Indonesia

deforestation

Brazil

fires

commodities

Partners

tree cover loss

Peru

Platform

Satellite

agriculture

Biodiversity

palm oil

Remote sensing

Colombia

forest monitoring

Emissions

climate change

monitoring

Bolivia

climate

logging

Forests

amazon

GLAD

Small grants fund

mexico

mapping

community

Forest Watcher

website

carbon

Australia

PRODES

Satellite Imagery

Tropical Deforestation

GLAD alerts

REDD+

Data

Democratic Republic of Congo

mining

Alerts

Primary Forests

restoration

community monitoring

oil palm

Logging roads in Papua province, Indonesia

Logging roads

Data and Research

degradation

fragmentation

intact forest landscapes

Liz Goldman

Tom Evans

Hedley Grantham

Rod Taylor

<p>Most people point to deforestation — the clearing or burning of forests to make way for a different land-use, such as agriculture — as the greatest threat facing the world’s forests. But there’s another issue that’s just as important: forest integrity.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Forest integrity refers to the health of the forest that remains standing, including its ability to store carbon, protect biodiversity, and provide social and economic benefits. Though equally important, forest integrity is harder to measure than deforestation. </p>



<p>The Forest Landscape Integrity Index on <a href="https://gfw.global/3tKOYUP" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Forest Watch </a>tracks forest integrity globally for the first time and shows that <strong>less than half of the world’s remaining forests have high integrity.&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>Here, we explain what forest integrity is and examine the health of the world’s remaining forests.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>What is forest integrity?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Forest integrity is defined by scientists as the degree to which a forest’s structure, composition and function are free from modification by humans. It exists as a spectrum, with very high-integrity forests on one end and very low-integrity, severely degraded forests on the other. </p>



<p>Minimal human influence is associated with high forest integrity; as more and more human activities affect a forest — such as logging, human-caused fires or farming — integrity declines. A high-integrity forest usually provides more environmental benefits than a forest of lower integrity. For example, high-integrity forests are generally more effective at: </p>



<ul><li>Slowing the pace of climate change by sequestering and storing carbon</li><li>Regulating water flows by stabilizing soils</li><li>Maintaining rainfall patterns through evapotranspiration</li><li>Providing habitat for forest-dependent animals</li><li>Supporting Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ livelihoods and cultural traditions</li><li><a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/commentary/guest-articles/preventing-future-pandemics-starts-with-protecting-our-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Preventing future pandemics</a> by limiting the spread of zoonotic diseases. </li></ul>



<p>High-integrity forests are also typically more resilient to the impacts of climate change, such as the warmer, drier conditions that can lead to forest fires.&nbsp;</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="How we measure forest integrity, how it degrades, and what happens when it is lost" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/22.03.23-Forest-integrity-v3_Formatted-for-Insights-1-2.png" width="100%"></div>



<h2>What are the biggest threats to forest integrity?&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Forests can be degraded directly by a wide range of human activities, including intensive logging, human-caused fires and over-hunting.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>They can also be degraded in less visible ways by fragmentation, and by the “edge effects” that spill over from adjacent human activities such as infrastructure development, farming and urbanization. </p>



<p>A forest edge is more exposed and accessible than its interior, leaving it more susceptible to human activities like wood fuel extraction, hunting, livestock grazing, burning and the spread of invasive species, and more vulnerable to conditions such as direct sunlight, high winds, heatwaves and droughts. &nbsp;</p>



<aside id="textbox"> <div><em><b>How the Forest Landscape Integrity Index works </b><br><br>The Forest Landscape Integrity Index estimates the loss of integrity in a given area of forest by combining observed reductions in forest connectivity with proxy data on the intensity of human activities known to degrade forests. Some of these activities are observed directly as part of the analysis, specifically infrastructure, agriculture and recent deforestation. The associated edge effects cannot readily be observed, so they are estimated using models based on field studies.   
</em></div> </aside>



<h2>Where are the world’s remaining high-integrity forests?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>The Forest Landscape Integrity Index examines forest integrity along a spectrum and categorizes forests as high, medium or low integrity. According to the data, only 40.5% of the world’s remaining forests still have high integrity. And even within this category, most forests have experienced at least a small degree of human modification.&nbsp;</p>



<div class="flourish-embed flourish-photo-slider" data-src="visualisation/9174019?240776"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>



<p>High-integrity forests are concentrated mainly in the boreal forests of northern Russia, Canada and Alaska, as well as across the tropics in parts of the Amazon, the humid forests of Central Africa and the island of New Guinea. </p>



