incentives connect to improved livelihoods, and provides tools and case studies to enable them.
Pilot results and integrated solutions have been shared and promoted at major global and regional events. In Japan, at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) Demonstrating the impact of cross-sectoral collaboration and co-creating knowledge for halting deforestation and forest degradation in Africa side event, the importance of linking agriculture and forestry to accelerate sustainable development in Africa was emphasized. Countries showcased innovative partnerships across sectors, including through REDD+, their leadership in boosting catalytic transformation of land use and commodities on the ground, their central role in co-developing knowledge to decouple growth from deforestation contributing to achieve climate targets and shared prosperity. Benin highlighted the use of Solutions-tree in developing their REDD+ strategy has helped the country to move from a fragmented vision to a systemic approach. More recently in Bangkok, ten governments across Asia-Pacific, 20+ partner organizations, and embassy representatives shared progress and challenges in scaling solutions, from better data, smallholder support and policy and governance enhancements, to trust and collaboration as key to enable transformative change.
Together, these milestones underline the growing role of the Solutions-tree that expanding into not just a framework, but a collaborative platform that grows stronger with each contribution, helping us move toward a new equilibrium, one that ensures food security, protects biodiversity, and sustains livelihoods for generations to come.
By: FAO Halting Deforestation, Forest Degradation and Emissions Team, FAO Forestry Division.