List of types of formally designated forests

This is a list of types of formally designated forests, as institutionalized around the world. It is organized in three sublists: by forest ownership, protection status, and designated use.

By ownership

National forest
- National forest (Brazil) - a type of sustainable use protected area
- The National Forest (England) - a government-supported, "environmental project in central England"
- National forest (France) - a forest that is owned by the French state, originating with the Edict of Moulins of 1566
- National forest (United States) - classification of Federal lands in the United States
National reserve - legal designation in the United States, beginning in 1978^[2]
Private forest
- Corporate forest
- Private nonindustrial forest land
- Private landowner assistance program - a class of U.S. government assistance program for maintaining, developing, improving and protecting wildlife
- Private reserve
  - Private forest reserve
    - Private timber reserve (Tasmania)
  - Private nature reserve
Provincial forest - administered or protected by an agency of a province; varies by jurisdiction
- Provincial forests (Manitoba)
Royal forest - an area of land with varying meanings; not necessarily densely wooded
State forest - administered or protected by an agency of a state; varies by jurisdiction
Tribal forest - owned, controlled, and/or utilized by a (formally recognized) indigenous or tribal group

Ancient woodland - formal designation used in the United Kingdom
- Ancient semi-natural woodland (ASNW) - composed of native tree species not obviously planted
Bannwald - a protected forest area in parts of Germany and Austria
Biosphere reserve - as designated by UNESCO
Biological reserve

Protected landscape area of Kokořínsko, Czech Republic

Conservation reserve - used in the United States' Conservation Reserve Program
Forest circle - an administrative area including protected or resource-managed forests, used in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
Forest division - a non-overlapping subdivision of a forest circle, used in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
Forest park (The Gambia), as in Dobo Forest Park, Faba Forest Park, Finto Manereg Forest Park, etc.
Forest preserve, formal dedication for state-owned lands within the constitutionally designated Adirondack and Catskill Parks of the U.S. state of New York, required to be kept forever wild.
Forest protected area - formal designation of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the World Commission on Protected Areas^[3]
Forest range - a non-overlapping subdivision of a forest division, used in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
Forest reserve or preserve
- Recreational forest reserve, e.g. the Recreational Forest Reserve of Fontinhas, Azores
High-biodiversity wilderness area - an International Union for Conservation of Nature classification

Wildlife Management Area, West Virginia, USA

High conservation value area - developed by the Forest Stewardship Council as a means of defining regions with a specific environmental, socioeconomic, biodiversity or landscape value for use within forestry management certification systems
High conservation value forest - a FSC designation for forests meeting criteria specified in its "Principles and Criteria of Forest Stewardship"
Intact forest landscape - NGO-developed term used in forest monitoring
Old-growth forest - in Australia, formal protection category in the Regional Forest Agreement
Private natural heritage reserve - designation used in Brazil
Protected forest - used in Cambodia and India
Protected landscape - used in the Czech Republic
Reserve forest - used to designate protected forest areas in British India; used today in Bangladesh, India, Kazakhstan and Pakistan to refer to forests accorded a special degree of protection
- Reserved forests and protected forests of India
- Protected and reserved forests of Pakistan
Sacred grove - protected in Ghana, Nigeria and possibly elsewhere
- Sacred groves of India

Schonwald near Schönwald, Baden-Württemberg

Schonwald, a type of formally protected forest in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in which economic usage of the forest is permitted under certain restrictions
Wild forest, formal designation within the New York Forest Preserve
Wilderness forest
Wildlife forest
Wildlife management area
Wildlife reserve
- Wildlife sanctuaries of India
World Heritage Forest - formally recognized for special biophysical or cultural significance; administered by UNESCO

Dehesa - lands utilizing a particular agrosylvopastoral system in Spain and Portugal
Demonstration forest
Experimental forest - formal designation used by the United States Forest Service^[4]
Intensive monitoring site - formal designation used by the United States Forest Service^[4]
Long-term ecological research site
Model forest - formal designation used by the Food and Agriculture Organization^[5] and the International Model Forest Network^[6]
Private nonindustrial forest land - small, family owned, and timber-producing forest lands
Production forest
Protection forest - forests that mitigate or prevent the impact of a natural hazard; designation in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland (Schutzwald) and elsewhere in Europe, particularly in mountainous areas (e.g. as a protection against avalanches)
Research forest
Research natural area - formal designation used by the United States Forest Service^[4]
Teaching forest