<p>Some smaller but still highly important patches also survive in other regions, including Mesoamerica, Madagascar, West Africa, Sumatra, Borneo and mainland Southeast Asia. Effective protected area management, action by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, difficult terrain and remote locations that deter industrial activity all contribute to forest integrity remaining high in these places.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h2>Where is forest integrity at risk?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Hardly any forest on Earth is wholly free of human influence. The index shows that 31% of all forests worldwide experience easily observed direct pressures from infrastructure, agriculture or recent tree cover loss, while a further 60% experience some degree of human impact through edge effects and fragmentation. Over 25% are classified as low integrity. &nbsp;</p>



<p>As a result of a history of adverse human modification, low-integrity forests are now prevalent in many regions, including west and central Europe, the southeastern United States, mainland Southeast Asia, the Andes, West Africa, much of China and India, and the Atlantic Forests of Brazil. These low-integrity forests may be dominated by planted trees, including monoculture stands and agroforestry.&nbsp;</p>



<p>But it’s not just the vast expanse of low integrity forests that warrant concern. Many large areas with high-integrity forests are also experiencing <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/blog/data-and-research/global-tree-cover-loss-data-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">high rates of tree cover loss</a> and degradation, particularly in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. </p>



<p>In 2020 alone, these two countries lost 1.7 million hectares and 0.5 million hectares of primary forest, respectively. High-integrity forests are not necessarily legally protected from development; they can be highly threatened by encroaching human activities. Less than half of forests in every biome have high integrity, and of these, only a quarter are located in legally protected areas.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Governments and other actors must protect and monitor the world’s remaining high-integrity and medium-integrity forests, and protect and restore areas of low integrity.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>Why does forest integrity get less attention than deforestation?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Deforestation is easier to measure than integrity. While there have been substantial improvements in our ability to monitor forest loss and gain in the past decade, consistent monitoring of forest integrity has proven more elusive until now.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>In recent years, pioneering maps of <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/?map=eyJkYXRhc2V0cyI6W3siZGF0YXNldCI6ImludGFjdC1mb3Jlc3QtbGFuZHNjYXBlcyIsIm9wYWNpdHkiOjEsInZpc2liaWxpdHkiOnRydWUsImxheWVycyI6WyJpbnRhY3QtZm9yZXN0LWxhbmRzY2FwZXMiXX0seyJkYXRhc2V0IjoicG9saXRpY2FsLWJvdW5kYXJpZXMiLCJsYXllcnMiOlsiZGlzcHV0ZWQtcG9saXRpY2FsLWJvdW5kYXJpZXMiLCJwb2xpdGljYWwtYm91bmRhcmllcyJdLCJvcGFjaXR5IjoxLCJ2aXNpYmlsaXR5Ijp0cnVlfV19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">intact forest landscapes</a> and wilderness areas have identified tracts of high integrity, but because they use a binary classification, they cannot tell us about the variation in integrity outside the most intact areas. </p>



<p>Technical challenges and lack of data have historically made it difficult to monitor the nuances of forest integrity, especially since activities like selective logging are difficult to detect in satellite imagery, and the forest canopy obscures many activities that are harmful to forests.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>The Forest Landscape Integrity Index accounts for this nuance at a global scale for the first time by estimating integrity along a spectrum. We can expect further advances in mapping and monitoring forest integrity as datasets and processing capabilities continue to improve.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>What can we do to protect high-integrity forests and restore other forests?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>While policy targets for deforestation are usually precise and ambitious, targets for degradation and forest integrity are often vague or absent entirely. The new data provide a transparent and credible tool that policymakers and other decision-makers can use to set quantified targets, create evidence-based plans, enhance monitoring, and retain and restore the ecological integrity of forests. </p>



<p>For example, governments could create and report on measurable, time-bound goals for maintaining or enhancing forest integrity within treaties such as the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement and several UN Sustainable Development Goals.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Setting such policy goals can encourage governments and other stakeholders to invest in better forest management and restoration. They can formally recognize high-integrity forests, prioritize them in spatial planning, and place them under effective management schemes, such as through designated protected areas or Indigenous control. </p>



<p>Decision-makers can also identify low- and medium-integrity areas and target them for more sustainable management and/or restoration.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>In parallel, corporate zero-deforestation commitments must go further to incorporate and monitor forest integrity in businesses’ supply chains. Zero-deforestation commitments do not address the problem of declining forest integrity so long as it falls short of outright deforestation.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Keeping healthy, high-integrity forests functioning at their full potential can be a key part of the solution to global climate, biodiversity, inequality and health crises. We’ll lose many of these important ecosystem services if only degraded, low-integrity forests are left standing. Keeping global commitments such as the recent <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/what-cop26-means-forests-climate#:~:text=What%20Was%20Promised%20on%20Forests,and%20maintaining%20healthy%20ecosystem%20services." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests</a> within reach means we need to incorporate both deforestation <em>and</em> integrity into policy planning. &nbsp;</p>



<hr> 

<div class="attribute" style="”padding-bottom:" 10px;”=""> 
 

Originally appeared on <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/why-preserving-forest-integrity-preventing-deforestation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WRI Insights</a>. 


