The world has a total forest area of 4.06 billion ha, which is 31% of the total land area. The largest part is in the tropics, followed by the boreal, temperate, and subtropical climatic domains. Forests are a rich source of biodiversity apart from providing various environmental services. It directly contributed more than US$ 663 billion to the world GDP in 2015. The forest sector also accounts for about 1% of global employment. Worldwide, more than 19.2 million people were estimated to have been directly employed in the proper forest sector in 2015. Forest degradation entails a reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of forest ecosystems, often caused by anthropogenic activities. The annual economic loss linked to ecosystem degradation is estimated at US$ 4.3–20.2 trillion, which has negative impacts on 3.2 billion people worldwide. Forest degradation can have significant negative economic impacts on the livelihoods of communities that rely on forest resources. Mainly indigenous people around the world are dependent on forests for fuel and various nontimber forest products. Some major challenges and limitations for reversing forest degradation are difficulty in monitoring and quantifying degradation, lack of resources and policies to promote sustainable forest management, competing land-use demands and the complex socioeconomic factors driving degradation in many regions. International frameworks for reducing forest degradation often involve policies and regulations aimed at promoting sustainable forest management, reducing deforestation, forest degradation, and providing financial incentives and mechanisms to support conservation efforts across the world.