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FOREST
CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY
Study
Calls for Focus Upon Conserving Large Forest Blocks
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Forest
Networking a Project of Forests.org, Inc.
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08/22/01
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY by Forests.org
A major
new comprehensive satellite survey of global forest cover has
found
that humankind has destroyed more of the World's forests than
previously
thought. The new report by UNEP and
NASA is entitled "An
Assessment
of the Status of the World's Remaining Closed Forests" and
is
available at: ftp://www.na.unep.net/pub/closedforest/. The study
found
that 80% of the World's remaining large and contiguous blocks of
closed
canopy forests; which include virgin, old growth and naturally
regenerated
woodlands, are located in just 15 countries.
They are
Russia,
Canada, Brazil, the United States of America, Democratic
Republic
of the Congo, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Colombia,
Bolivia,
Venezuela, India, Australia and Papua New Guinea.
This
first uniformly conducted global survey of forest cover also
revealed
that countries have overestimated the size of their forests
and the
extent of their decline. Other findings
include noting that
88
percent of closed forests are in sparsely populated areas, and thus
face
only limited immediate threats from clearance for agriculture,
development
or logging. But less than 10% of
forests have any formal
protected
status.
On the
basis of these findings, the report recommends focusing
conservation
efforts on the 15 countries identified as containing the
largest
forest blocks. The report states,
"Knowing it is unlikely
that
all forests can be protected, it would be better to focus
conservation
priorities on those target areas that have the best
prospects
for continued existence." Scarce
conservation resources are
the
rationale given for doing so.
Forests.org
concurs that the World's forest conservation efforts
should
pay special, but not exclusive, attention to these areas - on
the
basis of their large forest expanses.
It is only in these large
forests
that natural ecological and evolutionary patterns and
processes
can be more fully maintained. But we
need to heed other
priority
setting tools such as hotspot analysis as well. The answer
to the
problem of scarce conservation resources is to acquire more,
through
organization and campaigns to lift the profile of these issues
to the
level that their urgency demands.
Global Planetary ecosystem
functionality
is at stake; and conservationists should stop arguing
how to
cut up the conservation funding pie and start working to
increase
funding to pursue multiple supportive approaches.
Klaus
Toepfer, executive director of UNEP, compellingly makes the case
that
"The importance of healthy forests cannot be underestimated...
...Forests
are vital for the well being of the planet.
They provide a
variety
of socioeconomic and ecological goods and services." On a
perhaps
overly pessimistic note, he states "Short of a miraculous
transformation
in the attitude of people and governments, the Earth's
remaining
closed-canopy forests and their associated biodiversity are
destined
to disappear in the coming decades."
Forests.org, our
partners
and thousands of other modest grassroots efforts are
committed
to making the miracle of global forest sustainability a
reality. Join us.
g.b.
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TEXT STARTS HERE:
ITEM #1
Title: Fifteen Countries Hold Key to Saving
Forests
Source: c Environment News Service (ENS) 2001
Date: August 20, 2001
LONDON,
England, August 20, 2001 (ENS) - Efforts to save the world's
last,
critically important forests, should initially focus on just a
handful
of countries, a new report has found. A unique satellite based
survey
of the planet's remaining unbroken forests, which include
virgin,
old growth and naturally regenerated woodlands, has found that
more
than 80 percent are located in just 15 countries.
The
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), one of the key
organizations
behind the report, believes that targeting scarce
conservation
funds on these 15 key countries may pay dividends in
terms
of environmental results.
"We
have found that 80.6 per cent of the WRCF [world's remaining
closed
forests] are located in 15 countries," said Ashbindu Singh,
regional
coordinator at UNEP's Division of Early Warning and
Assessment.
"These are Russia, Canada, Brazil, the United States of
America,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, Indonesia,
Mexico,
Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, India Australia and Papua
New
Guinea. Four are in industrialized countries and 11 are in the
developing
world."
The
survey also reveals that outside pressures from people and
population
growth on most of these remaining closed forests, such as
those
in Bolivia and Peru, are low. Others, such as the remaining
closed
forests in India and China, are under more pressure from human
activity
and may require a bigger effort to conserve and protect, the
report
concludes.
But
overall, an estimated 88 percent of these forests are sparsely
populated,
giving focused and well funded conservation efforts a real
chance
of success, the authors said.
The
findings have come from UNEP scientists working with researchers
from
the U.S. Geological Survey and National Aeronautics and Space
Agency
(NASA).