 

</div> 

 

<hr>



<style type="text/css"></style>

Why Preserving Forest Integrity Is As Vital As Preventing Deforestation

<p>Most people point to deforestation — the clearing or burning of forests to make way for a different land-use, such as agriculture — as the greatest threat facing the world’s forests. But there’s another issue that’s just as important: forest integrity.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Forest integrity refers to the health of the forest that remains standing, including its ability to store carbon, protect biodiversity, and provide social and economic benefits. Though equally important, forest integrity is harder to measure than deforestation. </p>



<p>The Forest Landscape Integrity Index on <a href="https://gfw.global/3tKOYUP" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Forest Watch </a>tracks forest integrity globally for the first time and shows that <strong>less than half of the world’s remaining forests have high integrity.&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>Here, we explain what forest integrity is and examine the health of the world’s remaining forests.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>What is forest integrity?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Forest integrity is defined by scientists as the degree to which a forest’s structure, composition and function are free from modification by humans. It exists as a spectrum, with very high-integrity forests on one end and very low-integrity, severely degraded forests on the other. </p>



<p>Minimal human influence is associated with high forest integrity; as more and more human activities affect a forest — such as logging, human-caused fires or farming — integrity declines. A high-integrity forest usually provides more environmental benefits than a forest of lower integrity. For example, high-integrity forests are generally more effective at: </p>



<ul><li>Slowing the pace of climate change by sequestering and storing carbon</li><li>Regulating water flows by stabilizing soils</li><li>Maintaining rainfall patterns through evapotranspiration</li><li>Providing habitat for forest-dependent animals</li><li>Supporting Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ livelihoods and cultural traditions</li><li><a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/commentary/guest-articles/preventing-future-pandemics-starts-with-protecting-our-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Preventing future pandemics</a> by limiting the spread of zoonotic diseases. </li></ul>



<p>High-integrity forests are also typically more resilient to the impacts of climate change, such as the warmer, drier conditions that can lead to forest fires.&nbsp;</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="How we measure forest integrity, how it degrades, and what happens when it is lost" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/22.03.23-Forest-integrity-v3_Formatted-for-Insights-1-2.png" width="100%"></div>



<h2>What are the biggest threats to forest integrity?&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Forests can be degraded directly by a wide range of human activities, including intensive logging, human-caused fires and over-hunting.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>They can also be degraded in less visible ways by fragmentation, and by the “edge effects” that spill over from adjacent human activities such as infrastructure development, farming and urbanization. </p>



<p>A forest edge is more exposed and accessible than its interior, leaving it more susceptible to human activities like wood fuel extraction, hunting, livestock grazing, burning and the spread of invasive species, and more vulnerable to conditions such as direct sunlight, high winds, heatwaves and droughts. &nbsp;</p>



<aside id="textbox"> <div><em><b>How the Forest Landscape Integrity Index works </b><br><br>The Forest Landscape Integrity Index estimates the loss of integrity in a given area of forest by combining observed reductions in forest connectivity with proxy data on the intensity of human activities known to degrade forests. Some of these activities are observed directly as part of the analysis, specifically infrastructure, agriculture and recent deforestation. The associated edge effects cannot readily be observed, so they are estimated using models based on field studies.   
</em></div> </aside>



<h2>Where are the world’s remaining high-integrity forests?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>The Forest Landscape Integrity Index examines forest integrity along a spectrum and categorizes forests as high, medium or low integrity. According to the data, only 40.5% of the world’s remaining forests still have high integrity. And even within this category, most forests have experienced at least a small degree of human modification.&nbsp;</p>



<div class="flourish-embed flourish-photo-slider" data-src="visualisation/9174019?240776"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>



<p>High-integrity forests are concentrated mainly in the boreal forests of northern Russia, Canada and Alaska, as well as across the tropics in parts of the Amazon, the humid forests of Central Africa and the island of New Guinea. </p>



