27 March 2012: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have launched the North American Forest Sector Outlook Study (NAFSOS), examining changes in the forest sectors of the US and Canada.

The NAFSOS provides an overview of previous studies of the forest sector, and recent trends and projections to 2030 for the US and Canada. Projections for NAFSOS where modeled on three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios. NAFSOS underscores the impacts of climate change in North American forest trends, including: insects infestations; diseases; wildfires; the spread of exotic or alien species; altered precipitation patterns; and more frequent natural disasters. The report projects that forest areas in both countries will not change appreciably, as compared to global forest stocks. The study also highlights the impact of increasing demand for renewable woody biomass energy on the prices of other timber products.

The study complements the European Forest Sector Outlook Study II (EFSOS II), which was released in September 2011.[UNECE Press Release] [Publication: North American Forest Sector Outlook Study]