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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-use category with specific area, tree-height and canopy-cover tests—not simply any place where trees grow. The definition requires land spanning more than 0.5 hectares, with trees higher than 5 metres and canopy cover greater than 10 percent, or trees able to reach those height and canopy thresholds in situ. Land predominantly used for agriculture or urban purposes is excluded. (FAO FRA 2020 definitions)
Those figures belong to FAO’s global forest-area reporting framework. They are not a universal legal or ecological definition, and the five-metre threshold is not a universal definition of an individual tree.
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What is the FAO FRA 2020 definition of a forest?
For FAO FRA 2020 reporting, a forest is land that meets all the relevant parts of this test:
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- Tree height: trees are higher than 5 metres, or are capable of reaching that height in situ.
- Canopy cover: tree canopy covers more than 10 percent of the land, or is capable of reaching that level in situ.
- Land use: the land is not predominantly under agricultural or urban use.
The definition and its notes are set out in FAO’s FRA 2020 terms and definitions. The wording is “more than,” not “at least”: land exactly 0.5 hectares, canopy cover exactly 10 percent, or trees exactly 5 metres high do not meet those respective numeric thresholds on their own.
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Can young or temporarily bare land still count as forest?
Yes. The classification is not limited to stands that already look like mature forest. FAO FRA 2020 includes young trees expected to reach the specified height and canopy-cover thresholds in situ. It also allows temporarily unstocked areas expected to regenerate within five years to remain classified as forest; longer periods may apply in exceptional local circumstances. These provisions recognize a forest’s expected condition, not just its appearance on the day it is assessed. (FAO FRA 2020 definitions and notes)
How is forest different from other wooded land?
In FAO FRA 2020, other wooded land is a separate reporting category for qualifying land that does not meet the forest definition. It also must span more than 0.5 hectares. One route into the category is tree canopy cover of 5–10 percent, where trees are higher than 5 metres or able to reach that height in situ. The definition also includes specified combinations of shrub, bush and tree cover above 10 percent. The full alternatives are in FAO’s classification notes.
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| FAO FRA 2020 category | Area and vegetation criteria | Land-use test |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | More than 0.5 hectares; trees higher than 5 metres or able to reach that height in situ; canopy cover greater than 10 percent or able to reach that level in situ. | Land predominantly under agricultural or urban use is excluded. |
| Other wooded land | More than 0.5 hectares; not forest; includes specified tree-cover cases at 5–10 percent and alternatives involving combined shrub, bush and tree cover above 10 percent. | See the full classification notes for the category’s specified alternatives. |
| Trees outside forests | Historical FAO FRA 2000 terminology for trees and tree environments on land not defined as forest or other wooded land. | Examples include scattered trees in agricultural landscapes, orchards, palm plantations, parks and gardens; it is not presented here as a separately area-accounted land class. |
The first two rows describe FAO FRA 2020 categories; the third uses an earlier framework. FAO’s FRA 2000 explanation of forest and forest change is useful for understanding the historical “trees outside forests” term. A tree-covered site may fall outside the forest category because it fails the area, canopy or land-use criteria.
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Does every plantation, orchard or tree-covered area qualify?
No. In the FAO FRA 2020 definition, some areas with trees are excluded because their predominant use is agricultural. Specified excluded systems include fruit-tree plantations, oil-palm plantations, olive orchards, and agroforestry where crops are grown under tree cover. The notes include a limited Taungya exception, so it is inaccurate to say that every agroforestry system is excluded or that every plantation qualifies. Consult the full FRA 2020 definition for the applicable wording and exceptions.
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Conversely, the category is not restricted to conventional closed-canopy woodland. FAO’s inclusions cover qualifying bamboo and palm areas, mangroves, Christmas tree plantations, and windbreaks, shelterbelts and corridors that meet the stated area and width criteria. Whether a particular site qualifies depends on the definition’s complete tests, not on its label alone.
How many trees make a forest?
FAO FRA 2020 does not set a minimum count of individual trees. It classifies land using area, canopy cover, tree height or potential height, and predominant land use. A count by itself cannot establish whether a site qualifies: the relevant question is whether the land meets the framework’s criteria.
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Is there one definition of a tree or forest everywhere?
No single context-free definition should be assumed. A definition may be designed for national law, global reporting, ecological study or ordinary communication, and those purposes need not use the same boundaries. FAO describes harmonized global definitions as compromises that require interpretation to make reporting comparable across countries and over time. (FAO, Second Expert Meeting on Harmonizing Forest-related Definitions)
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsIt is also useful to distinguish a mapped land category from an ecosystem concept. An FAO-hosted indicative definition 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. That concept includes ecological relationships and human needs; it is broader than the area thresholds used for FRA land reporting. (FAO meeting material on forest-related definitions)
The FAO materials cited here use trees as components of land classification and specify height thresholds for forest reporting, but they do not establish a universal biological definition of an individual tree. Use the five-metre figure only as part of the FRA 2020 forest test, not as a general rule for deciding whether a plant is a tree.
How to assess a disputed forest classification
When two sources classify the same site differently, first check what each definition is meant to do. Then compare the criteria rather than treating the word “forest” as if it had one fixed meaning:
- Identify the authority and purpose. Is the definition for FAO global reporting, a national law, ecological work or ordinary usage?
- Check minimum area. Does the site exceed the definition’s area threshold?
- Check canopy and height. Does it use current cover and height, potential in situ growth, or both?
- Check land use. Does predominant agricultural or urban use disqualify the land?
- Check stand condition. Are young trees or temporarily unstocked areas included, and under what conditions?
- Check the category being mapped. Is the source describing forest land, other wooded land, trees outside forests, or a forest ecosystem?
For a global reporting comparison using FAO FRA 2020, apply that framework’s complete definition and notes. Do not assume its thresholds decide a question governed by a different national, ecological or everyday definition.
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