FAO's State of the World's Forests report says more than 489 million hectares of forest have been lost since 1990. Restoration pledges cover over one billion hectares, but only about one fifth of that land has actually been restored. The report calls the progress uneven and warns that delayed action will raise costs and lock in long term damage. Forests cover about 4.14 billion hectares and store 714 gigatonnes of carbon, making them central to climate mitigation. The UN estimates restoring one billion hectares could generate $1.8 trillion a year in benefits tied to food security, rural livelihoods, and ecosystem services. For carbon market watchers, the gap between pledged and verified restoration is the detail to follow.
