State of the Rainforest 2014

Secondary forests Clearly, protecting the remaining intact primary rainforest needs special and urgent attention. However, this does not reduce the importance of also protecting ‘secondary’ forest – forests that to varying degrees have been changed by human use. Given their ecological services and biodiversity, and as a source for livelihood and local development, these vital forests need protection and sustainable use. The value of primary and secondary natural forests stands in sharp contrast to large-scale monoculture tree plantations. Plantations are based on one single species planted over a huge area, often fast-growing – and in many cases non-native – timber species. Plantations are in many calculations included as forest without regard to the environmental problems they represent. Plantations have low environmental value compared to the varied functions of natural forests, and often cause pollution or shortage of water, as well as forcing local communities to leave their land and give up traditional forest management practices. Deforestation It is surprisingly difficult to establish how fast the world’s rainforest and other tropical forests are being deforested. Figures vary significantly from one source to another (see following article),

more. Only 22% of the world’s remaining primary forest is within protected forest (IUCN category 1-VI), according to the review.

A recent analysis of ‘Intact Forest Landscapes’ (IFLs) by World resources Institute and others 9 warned that pristine forests are being degraded at an alarming rate. Over 1 million km 2 , an area three times the size of Germany, has been degraded between 2000 and 2013, according to the study. 10 25% of the degradation was found in the Amazon Basin and 9% in the Congo Basin. The IFL, mostly primary forest, is assessing the remaining large forested wilderness areas, of which 95% is found in boreal and in tropical forest. The tropical rainforest, with its incredible biodiversity, unique ecological services and vital importance for indigenous peoples and local forest-based communities is the main focus of this report. In parts of the report, the term ‘tropical forest’ is used, covering the continuum from flooded forest and mangroves on the one side, via rainforests and moist deciduous forest, to dry tropical forest on the other. This is both because these other tropical forest types are important in terms of development, livelihood issues and ecosystem services, and because available statistics are often based on this broader category. Tropical forest, including rainforest, represents approximately 45% of the world’s forests (17–18,000 km 2 ). 11

Primary forest top 20 countries

Canada

Russian Federation

United States

Venezuela Guyana

Myanmar

Republic of the Congo

French Guiana

Colombia

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Papua New Guinea

Suriname

Ecuador

Gabon

Indonesia

Brazil

Peru

Bolivia

Rainforest Other forest

Argentina

Australia

Primary forest extent Thousand square kilometres

100 1 000 3 100

Source: Mackey, B., et al., 2014

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STATE OF THE RAINFOREST 2014