"The
importance of healthy forests cannot be underestimated," said
Klaus
Toepfer, executive director of UNEP. "Forests are vital for the
well
being of the planet. They provide a variety of socioeconomic and
ecological
goods and services."
These
include watershed management, with forests regulating the
quantity
and quality of rainwater discharging into rivers, Toepfer
noted.
Intact forests also help counter soil erosion and the spread of
deserts,
and play a vital role in reducing the impacts of climate
change
by soaking up carbon from the air.
"Forests
also harbor some of the world's most precious and endangered
wildlife,
provide food and medicines for many local communities and
indigenous
peoples across the globe and support ecotourism, which can
be
economically important, especially in developing countries," added
Toepfer.
Despite
numerous international conferences, conventions and agreements
aimed
at protecting forest resources - including the Forestry
Principles,
drawn up during the Earth Summit in 1992, and the
Convention
on Biological Diversity - forests around the globe remain
under
increasing threat, the report finds.
"Short
of a miraculous transformation in the attitude of people and
governments,
the Earth's remaining closed canopy forests and their
associated
biodiversity are destined to disappear in the coming
decades,"
Toepfer warned. "Knowing it is unlikely that all forests can
be
protected, it would be better to focus conservation priorities on
those
target areas that have the best prospects for continued
existence.
I believe this new study provides this new focus. I urge
governments,
communities and international organizations to act on our
findings
and recommendations."
The
report, which the authors claim is the most comprehensive and
reliable
assessment ever made of global forest cover, uses satellite
information
to identify the extent and distribution of the world's
remaining
closed forests. These are defined as forests with a canopy
closure
of more than 40 percent.
Forests
biologists consider such a level of canopy closure to be vital
for
forest to remain healthy and able to perform all their known
environmental
and ecological functions. Such forests are also home to
some of
the world's rarest and most unique species including the
elusive
cloud leopard of Russia and the lion tailed macaque of the
Western
Ghats in India.
About
88 percent of the closed forests in the key 15 countries contain
low to
nonexistent human populations, but population pressures are
high in
India and China.
In
India, 43 percent of closed forests have high population densities,
and in
China, 36 percent are facing high population densities. In
contrast,
almost all closed forest areas in Peru and Bolivia are free
from
high population pressure.
Other
countries free from high population pressures, and containing
significant
closed forests, include the Democratic Republic of the
Congo,
Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Russia and Canada.
The
report, "An Assessment of the Status of the World's Remaining
Closed
Forests," argues that it is vital to act now to protect these
last
important forests.
"The
low population densities in and around the majority of the WRCF
areas
offer an excellent opportunity for conservation, if appropriate
steps
are taken now by the national governments and the international
community,"
the report authors write. "The cornerstone of future
policies
for the protection of WRCF should be based on protection,
education
and alternatives to forest exploitation."
The
report finds that remaining closed forests in Venezuela enjoy the
highest
level of official protection, with 63 percent in protected
areas.
No other country protects more than 30 percent of its remaining
closed
forests.
Among
the 15 key countries identified in the report, Russia has the
lowest
level of protection with just two percent. Mexico came in
second,
protecting three percent of its forests, and China, which
currently
protects 3.6 percent of its intact forests, ranked third.
In
North America, Canada protects 7.4 percent of its remaining
forests,
which cover just over 37 percent of its land area. In the
United
States, where about 25 percent of the nation is under closed
forests,
just 6.7 percent of forested land is protected.
The
finding comes as U.S. President George W. Bush considers
overturning
the sweeping forest protections installed by his
predecessor.
The Bush administration is expected to decide within
weeks
whether to revamp or even discard a rule protecting remaining
roadless
areas of U.S. national forests.
The
UNEP report calls on governments in the key 15 countries to draft
action
plans detailing how they propose to conserve their remaining
closed
forests. The level of protected areas also need to be sharply
increased,
and backed by tougher policing of such sites including
crackdowns
on smuggling and poaching of trees and wildlife.
The
report also calls for road and dam construction to be subject to
"rigorous
scrutiny," and recommends that conversions of forest land to
other
uses only be allowed after other alternatives are exhausted.
Wealthy
countries should invest in the protection of the last
remaining
closed forests situated in poorer countries, the report
notes.
Debt for nature swaps, in which developing country debts are
reduced
by industrialized countries in return for closed forest
protection,
should be vigorously encouraged, the report recommends.
Fifty-three
other countries have more than 30 percent of their land
cover
under closed forests, the report found. Some of those,
particularly
those with low population densities, could eventually be
the
focus of vigorous conservation efforts, if the forests of the
first
15 cornerstone countries are secured.
