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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Good News, Bad News in World Forestry Report

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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Portal

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12/28/00

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY

A new report by the World Resources Institute highlights the

importance of forest quality, and the steady diminishment in terms of

quality of forest ecosystems worldwide. Forest decline and

simplification may have similar consequences as outright

deforestation. Old-growth forests and heavily managed secondary

forests are not equal in terms of the ecosystem functionality and

biodiversity. Natural primary and secondary growth forests continue

to provide 80 percent of all wood fiber products - from logs to pulp

- yet this fiber could be produced on plantations. The report can be

found in full at http://www.wri.org/wri/wr2000 .

g.b.

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Title: Good News, Bad News in World Forestry Report

Source: Copyright 2000 Environment News Service

Date: December 28, 2000

WASHINGTON, DC, December 28, 2000 (ENS) - The authors of a landmark

report released Wednesday say the world should be thinking of forest

quality, not just forest quantity.

The report by the Washington based World Resources Institute is

called "Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems: Forest Ecosystems." It

is the first attempt to analyze the condition of forests worldwide,

based on their ability to provide a wide range of goods and services.

"We are not running out of trees, especially in the developed

countries," said lead author Emily Matthews. "We are, however,

running through our old growth or primary forests."

The report found that forest areas in developed countries continue to

increase slightly, while clearance for agriculture, development, and

logging in developing countries are reducing forests by at least

140,000 square kilometers every year.

Three forms of human interference in forests are studied by the

report: the spread of "transition zones" - agriculture practiced at

the margins of intact forest, road construction, and the use of fire.

The report explains how roads, even in Central Africa where

transportation systems are less developed than in the West, have

fragmented dense forest into smaller pieces.

Worldwide, fires started by humans now account for more than 90

percent of all wildland fires in forests and savannas.

As well as detailing the changes in forest area, the report reveals

striking changes under way within many of the world's forests.

Demands for timber, fuel, mineral resources, and food production are

altering the distribution, density and size of trees, and radically

affecting many other species that depend on forests.

These goods and services also include medicines, environmental

services like water purification, carbon storage, and rich habitat

for biodiversity.

The report stresses that typically, forests are assessed too

narrowly, with only their size and capacity to produce commercially

valuable fiber taken into account.

On the positive side, production of all wood fiber products - from

logs to pulp - is keeping up with demand. But the bad news is that

nearly 80 percent of it comes from primary or secondary growth

forests.

This means, "irreplaceable ancient forests continue to be felled for

fiber that could, in principle, be produced from plantations," said

the report.

Much of the wood production in developed countries takes place in

secondary growth, or managed forests, noted the report. The authors

highlighted an encouraging trend toward more environmentally and

socially responsible forestry practices.

Nature conservation and amenity value are increasingly important in

forestry management decisions, said the report. But the report warned

that increased production from plantations will not necessarily

decrease harvest rates in natural forests.

The authors recommend that governments encourage production from

plantations and intensive forest management in selected areas, while

discouraging old growth harvesting.

"Currently, many governments subsidize logging but not tree

plantations," said Matthews.

Here are broad findings from the report, which can be found in full

at http://www.wri.org/wri/wr2000

* Forests cover about one quarter of the world's land surface,

excluding Greenland and Antarctica. Just over half are found in

developing countries.

* Global forest cover has been reduced by at least 20 percent since

pre-agricultural times, possibly by 50 percent.

* Forest area has increased slightly since 1980 in industrial

countries, but has declined by at least 10 percent in developing

countries.

* Tropical deforestation rates are uncertain, but probably exceed

130,000 square kilometers per year.

* About 40 percent of forests are relatively undisturbed by human

activity, though nearly half of these are likely to be developed

soon.

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