Summary
The world's remaining natural forests are a highly threatened and rapidly diminishing part of our global heritage. Old-growth and natural forests are the most important reservoirs of biological diversity, and these areas must be conserved if their associated species are to be protected. Half of the world's natural forests have already been cleared and 60% of what remains has already been significantly degraded and fragmented by human activities. Logging is the leading cause of the loss and fragmentation of natural forests. Less than 6% of the world's natural forests are currently protected. Based on the scientific consensus emerging from the principles of Conservation Biology, Greenpeace outlines the structure of an effective global protected areas strategy, notes particular forest "hot-spots" that must be resolved, and details the steps the world's governments must take to adequately and comprehensively conserve the planet's forests and forest-dependent species.
Problem Statement
Natural forests are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet and also among the most threatened. Of the 50% of the planet's original forest cover that has been cleared, the majority of the deforestation has occurred during the last 30 years. World forest cover is now being deforested or degraded at the rate of approximately 26 million hectares a year.
An estimated 50-90% of the world's plant and animal species depend on forests. Although habitat loss was found by UNEP to be the leading cause of species loss and endangerment, less than 6% of the world's natural forests are now protected, often without adequate linkage, with much of the protection on paper only. Recent studies show that protecting only 10% of the world's natural forests will cause 50% of the planet's plant and animal species to go extinct. Worldwide, the IUCN reports that the percent of "Red List" species endangered by loss of forest and other natural habitat is: 75% of mammals, 42% of birds, 53% of amphibians and 66% of reptiles. Natural forests also store the highest amounts of carbon. Logging/Conversion to plantations also releases this carbon, exacerbating the climate change problem.
Seventy-five percent of the world's large remaining intact forest areas are now limited to only three regions - Canada, Russia and the Amazon Basin - which are all targeted for extensive commercial logging. Pockets of old-growth and primary forests also remain in most countries, and their relative scarcity makes their conservation and restoration even more important. Activities such as mining, oil drilling and colonization are also leading pathways of forest degradation, and are often ignored or even encouraged in areas designated by governments as "protected". Also, the world's remaining natural forests are the traditional lands of over 50 million indigenous people. Their cultures and livelihoods are being destroyed by industrial logging and other resource extraction operations.
Case Studies
Amazon Basin
The rate of deforestation in Brazil, which contains 65% of the forests of the Amazon Basin, has increased by 34% since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit (nearly 15,000 km2 a year). There also is extensive forest damage and degradation being caused by illegal predatory logging for high-value species such as mahogany and virola. Asian logging firms - primarily Malaysian - are among leading destroyers of tropical rainforests and are now moving heavily into Brazil, Guyana and Suriname. Commercial logging typically initiates a cycle of forest destruction, leading to burning and conversion to farmland or pasture. Also, foreign capital is being devoted towards huge "mega-projects" - roadbuilding, waterway linkage, mining, and drilling - that will fragment the Basin.
Canada
In the two most biologically-rich areas of Canada - British Columbia's (B.C.'s) coastal temperate rainforest and B.C.'s interior Douglas fir zone, less than 6% of the forest is protected, mainly in isolated fragments. No endangered species laws conserve forest-dependent species, contravening the Convention on Biological Diversity. The vast majority of the timber licenses granted are on lands claimed by aboriginal First Nations. Recent laws touted as protecting B.C.'s forests not only fail to eliminate clearcutting, protect riparian zones or conserve species, but also are not being enforced by Provincial Ministries. B.C.'s rainforests have the highest biomass (living and dead organic matter) of any forests on Earth and the most old-growth dependent species in North America, but are currently being converted to even-aged, managed forests faster than any other natural forest in the temperate regions.
Russia
With one-quarter of the world's remaining natural forests, Russia is losing about a million hectares of old-growth forests each year due to clearcut logging operations. Russia is being targeted as the next source for softwood logs for pulp and timber by Scandinavian, Asian and North American companies. The promise of investments in exchange for logging rights puts pressure on the Government to weaken environmental standards that presently protects over one hundred million hectares of ecologically critical forests. Additionally, there is insufficient enforcement of existing federal laws that recognize indigenous peoples' right to manage their lands and restrict destructive industrial development.
Greenpeace's Involvement in the Issue
In cooperation with forest peoples and local environmental groups, Greenpeace is working to permanently protect the integrity of the intact areas of North and South America's coastal temperate rainforests through public outreach, legislative reform and interventions into the global wood products marketplace. Across Russia, Greenpeace is cooperating with all levels of government and NGOs to establish World Heritage Sites for the most biologically significant and intact forest areas. To date, World Heritage Sites covering over ten million hectares have been established, with plans for four more sites covering an additional ten million hectares. Protection of the greatest biological treasure on Earth, the Amazon Basin, has been supported by Greenpeace through lobbying for the elimination of predatory logging of mahogany through listing on CITES Appendix II and support for the demarcation of indigenous peoples' traditional territories.
Solutions
Greenpeace calls for governments to implement protected areas strategies that are ecologically representative, comprehensive, large enough to adequately maintain viable populations of all associated species and natural dynamics as well as ensuring the rights of traditional forest-dependent cultures through the following policies:
Relevant Reports
Logging the Planet: Asian Companies marching across our last forest frontiers, Greenpeace submission to the External Commission about Foreign Logging Companies in the Amazon, Brazil, 1997
Bad Harvest: The Timber Trade and the Degradation of the World's Forests. Dudley et al, 1995
Forest Management at Loggerheads: 1996 Update Report on Illegal Logging in the Brazilian Amazon. FOE-Programa Amazonia, 1997
Managing the World's Forests: Looking for Balance between Conservation and Development. Sharma et al. 1992
Global Biodiversity Assessment. UNEP, 1996
Saving Nature's Legacy; Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity. Noss and Cooperider, 1994
Beyond Brundtland, Soule and Muttlingam, 1997.
Key Contacts
Greenpeace International
Clifton Curtis/Washington, tel: 1.202.319.2473, fax: 1.202.462/4507, e-mail: clif.curtis@wdc.greenpeace.org
Christoph Thies/Amsterdam, tel: 31.20.523.6278, fax: 31.20.523.6200, email: christoph.thies@de.greenpeace.org