In 2010, IUFRO published a GFEP report on the International Forest Regime. Since then, the complexity of forest governance has increased manifold. New programmes and arrangements have emerged at all scales, and the interactions among them, including synergies and trade-offs, are often unclear. At the same time, forest-related global discussions and negotiations continue, impacting the future of not only forests, but also the livelihoods and well-being of people.

In light of this, a thorough scientific review of the current state of the international forest governance is a timely response to the ongoing global discussions. This new assessment, titled "International Forests Governance: A critical review of trends, drawbacks, and new approaches", revisits the questions examined in the 2010 assessment, and  examines the main aspects of the current landscape of international forest governance, analysing and synthesizing respective scientific information published since the publication of the global assessment report of 2010. Its scope includes an update on governance changes since 2010, including actors and instruments; an overview of the forest-related finance landscape; an identification and analysis of the relevant current discourses; and an analysis of the different governance designs, including deficits and alternatives.