<p>Some smaller but still highly important patches also survive in other regions, including Mesoamerica, Madagascar, West Africa, Sumatra, Borneo and mainland Southeast Asia. Effective protected area management, action by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, difficult terrain and remote locations that deter industrial activity all contribute to forest integrity remaining high in these places.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h2>Where is forest integrity at risk?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Hardly any forest on Earth is wholly free of human influence. The index shows that 31% of all forests worldwide experience easily observed direct pressures from infrastructure, agriculture or recent tree cover loss, while a further 60% experience some degree of human impact through edge effects and fragmentation. Over 25% are classified as low integrity. &nbsp;</p>



<p>As a result of a history of adverse human modification, low-integrity forests are now prevalent in many regions, including west and central Europe, the southeastern United States, mainland Southeast Asia, the Andes, West Africa, much of China and India, and the Atlantic Forests of Brazil. These low-integrity forests may be dominated by planted trees, including monoculture stands and agroforestry.&nbsp;</p>



<p>But it’s not just the vast expanse of low integrity forests that warrant concern. Many large areas with high-integrity forests are also experiencing <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/blog/data-and-research/global-tree-cover-loss-data-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">high rates of tree cover loss</a> and degradation, particularly in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. </p>



<p>In 2020 alone, these two countries lost 1.7 million hectares and 0.5 million hectares of primary forest, respectively. High-integrity forests are not necessarily legally protected from development; they can be highly threatened by encroaching human activities. Less than half of forests in every biome have high integrity, and of these, only a quarter are located in legally protected areas.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Governments and other actors must protect and monitor the world’s remaining high-integrity and medium-integrity forests, and protect and restore areas of low integrity.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>Why does forest integrity get less attention than deforestation?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Deforestation is easier to measure than integrity. While there have been substantial improvements in our ability to monitor forest loss and gain in the past decade, consistent monitoring of forest integrity has proven more elusive until now.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>In recent years, pioneering maps of <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/?map=eyJkYXRhc2V0cyI6W3siZGF0YXNldCI6ImludGFjdC1mb3Jlc3QtbGFuZHNjYXBlcyIsIm9wYWNpdHkiOjEsInZpc2liaWxpdHkiOnRydWUsImxheWVycyI6WyJpbnRhY3QtZm9yZXN0LWxhbmRzY2FwZXMiXX0seyJkYXRhc2V0IjoicG9saXRpY2FsLWJvdW5kYXJpZXMiLCJsYXllcnMiOlsiZGlzcHV0ZWQtcG9saXRpY2FsLWJvdW5kYXJpZXMiLCJwb2xpdGljYWwtYm91bmRhcmllcyJdLCJvcGFjaXR5IjoxLCJ2aXNpYmlsaXR5Ijp0cnVlfV19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">intact forest landscapes</a> and wilderness areas have identified tracts of high integrity, but because they use a binary classification, they cannot tell us about the variation in integrity outside the most intact areas. </p>



<p>Technical challenges and lack of data have historically made it difficult to monitor the nuances of forest integrity, especially since activities like selective logging are difficult to detect in satellite imagery, and the forest canopy obscures many activities that are harmful to forests.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>The Forest Landscape Integrity Index accounts for this nuance at a global scale for the first time by estimating integrity along a spectrum. We can expect further advances in mapping and monitoring forest integrity as datasets and processing capabilities continue to improve.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>What can we do to protect high-integrity forests and restore other forests?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>While policy targets for deforestation are usually precise and ambitious, targets for degradation and forest integrity are often vague or absent entirely. The new data provide a transparent and credible tool that policymakers and other decision-makers can use to set quantified targets, create evidence-based plans, enhance monitoring, and retain and restore the ecological integrity of forests. </p>



<p>For example, governments could create and report on measurable, time-bound goals for maintaining or enhancing forest integrity within treaties such as the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement and several UN Sustainable Development Goals.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Setting such policy goals can encourage governments and other stakeholders to invest in better forest management and restoration. They can formally recognize high-integrity forests, prioritize them in spatial planning, and place them under effective management schemes, such as through designated protected areas or Indigenous control. </p>



<p>Decision-makers can also identify low- and medium-integrity areas and target them for more sustainable management and/or restoration.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>In parallel, corporate zero-deforestation commitments must go further to incorporate and monitor forest integrity in businesses’ supply chains. Zero-deforestation commitments do not address the problem of declining forest integrity so long as it falls short of outright deforestation.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Keeping healthy, high-integrity forests functioning at their full potential can be a key part of the solution to global climate, biodiversity, inequality and health crises. We’ll lose many of these important ecosystem services if only degraded, low-integrity forests are left standing. Keeping global commitments such as the recent <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/what-cop26-means-forests-climate#:~:text=What%20Was%20Promised%20on%20Forests,and%20maintaining%20healthy%20ecosystem%20services." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests</a> within reach means we need to incorporate both deforestation <em>and</em> integrity into policy planning. &nbsp;</p>



<hr> 

<div class="attribute" style="”padding-bottom:" 10px;”=""> 
 

Originally appeared on <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/why-preserving-forest-integrity-preventing-deforestation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WRI Insights</a>. 


