94 Percent of World's Forests Unprotected

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

9/14/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

The World Wide Fund for Nature reports on the findings of recent research,

utilizing Geographic Information Systems data, which find that 94% of the

world's forests are unprotected. This is all the more disheartening when

one realizes that the 6% in protected areas have various degrees of real

protection, with many continuing to be degraded. Clearly we are witnessing

the destruction of the world's forest legacy in our lifetimes. This item

comes from WWF's internet site at < http://www.panda.org/ >. The maps

referred to can be accessed at:

http://www.panda.org/tda/forest/new/index.htm

Glen Barry

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WWF News Releases

94 PER CENT OF WORLD'S FORESTS UNPROTECTED

GENEVA, Switzerland -- Only 6 percent of the 3,300 million hectares of

forests left in the world today are formally protected, according to new

data released on Monday by WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature as delegates from

53 countries meet in Geneva to discuss ways of halting forest destruction

at the third session of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF).

The information gathered in the WWF World Forests Map, a digital overview

of the Earth's remaining forest cover produced with data from over 80

countries, shows that only a very small fraction of the world's remaining

forests has been set aside for conservation within protected areas such as

National Parks and Nature Reserves.

"In many cases, the solutions to forest problems are obvious but

governments are refusing to act. What we need is a dramatic increase in

the number of legally protected forest areas as well as the controlled use

of forests which fall outside the protective boundary," said Francis

Sullivan, Leader of WWF's Forests for Life Campaign. "This issue must be

the central theme of IPF if we are to stop the continuing degradation of

the world's remaining forests."

To identify forests under threat around the world, WWF -- in collaboration

with the UK-based World Conservation Monitoring Centre -- gathered national

and international forest data covering the last 20 years. The subsequent

integration of the information gathered allowed the resulting set of GIS

(Geographic Information Systems) maps to be accurate at an scale of

1:1,000,000.

The data analyzed shows that, for example, in the Brazilian Amazon there

has been a 34 percent increase in deforestation since 1992; an area

equivalent to the size of Belgium has been lost. Also, countries like

Cambodia, Russia and Cameroon, where large areas of forest still remain

(many of them exploited by commercial loggers), have yet to establish

representative networks of protected areas to ensure adequate protection

for all their different types of forest.

"We now know that levels of forest protection are far below the

internationally accepted minimum of 10 percent of the world's forests.

With this new map, we can blow away the smokescreen which has hidden the

truth about the state of the world's forests for so long," said Mr.

Sullivan. "At last, people can look and see for themselves how few

forests are protected and understand the need for urgent action."

WWF is making available to the public a simplified version of the World

Forests Map over the Internet. This can be seen on the WWF Global

Network Website (at http://www.panda.org).

Notes to Editors:

* Francis Sullivan is available for interviews at the Palais des Nations in

Geneva on Monday, September 9. He can be contacted by calling the following

mobile number:+44 (0) 468 144 434.

* For more information, please contact Javier Arreaza at +41 22 364 9550,

or Alison Lucas at mobile number +44 (0) 468 688 011.

* Electronic and 35 mm colour slide reproductions of the World Forests Map

are available.

* 35 mm colour slide reproductions of national maps are also available for

the following 38 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bhutan, Brazil,

Cameroon, Canada (2 maps), Denmark East Africa, Ecuador, Finland, France,

Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia (3 maps), Italy, Japan, Laos,

Madagascar, Malaysia (2 maps), Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway,

Pakistan, Russian Federation (3 maps), South Africa, Spain, Sweden,

Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America (3 maps),

Venezuela, Vietnam and Zambia.

* The World Conservation Monitoring Centre is providing support to the WWF

Forest Programme in monitoring the conservation of the world's forests.

This work is part of the WWF "Forests for Life" Campaign. An operational

monitoring system is now being developed to monitor, compile and distribute

updated information on forests, protected areas and other forest

conservation measures.

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Email (best way to contact)-> gbarry@forests.org