Drifting Away: Global Changes in Human Proximity to Forests

Presentation: AGU25 In-Person Poster Present The proximity between human populations and forests is a crucial factor in understanding human-nature relationships. Natural hazards such as wildfire and landslide risks, and biodiversity threats are strongly influenced by how far people live from forests. Over recent decades, deforestation and land-use change may have pushed populations further from forests, even as urban expansion has, in some regions, brought people closer. Yet, how this proximity has changed over time and across space—especially at a global scale—has remained largely unexplored.In our study, we assessed global human proximity to forests by measuring the per capita average distance to the nearest forest. We built on recent advances in remote sensing and cloud-based geospatial analysis, using high-resolution population and land cover datasets including WorldPop, ESA WorldCover, and GLC_FCS30D (2000–2020). We developed a method to calculate distances from each population grid to the nearest forest and aggregated these values to the state and country levels using population-weighted averages. This enabled us to examine spatial and temporal shifts in forest proximity over the past two decades.Our results reveal that, overall, human populations are getting further from forests. However, this global trend is shaped by contrasting regional patterns: some areas have seen decreasing distances, while others—particularly in Africa and South America—have experienced growing separation. Europe and North America remain relatively stable, and Asia and Oceania exhibit mixed changes. These regional variations reflect the complex influence of environmental policy, land-use decisions, and development trajectories.This is one of the first initiatives to quantify how global human proximity to forests has changed over time. The evidence and associated findings offer critical insights for guiding natural risk mitigation, biodiversity protection, and sustainable land management.