Candidates
for this second wave of action might include Gabon and the
Republic
of the Congo in Africa; Belize in Central America and French
Guiana,
Guyana and Suriname in South America.
UNEP,
for its part, is working through its recently launched Great
Apes
Survival Project (GRASP), as one way of helping the world's
remaining
closed forests. UNEP plans to establish conservation
projects
in forests across Africa and Indonesia to help save the
gorilla,
chimpanzee, bonobo and orangutan.
The
projects focus on issues such as ecotourism and forest protection,
supporting
staff in national parks, educating local people about the
importance
of great apes and encouraging alternatives to exploiting
the
animals for food.
Later
this year, UNEP plans to publish a Strategy on Global Forest
Assessment
and Monitoring which will outline other actions the
organization
will be taking in support of forest conservation. These
will
include developing its monitoring and assessment of closed
forests
in partnership with governments, space agencies, non-
governmental
organizations and the Food and Agricultural Organization
of the
United Nations.
The
strategy is also likely to lead to a new assessment of the impacts
of
population growth, economic expansion and climate change on
forests,
and by implication, human beings.
The
full report, "An Assessment of the Status of the World's Remaining
Closed Forests,"
is available at:
ftp://www.na.unep.net/pub/closedforest/
ITEM #2
Title: Warning over disappearing forests
Satellites show world's main woodlands
concentrated in 15 countries
Source: Copyright 2001 The Guardian
Date: August 21, 2001
Byline: Tim Radford
More
than 80% of the world's remaining forest is located in just 15
countries,
according to an international study published today.
For the
first time, according to United Nations Environment Programme
chiefs,
satellites have provided a clear picture of the forest cover
around
the globe. All previous studies have been based on statistics
provided
by individual nations. These have been notoriously
inconsistent
- UN officials said they know of 100 different
definitions
of the word "forest".
But the
new picture confirms environmentalists' worst fears. Huge
tracts
of forest have been cleared since 1960 and the guess is that
the
loss of wilderness in the developing world will continue. UN hiefs
said
that efforts to save forests should be concentrated in a few
countries.
Klaus
Toepfer, director of Unep, said in London yesterday: "Short of a
miraculous
transformation in the attitude of people and governments,
the
Earth's remaining closed canopy forests and their associated
biodiversity
are destined to disappear in the coming decades."
The
study provides a map of "closed forests" - defined as woodland in
which
the tree canopy covers more than 40% of the land - but makes no
distinction
between virgin forest, old growth, plantations and
naturally
regenerated woodlands.
The
biggest tracts are in Siberia and Canada where population
densities
are relatively low. But some of the planet's richest
populations
of wildlife are concentrated in tropical forests.
"The
importance of healthy forests cannot be underestimated. Forests
are
vital for the wellbeing of the planet. They provide a variety of
socio-economic
and ecological goods and services.
"These
include watershed management, with forests regulating the
quantity
and quality of rainwater discharging into rivers. They also
help
counter soil erosion and the spread of deserts," said Dr Toepfer.
The
forests also play a vital role in reducing the impact of climate
change
by soaking up carbon from the air. Forests also harbour some of
the
world's most endangered wildlife and provide food and medicines.
Altogether
80.6% of the world's remaining closed forests are in
Russia,
Canada, Brazil, the US, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
China,
Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, India,
Australia
and Papua New Guinea.
The
research, which cost $20m (o14m) although newly released, is based
on Nasa
satellite readings taken between 1990 and 1995. In effect,
Unep
has provided a snapshot of the planet six years ago. New studies,
based
on data from a European space agency satellite, will soon
provide
a picture of the world in 2000.
Armed
with more precise information, conservationists and government
and international
agencies could then concentrate on the most
threatened
regions, educating local people in the value of forests as
a
sustainable resource, and encouraging other means of income.
"I
don't want to give a nightmare prognosis. We have to be as
realistic
as possible," Dr Toepfer said. "We can succeed by giving
people
an alternative. They are not interested in the destruction of
the
forests, but they have to earn their living."
* Less
than 10% of forests have any formal protected status though
some of
these house a huge range of rare and indigenous species
*
Siberian and Bengal tigers survive in the forests of Russia and
India.