 

</div> 

 

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Carbon Sequestration

Ecosystems

Explainer

Forest Succession

Sarah Ruiz

<p>Primary forests are some of the densest, wildest and most ecologically significant forests on Earth. They span the globe, from the snow-locked boreal region to the steamy tropics, though 75% of them can be found in just <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128096659097111" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">seven countries</a>. But what sets these forests apart from your average backyard woodlands, making them so critical to protect? </p>



<h3><strong>Forests in their “final form”</strong></h3>



<aside id="textbox"> <div><em><b>Primary Forests vs. Intact Forest Landscapes</b>
<p></p>
“Ancient”, “old-growth”, “primary”, “intact”— there are lots of terms used to describe Earth’s biggest, oldest and most natural forests. The vocabulary is often interchangeable, but when speaking scientifically, there are some key distinctions that set these terms apart.
<p></p>
Global Forest Watch (GFW) has data available on both humid primary forests within the tropics and intact forest landscapes (IFLs) globally. Both terms indicate a forest with no significant disturbances in recent record due to human activity, but while primary forests refer to areas of forest having reached the final stage of succession, IFLs encompass a <a href="http://www.intactforests.org/concept.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">broader patchwork</a> of undisturbed area. Within the boundary of an IFL you might find younger forests, clearings and areas of rock or ice in addition to primary forests. However, these younger patches must have been caused by natural disturbance patterns like floods or wildfire. Human-caused clearings fragment and degrade IFLs.
</em></div> </aside>



<p>Age is one factor in the formation of a primary forest, although there is no set birthday at which a forest becomes “primary”. All forests grow to maturity at different rates based on their environment, and some trees can even live <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/bristlecone-pine" target="_blank">thousands of years</a>, so the term “old-growth” is highly relative. </p>



<p>What matters more than age is a forest’s stage in a process called succession. In ecological terms, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.britannica.com/science/secondary-succession" target="_blank">succession</a> is the way in which ecosystems change from one state to the next following a disturbance. Take, for example, a fire searing through forests in Northwest North America. If it’s hot enough it will scorch everything in its path, leaving only charred wood and smoldering soil. When the smoke clears, nature gets to work rebuilding from the dirt up.</p>



<p>The first organisms to return are called “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/pioneer-species" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">pioneer species</a>”, typically fast-growing grasses, annual plants and other low, scrubby things that can take quick advantage of the now abundant sunlight. As these species live and die, they build up nutrients in the soil, allowing for a new guard of species to move in.</p>



<p>This replacement of species assemblages repeats itself as
the years progress. Each new community inherits an environment better suited to
its growth than that of the species that came before it. And so, over time the
ecosystem begins to change. From the sun-loving grasses, to quick-growing
softwood trees and finally to the tall hardwoods whose crowns knit together to
form a thick canopy. </p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="forest successional pathway from disturbance to primary forest" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/20.05.013_Forest-Growth-1.png" width="100%"></div>



<p>This final forest form is often referred to as a “climax community” and it’s these communities that are considered primary forests. The time it takes to return to full primary forest varies by the type of forest. In the Congo Basin, forest regeneration can take up to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="50 years (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/1/23" target="_blank">50 years,</a> for temperate oak and hickory forests, this process is documented to take around <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/ecology/community-structure-and-diversity/a/ecological-succession" target="_blank">150 years</a>, but one study of Brazil’s Atlantic forest found it could even take <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14112-how-long-does-it-take-a-rainforest-to-regenerate/" target="_blank">millennia</a>.</p>



<h3><strong>The most pristine places on Earth</strong></h3>



<p>Primary forests must also meet certain requirements of <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317022248_Primary_Forests_Definition_Status_and_Future_Prospects_for_Global_Conservation" target="_blank">ecological integrity</a>, showing little to no human interference. They can’t be disturbed for logging, mining, anthropogenic fires or road construction, or have their native species assemblage impacted by imported invasive species. They are dominated by continuous tree cover and must retain unpolluted soil and water. </p>



