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Frequently Asked Questions

1) How much forest is left? 
2) Why are forests important?
3) How much forest are we losing?
4) How are forests threatened?
5) Where can I find out more about...

1) How much forest is left? 

Today, South and North America, followed by Russia and Oceania have the greatest percentages of frontier forest (at least over 20 percent) as compared to their original forest cover.

South America, North America, Russia, and Oceania all have the highest percentages of frontier forest (at least over 30 percent) as compared to their total remaining forests (current frontier and non-frontier).1

2) Why are forests important?

• Biodiversity -- estimates indicate that there are somewhere between 5 and 30 million species on Earth. Forests provide habitat for some two thirds of these.2 

• Carbon -- Approximately one half of the world's forest carbon is found in boreal forests and over one third in tropical forests.3

• Ecosystem goods and services -- according to 1994 estimates, forests provide approximately US$969 per hectare per year (a total of US$4.7 trillion per year) in goods and services annually. These services include nutrient cycling, climate regulation, and raw materials.4 

• Cultural values -- some 60 million people (indigenous and non-indigenous) inhabit forests and depend on them for their livelihoods.5 

• Economic values -- In the early 1990s, the production and manufacturing of industrial wood products contributed US$400 billion to the global economy, approximately 2 percent of the global GDP.6

3) How much forest are we losing?

• Tropical forests: 70,000 to 170,000 square kilometers annually (equal to 21-50 soccer fields per minute).7

• FAO global annual estimates for 1990-95 show a net forest loss of 112,600 square kilometers per year (equal to 33 soccer fields per minute).8

4) How are forests threatened?

• All forests -- During the period of 1980-95, the leading causes of deforestation were the extension of subsistence farming, and government-backed conversion of forests to other land uses such as large-scale ranching.9

• Frontier forest -- WRI estimates that 39 percent of the world's remaining frontier forest is under moderate or high threat.

Source: 10

5) Where can I find out more about...

Forest type definitions:

• A compilation of forest definitions made by H.Gyde Lund --  http://home.comcast.net/~gyde/pristine.htm
• Proceedings of expert meeting in 2000 on harmonizing different forest-related definitions -- http://www.fao.org/clim/docs/44_fodef.pdf

Certification: www.fsc.org, www.iso.ch 

Forest fires: www.ruf.uni-freiburg.de/fireglobe

Forest Carbon:

• cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/index.html

• cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/ndps/ndp017.html

• http://www.whrc.org/carbon/index.htm

• www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/carbon3.html

Notes

1. D. Bryant, et al., The Last Frontier Forests: Ecosystems and Economies on the Edge. (World Resources Institute: Washington, DC, 1997), p. 9.

2 Mathews, Emily, et al, Pilot Assessment of Global Ecosystems: Forests. (World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, to be published in Spring, 2000). Aug 99 draft, p. 3.

3 Mathews, Emily, et al, Pilot Assessment of Global Ecosystems: Forests. (World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, to be published in Spring, 2000). Aug 99 draft, p. 4.

4 Costanza, Rober, et al., "The Value of the World's Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital," Nature, 387 (May 15, 1997), 256.

5 World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development, Our Forests, Our Future. 1999. p. 59.

6 Solberg, Birger, et al, An overview of Factors Affecting the Long-Term Trends of Non-Industrial and Industrial Wood Supply and Demand, European Forest Institute Research Report No. 6 (European Forest Institute, 1996), p. 48.

7 Mathews, Emily, et al, Pilot Assessment of Global Ecosystems: Forests. (World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, to be published in Spring, 2000). Aug 99 draft, p. 16.

8 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), State of the World's Forest, 1999. (Rome: FAO, 1999). p. 135.

9 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), State of the World's Forest, 1999. (Rome: FAO, 1997). p. 16.

10 D. Bryant, et al., The Last Frontier Forests: Ecosystems and Economies on the Edge. (World Resources Institute: Washington, DC, 1997), p 15-16.