Vanuatu Forest Area

Vanuatu’s forest area has remained unchanged at 36.28 percent of its land surface over the 35‑year series from 1990 to 2025, representing the same figure recorded at the all‑time peak in 2023 and the all‑time trough in 2025, and placing the nation at rank 84 globally in 2025. The stability of this share contrasts with modest fluctuations in comparable European states; for example, Bulgaria reported 36.46 percent and Portugal 36.16 percent in the same year, while Spain’s forest cover stood at 37.20 percent. The lack of variation suggests that Vanuatu’s forest policies, land‑use practices, and natural regeneration rates have neither expanded nor contracted the forested proportion despite pressures such as agricultural expansion and climate‑related disturbances. Continued monitoring will be essential, as any shift in export‑driven logging, climate resilience initiatives, or reforestation programmes could alter the trajectory and move Vanuatu’s forest share away from its current equilibrium.