<p>Size and intactness are also factors in defining a primary forest.
Cut a road from one side of the Amazon to the other and you’ve just divided one
massive primary forest into two smaller ones. But do that over and over again, dividing
the forest into smaller and smaller slices and eventually you end up with primary
forest patches so small they no longer deserve the name. Although there is no official
threshold of size for primary forests, the cutoff is usually considered in
terms of whether the size of the forest allows for native species assemblages,
natural forest structure and ecosystem functions to remain intact.</p>



<p>This pristine nature doesn’t mean that primary forests must be completely devoid of human presence, however. Many indigenous communities have lived within primary forests for hundreds of years, using forest resources sustainably to support their traditional livelihoods. Indigenous communities can be highly <a href="https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/articles/indigenous-peoples-the-best-forest-guardians" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">effective protectors</a> of primary forests. </p>



<h3><strong>Why protect primary forests?</strong></h3>



<p>Primary forests comprise an estimated <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4793e.pdf" target="_blank">26%</a> of the world’s natural forest, with the remaining “secondary forests” falling somewhere in the intermediate stages of regeneration from recent human disturbance. So, if primary forests are barely a third of existing forest, why is it so critical we prioritize protecting them over any other?</p>



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<p>Part of the answer lies in the shield they present against climate change. Primary forests are incredibly carbon rich; it is estimated that tropical primary forests alone store over <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11027-019-09891-4" target="_blank">141 billion tonnes</a> of carbon. The trees take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, and store it in their trunks, leaves and soil. Once a forest reaches primary status it can <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07276" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">continue to sequester</a> carbon for centuries. Not only does clearing these forests release the stored carbon, it also reduces the capacity for them to sequester more carbon in the future.</p>



<p>The <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/succession-a-closer-look-13256638/" target="_blank">later successional stages</a> also tend to have higher levels of <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://gfw.global/3cbOLym" target="_blank">biodiversity</a>. The lack of human interference allows for ecological niches to flourish naturally, creating endemic species forming complex species interactions. Higher complexity within an ecosystem, is correlated to greater <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="resilience and stability (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288653935_The_diversity-stability_debate" target="_blank">resilience and stability</a> in the face of future disturbances. Preserving these forests also preserves cultural diversity, ensuring that traditional, indigenous ways of life are not disrupted.  </p>



<p>By virtue of primary forests’ definition, human-driven tree cover loss within them is a concerning deforestation event. And because primary forests can take decades and even centuries to return to their undisturbed state, whatever we lose now, we may not see again in this century. Regeneration can be impacted by the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/65/9/849/1996148" target="_blank">type and magnitude</a> of a disturbance. If there is no surrounding environment left to provide new seeds or seed dispersal is interrupted, forests may never grow back in the same way. Protecting primary forests now makes it easier for us to continue protecting them, and potentially restore them, into the future— paying it forward to a new generation. </p>



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<div class="attribute" style="”padding-bottom:" 10px;”=""> 
BANNER PHOTO:Tropical forest in Brunei. Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cifor/37591813241/in/photolist-Ze28Cw-Y7j1i1-WtYeFT-ZgRSp4-ZgRWjt-Y7j2xf-Vs3A64-WtWYmB-WFy7tX-WqAL1J-W6iSxs-Ze27Kj-WBXfuq-WBXkfh-YT2KbU-WFym1g-YT2LhG-X85PZ1-WqALJC-Ze2bDG" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brunei Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism</a>.


</div> 

 

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What are Primary Forests and Why Should We Protect Them?

<p>Primary forests are some of the densest, wildest and most ecologically significant forests on Earth. They span the globe, from the snow-locked boreal region to the steamy tropics, though 75% of them can be found in just <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128096659097111" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">seven countries</a>. But what sets these forests apart from your average backyard woodlands, making them so critical to protect? </p>



<h3><strong>Forests in their “final form”</strong></h3>



<aside id="textbox"> <div><em><b>Primary Forests vs. Intact Forest Landscapes</b>
<p></p>
“Ancient”, “old-growth”, “primary”, “intact”— there are lots of terms used to describe Earth’s biggest, oldest and most natural forests. The vocabulary is often interchangeable, but when speaking scientifically, there are some key distinctions that set these terms apart.
<p></p>
Global Forest Watch (GFW) has data available on both humid primary forests within the tropics and intact forest landscapes (IFLs) globally. Both terms indicate a forest with no significant disturbances in recent record due to human activity, but while primary forests refer to areas of forest having reached the final stage of succession, IFLs encompass a <a href="http://www.intactforests.org/concept.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">broader patchwork</a> of undisturbed area. Within the boundary of an IFL you might find younger forests, clearings and areas of rock or ice in addition to primary forests. However, these younger patches must have been caused by natural disturbance patterns like floods or wildfire. Human-caused clearings fragment and degrade IFLs.
</em></div> </aside>



