This report is a direct response to a request by the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity to explore the links between biodiversity, forest ecosystem resilience and climate change. Forests are major pools of terrestrial biodiversity and contain about 50% of the global terrestrial biomass carbon stocks. Emissions from deforestation remain a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Thus, conservation, management and restoration of forests will make major contributions to climate change mitigation. This report reviews the concepts of ecosystem resilience, resistance and stability in forests and their relationship to biodiversity, with particular reference to climate change.