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Under the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 (FAO FRA 2020), forest is a land classification—not simply a large group of trees. The land must span more than 0.5 hectares, have trees taller than 5 metres and canopy cover greater than 10 percent (or trees capable of reaching those thresholds in situ), and not be predominantly agricultural or urban. The definition is for globally comparable forest reporting; it is not a universal legal or biological definition.
What is the FAO FRA 2020 definition of a forest?
FAO FRA 2020 classifies land as forest when it meets all of these conditions:
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- It covers more than 0.5 hectares.
- Trees are higher than 5 metres, with canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or are able to reach those height and canopy thresholds in situ.
- The land is not predominantly under agricultural or urban use.
These are the words and thresholds of the FAO FRA 2020 definitions. “More than” matters: the definition does not say “at least.” A site that is exactly 0.5 hectares, for example, does not meet the stated area threshold.
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FAO FRA 2020 sets no minimum number of individual trees. It assesses land area, canopy cover, tree height or potential height, and predominant land use. A site’s tree count alone therefore cannot determine whether it qualifies: a dense group may be too small, while a young stand with relatively little current cover may qualify if it is expected to reach the specified thresholds in situ.
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Can young or temporarily bare land count?
Yes. The classification is not limited to land whose trees already meet the height and canopy thresholds. Young trees expected to reach them are included. The notes also include temporarily unstocked areas expected to regenerate within five years; a longer period may be used in exceptional local circumstances. These provisions keep a regenerating forest from automatically changing category just because it is young or temporarily without tree cover.
Do plantations, orchards and other tree-covered land count?
Not necessarily. The land-use test and the specific FRA 2020 inclusions and exclusions matter as much as visible tree cover.
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| Land or vegetation | How FAO FRA 2020 treats it |
|---|---|
| Fruit-tree plantations, oil-palm plantations and olive orchards | Excluded as specified agricultural production systems. |
| Agroforestry where crops are grown under tree cover | Excluded under the stated agricultural-system rule; the full notes include a limited Taungya exception. |
| Qualifying bamboo and palm areas, mangroves and Christmas tree plantations | Included when they meet the applicable forest criteria. |
| Windbreaks, shelterbelts and tree corridors | Can qualify when they meet the stated area and width criteria. |
The table summarizes inclusions and exclusions in the FAO FRA 2020 definition and notes; it does not mean that every plantation, palm stand or tree strip qualifies. Predominant land use and the applicable criteria still govern.
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Under FAO FRA 2020, other wooded land is a separate reporting category for land that is not forest but has specified tree, shrub or bush cover. One route is land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 metres and canopy cover of 5–10 percent, or trees able to reach those thresholds in situ. The definition also covers specified combinations of shrub, bush and tree cover above 10 percent.
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FAO’s historical FRA 2000 terminology also describes trees outside forests: trees and tree environments on land that is neither forest nor other wooded land. Examples include scattered trees in agricultural landscapes, small groups of trees, orchards and palm plantations, and trees in parks and gardens. This is a category description from that framework, not a claim that all such trees form a separately area-accounted land class. See the FAO explanation of FRA 2000 forest definitions and change.
Is a forest definition the same as a definition of a tree?
No. FAO FRA 2020 uses tree height or the potential to reach a specified height to classify land. That five-metre threshold is not a universal biological definition of an individual tree. The FAO materials cited here do not establish one context-free definition of “tree.”
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Nor is the FRA land category identical to an ecological definition of a forest ecosystem. An indicative definition hosted by FAO describes a forest ecosystem as a dynamic complex of plant, animal and microorganism communities interacting with their non-living environment as a functional unit, with trees as a key component; people and their needs are integral to many such ecosystems. That concept concerns ecological relationships, not simply whether mapped land passes a reporting threshold. See the FAO meeting material on harmonizing forest-related definitions.
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A definition depends on what it is meant to do. Global reporting needs consistent categories that countries can apply and compare over time; national laws, ecological work and everyday speech may use different criteria. FAO describes harmonized global definitions as compromises that require interpretation. When comparing definitions, check their purpose, minimum area, canopy and height thresholds, land-use rules, treatment of young or temporarily unstocked stands, and whether they describe a land class or an ecosystem.
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