<p>Age is one factor in the formation of a primary forest, although there is no set birthday at which a forest becomes “primary”. All forests grow to maturity at different rates based on their environment, and some trees can even live <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/bristlecone-pine" target="_blank">thousands of years</a>, so the term “old-growth” is highly relative. </p>



<p>What matters more than age is a forest’s stage in a process called succession. In ecological terms, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.britannica.com/science/secondary-succession" target="_blank">succession</a> is the way in which ecosystems change from one state to the next following a disturbance. Take, for example, a fire searing through forests in Northwest North America. If it’s hot enough it will scorch everything in its path, leaving only charred wood and smoldering soil. When the smoke clears, nature gets to work rebuilding from the dirt up.</p>



<p>The first organisms to return are called “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/pioneer-species" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">pioneer species</a>”, typically fast-growing grasses, annual plants and other low, scrubby things that can take quick advantage of the now abundant sunlight. As these species live and die, they build up nutrients in the soil, allowing for a new guard of species to move in.</p>



<p>This replacement of species assemblages repeats itself as
the years progress. Each new community inherits an environment better suited to
its growth than that of the species that came before it. And so, over time the
ecosystem begins to change. From the sun-loving grasses, to quick-growing
softwood trees and finally to the tall hardwoods whose crowns knit together to
form a thick canopy. </p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="forest successional pathway from disturbance to primary forest" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/20.05.013_Forest-Growth-1.png" width="100%"></div>



<p>This final forest form is often referred to as a “climax community” and it’s these communities that are considered primary forests. The time it takes to return to full primary forest varies by the type of forest. In the Congo Basin, forest regeneration can take up to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="50 years (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/1/23" target="_blank">50 years,</a> for temperate oak and hickory forests, this process is documented to take around <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/ecology/community-structure-and-diversity/a/ecological-succession" target="_blank">150 years</a>, but one study of Brazil’s Atlantic forest found it could even take <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14112-how-long-does-it-take-a-rainforest-to-regenerate/" target="_blank">millennia</a>.</p>



<h3><strong>The most pristine places on Earth</strong></h3>



<p>Primary forests must also meet certain requirements of <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317022248_Primary_Forests_Definition_Status_and_Future_Prospects_for_Global_Conservation" target="_blank">ecological integrity</a>, showing little to no human interference. They can’t be disturbed for logging, mining, anthropogenic fires or road construction, or have their native species assemblage impacted by imported invasive species. They are dominated by continuous tree cover and must retain unpolluted soil and water. </p>



<p>Size and intactness are also factors in defining a primary forest.
Cut a road from one side of the Amazon to the other and you’ve just divided one
massive primary forest into two smaller ones. But do that over and over again, dividing
the forest into smaller and smaller slices and eventually you end up with primary
forest patches so small they no longer deserve the name. Although there is no official
threshold of size for primary forests, the cutoff is usually considered in
terms of whether the size of the forest allows for native species assemblages,
natural forest structure and ecosystem functions to remain intact.</p>



<p>This pristine nature doesn’t mean that primary forests must be completely devoid of human presence, however. Many indigenous communities have lived within primary forests for hundreds of years, using forest resources sustainably to support their traditional livelihoods. Indigenous communities can be highly <a href="https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/articles/indigenous-peoples-the-best-forest-guardians" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">effective protectors</a> of primary forests. </p>



<h3><strong>Why protect primary forests?</strong></h3>



<p>Primary forests comprise an estimated <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4793e.pdf" target="_blank">26%</a> of the world’s natural forest, with the remaining “secondary forests” falling somewhere in the intermediate stages of regeneration from recent human disturbance. So, if primary forests are barely a third of existing forest, why is it so critical we prioritize protecting them over any other?</p>



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<p>Part of the answer lies in the shield they present against climate change. Primary forests are incredibly carbon rich; it is estimated that tropical primary forests alone store over <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11027-019-09891-4" target="_blank">141 billion tonnes</a> of carbon. The trees take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, and store it in their trunks, leaves and soil. Once a forest reaches primary status it can <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07276" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">continue to sequester</a> carbon for centuries. Not only does clearing these forests release the stored carbon, it also reduces the capacity for them to sequester more carbon in the future.</p>