Giant and red pandas have precarious ranges in the high forests
of
China. The liontailed macaque is unique to the western Ghats of
India,
and the orang-utan is found only in Indonesia
* In
Africa, the forests shelter the mountain and lowland gorilla, the
forest
elephant, the pigmy hippopotamus and the chimpanzee, all
of
which are endangered
* The
spectacled bear, the only species of bear in South America, is
unique
to the Andes. The woolly spider monkey, found in the Atlantic
forests
of Brazil, is one of the most threatened of all primates.
* The
puma, which roams the mountains and forests of north, south and
central
America, is under threat.
ITEM #3
Title: Satellites reveal loss of world's
forest
Source: Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers (UK)
Date: August 21, 2001
Byline: MARK HENDERSON, SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT
MANKIND
has probably destroyed more of the world's forests than
previously
thought, the first comprehensive satellite survey of forest
cover
has found.
The new
study suggests that many countries have overestimated the size
of
their wilderness forests and that the extent of their decline may
thus be
greater than conservationists had feared.
The
unexpected findings have alarmed environmental groups because such
forests
provide the habitat for many of the world's most endangered
species,
including the giant panda, the tiger, the gorilla and the
orang-utan.
The
United Nations Environment Programme (Unep), which prepared the
study,
said that conservation efforts should now be concentrated on 15
countries
which the new data has shown to have more than 80 per cent
of the
world's deep forest.
This
will not prevent further deforestation altogether in the coming
decade
but it will keep destruction to a minimum, Klaus T”pfer, Unep's
executive
director, said yesterday.
In the
study, Unep scientists examined satellite images, provided by
Nasa, to
calculate the precise land area covered with "closed forest"
- thick
woodlands in which touching tree canopies obscure at least 40
per
cent of the ground. The figures are for 1995, the last year for
which
Nasa was able to supply a full set of images. Although direct
comparisons
with previous estimates of forest cover are difficult
because
of the different ways in which data has been collected, the
satellite
scans appear to indicate that there is less closed forest
than
previously thought, Dr T”pfer said.
The
report finds, for example, that 37.5 per cent of Canada and 25.2
per
cent of the United States is covered with closed forest, compared
with
the countries' own estimates of 45.3 per cent and 30
per
cent.
"From
our information we have a decrease of this forest cover," Dr
T”pfer
said. "That seems to be the point, and we want to see what's
going
on on a more consistent path. It is less: that is our finding up
until
now."
One
striking example of deforestation is in the Rond“nia region of
Brazil.
A 1975 picture shows swaths of unspoilt forest marked in red
but
pictures taken in 1986 and 2000 show a characteristic "fishbone"
pattern
of scars, the result of extensive logging.
Unep
will now conduct further satellite surveys, beginning with images
from
2000, to monitor the state of closed forests.
Just 15
countries account for more than 80 per cent of the 2.87
billion
hectares of closed forest in the world. Russia is the most
heavily
forested country with 669.7 million hectares, followed by
Canada,
Brazil, the US, the Democratic Republic of Congo, China,
Indonesia,
Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, India,
Australia
and Papua New Guinea.
Dr
T”pfer said that each of their governments should draw up
protection
plans for their forests and that conservation funds should
be
aimed at these countries.
"Short
of a miraculous transformation in the attitude of people and
governments,
the Earth's remaining closed-canopy forests and their
associated
biodiversity are destined to disappear in the coming
decades,"
he said.
"Knowing
it is unlikely that all forests can be protected, it would be
better
to focus conservation priorities on those target areas that
have
the best prospects for continued existence."
Such
conservation efforts stand a real chance of success because 88
per
cent of closed forests are in sparsely populated areas, and thus
face
only limited threats from clearance for agriculture, development
or
logging.
Only in
India and China is human activity still a major threat, even
though
mankind has been by far the greatest factor in closed forests'
decline.
Between
1960 and 1990, some 450 million hectares have been lost in
developing
countries, the equivalent of 15 million hectares every
year.
Forest cover in the developed world has increased during this
period,
but this has not offset the damage as tropical forests in the
Third
World have a richer and more endangered biodiversity.
The
report highlights discrepancies between different countries'
conservation
policies and suggests several strategies for ensuring the
future
of the forests. More than 60 per cent of Venezuela's forests,
for
example, are protected within national parks, compared with 2 per
cent of
Russia's, and much more of this land needs to be set aside, Dr
T”pfer
said.
Protected
sites need to be more rigorously policed and local people
educated
about the value of the forests and local biodiversity.
Environmentally
friendly tourism can help to show the economic
value
of wildlife and further financial incentives for conservation
could
be achieved by tying Third World debt relief to forest
protection.
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