Land-System Change

Planetary Boundary 3 | Status: Boundary Transgressed

Boundary Definition

Control Variable: % of global land surface converted to cropland

Safe Operating Space: Maintain 75% of original forest cover in major biomes

Current Status:

• Global forest cover: 62% of original (transgressed)
• Tropical forests: 85% remaining
• Temperate forests: 50% remaining
• Boreal forests: 85% remaining

Source: Richardson et al. (2023)

Why This Matters

Land-system change (deforestation, agricultural expansion, urbanization) drives biodiversity loss, disrupts water cycles, reduces carbon storage, and alters regional climates. Forests store ~45% of terrestrial carbon and provide habitat for 80% of terrestrial species.

Key Drivers:

• Agriculture expansion (commodity crops: soy, palm oil, beef)
• Urbanization
• Infrastructure development
• Logging (legal and illegal)

Key Standards & Frameworks

Corporate Commitments

• TNFD — Land footprint disclosure
• Science Based Targets for Nature (SBTn) — Land-use targets
• Accountability Framework Initiative (AFI) — Deforestation-free supply chains

Certification Schemes

• FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) — Responsible forestry
• RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) — Deforestation-free palm oil
• RTRS (Roundtable on Responsible Soy) — Sustainable soy

Primary Source Documents

Scientific Reports

• FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2024 — Comprehensive forest data
• IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land (2019) — Land-use emissions
• WWF Deforestation Fronts — Hotspot mapping

International Frameworks

• UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) — Land degradation neutrality
• Bonn Challenge — 350M hectares restoration by 2030
• New York Declaration on Forests — Halve deforestation by 2020, end by 2030

Regional Policies

• EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) — Effective 2024
• Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) — Brazil

Regional Initiatives

Hong Kong & China

• China National Afforestation Program — Forest cover target: 26% by 2035
• HK Country Parks System — 40% of land protected

Asia-Pacific

• ASEAN Guidelines on Peatlands Management
• Indonesia Moratorium on Forest Clearing

Measurement & Monitoring

Satellite Monitoring

• Global Forest Watch — Real-time deforestation alerts (World Resources Institute)
• GLAD Alerts — University of Maryland
• Planet Labs — Daily satellite imagery

Corporate Tools

• Trase — Supply chain deforestation risk
• Forest 500 — Company/institution deforestation commitments

Tools & Data

• FAO FAOSTAT — Land use statistics
• Hansen Global Forest Change Dataset — 2000-2023 forest loss
• CDP Forests — Corporate disclosure on deforestation

Related Pages

• Environmental Hub
• Biodiversity Loss — Driven by habitat loss
• Climate Change — Forests as carbon sinks
• TNFD

Sources: Stockholm Resilience Centre, FAO, IPCC SRCCL | Last updated: February 2026