WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE • December 1, 2025
The world’s forests are premium assets. They generate priceless benefits — from capturing carbon and generating rain to supplying food, medicine, wood and countless other products. But neglected forests can quickly turn into liabilities. Forests face growing threats from deforestation, encroachment and climate change. With their decline, we not only lose the bounty that healthy forests provide; changes to forest ecology are creating new threats to communities — escalating wildfires, exacerbated droughts and increased vulnerability to storms. We’re already starting to see this shift from assets to liabilities play out in countries around the globe. The question is: Will it trigger action?