http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0821-02.htm
Published on Tuesday,
August 21, 2001 in the Toronto Globe & Mail
Forests Face Global Extinction,
Study Says
'Miraculous Transformation' in Attitudes Necessary
or the World Stands to Lose Most Closed-Canopy Ecosystems, UN
Report Finds
by Alanna Mitchell
It will take a miracle -- and concerted international effort
-- to save the healthy forests left in the world from obliteration,
a landmark study from the United Nations says.
Most will disappear
within decades, impairing the planet's ability
to protect water, wildlife, the carbon cycle and even human life,
the study, released yesterday in Nairobi, concludes.
Canada, with its expanse
of virgin boreal forest, plays a key role
in preserving these crucial planetary systems. The report calls
for this country and the other 14 national stewards of the world's
most important forests to agree to take care of them.
"Short of a miraculous
transformation in the attitude of people
and governments, the Earth's remaining closed-canopy forests and
associated biodiversity are destined to disappear in the coming
decades," says the study's foreword, written by Klaus Toepfer,
the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program.
The study is the first
comprehensive global snapshot of how much
forest cover is left on Earth. Scientists examined satellite
photographs of all the world's forests, figured out how many
had enough density to support wildlife, then examined pressures
that could destroy those ecosystems.
The report found that
roughly 21 per cent of the planet's land
area -- or 2.9 billion hectares -- is covered with what it calls
closed-canopy forests, meaning that 40 per cent of the forest's
trees are interlocked. That's a proxy for a forest ecosystem,
untouched or replanted, healthy enough to support wildlife and
protect watersheds.
Most of the forests
are in just 15 countries. Russia has the
greatest area of canopy forests, followed by Canada and Brazil.
Together, the three countries have nearly half the canopied forests
in the world.
Also on the list are
the United States, Democratic Republic of
Congo, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela,
India, Australia and Papua New Guinea.
The report says the
forests in these countries are so important
that "the international community, in co-operation with these
15 national governments, should develop a comprehensive forest
strategy for conservation and management of the remaining closed
forests."
Only a small percentage
of these canopy forests are protected.
Globally, there are formal bans on tree removal in just over
9 per cent. The proportion ranges from about 20 per cent
in South America to less than 4 per cent in Europe and Asia.
In North and Central America, it is only 7.4 per cent.
A diverse range of
threats put forests across the globe at risk,
including poverty-stricken families who need wood to survive
and multinational logging companies out for a quick profit.
About half the closed-canopy
forests in Asia are under moderate
to high threat from logging. Another major threat in Asia is
its population growth: The forested land is expected to be needed
to grow food.
The goal of the UNEP
study is to pinpoint where conservation funds
can be spent to protect forests most worth saving. Nick Nuttall,
a spokesman for UNEP, said yesterday the organization is counting
on steps taken during climate-change convention negotiations
in Bonn last month.
There, the world's
most powerful governments agreed to spend
money on transferring new technology to developing countries
in a bid to reduce the need to burn fossil fuels. That money,
in turn, could be aimed at the countries that have forests
that matter most.
Closed
forests
Closed forests are
a clear indication of a healthy ecosystem
beneath the trees. The grey areas on the map indicate closed
forests in North America. These are areas where 40 per cent
or more of tree crowns are interlocked.
The
global picture
Just over 20 percent
of the world's land mass lies under
covered forest. The data below illustrates the top five
countries and their share of the total:
| Russia |
23.3 % |
| Canada |
12.8 % |
| Brazil |
12.6 % |
| United
States |
8.2 % |
Democratic
Republic
of the Congo |
4.0 % |
Copyright © 2001 Globe Interactive
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