<p>The <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/succession-a-closer-look-13256638/" target="_blank">later successional stages</a> also tend to have higher levels of <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://gfw.global/3cbOLym" target="_blank">biodiversity</a>. The lack of human interference allows for ecological niches to flourish naturally, creating endemic species forming complex species interactions. Higher complexity within an ecosystem, is correlated to greater <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="resilience and stability (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288653935_The_diversity-stability_debate" target="_blank">resilience and stability</a> in the face of future disturbances. Preserving these forests also preserves cultural diversity, ensuring that traditional, indigenous ways of life are not disrupted.  </p>



<p>By virtue of primary forests’ definition, human-driven tree cover loss within them is a concerning deforestation event. And because primary forests can take decades and even centuries to return to their undisturbed state, whatever we lose now, we may not see again in this century. Regeneration can be impacted by the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/65/9/849/1996148" target="_blank">type and magnitude</a> of a disturbance. If there is no surrounding environment left to provide new seeds or seed dispersal is interrupted, forests may never grow back in the same way. Protecting primary forests now makes it easier for us to continue protecting them, and potentially restore them, into the future— paying it forward to a new generation. </p>



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<div class="attribute" style="”padding-bottom:" 10px;”=""> 
BANNER PHOTO:Tropical forest in Brunei. Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cifor/37591813241/in/photolist-Ze28Cw-Y7j1i1-WtYeFT-ZgRSp4-ZgRWjt-Y7j2xf-Vs3A64-WtWYmB-WFy7tX-WqAL1J-W6iSxs-Ze27Kj-WBXfuq-WBXkfh-YT2KbU-WFym1g-YT2LhG-X85PZ1-WqALJC-Ze2bDG" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brunei Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism</a>.


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20130726-FS-UNK-0010

Fires

Alaska

Angola

Carbon Emissions

Dry Forest

Fire Alerts

Fires Season

Global Fires

Thailynn Munroe

<p>Spurred by the media attention surrounding fires burning in the Amazon, people are starting to wonder if this intense heat is a global trend. A first glance at the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="http://bit.ly/2MYz5FN" target="_blank">Global Forest Watch (GFW) Fires</a> map shows an aggressive splash of fire alerts across the globe, giving the impression that half the world is on fire. Thankfully, that’s not the case. But how do we interpret the GFW data to know what’s normal and when we should be concerned? </p>



<h3><strong>Step 1: Understand
what a fire alert indicates</strong></h3>



<aside id="textbox"> <strong>Where does GFW data come from?</strong><p></p><div><em>GFW pulls data from two NASA active fire sensors: MODIS and VIIRS. MODIS, launched in the year 2000, provides a longer historical fire record and detects fires at a 1-kilometer resolution. VIIRS, launched in the year 2012, detects fires at a 375-meter resolution. Compared to MODIS, VIIRS can better detect smaller fires, perimeter fires, and nighttime fires. Read more technical details about fire alerts <a href="https://blog.globalforestwatch.org/fires/fighting-fires-with-satellites-viirs-fire-data-now-available-on-global-forest-watch">here</a>. </em></div> </aside>



<p>The quickest way to assess the fire situation in an area is to examine the number of alerts, which can provide a proxy for how many fires might be burning at a given time. But a fire alert doesn’t always mean there is a fire. An alert indicates that NASA satellites have detected a temperature anomaly of a big enough scale to register on the satellite’s sensor. A temperature anomaly could be caused by fires but can sometimes also result from extremely hot asphalt or the sun flashing off shipping containers. Other causes of inaccuracy include smoke or cloud cover, which may obscure a fire from detection by satellites, or double-counting a single fire as the satellite passes over in another rotation in its orbit. False alarm rates tend to go up as tree cover increases but never exceed a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://landval.gsfc.nasa.gov/ProductStatus.php?ProductID=MOD14" target="_blank">seven percent</a> margin of error. </p>



<p>In addition, a single alert doesn’t indicate the size or
intensity of a fire, only that in some part of that pixel a fire may be burning.
Highly clustered alerts may indicate a larger, more continuous fire, but one
must pay attention to the zoom level on the map. When zoomed out, alerts may
appear more clustered than they are. </p>



<h3><strong>Step 2: Consider what’s “normal” for a given forest
ecosystem</strong></h3>



<p>Fires can be a natural part of the ecology of dry forests and grasslands, helping clear debris and spur new growth. However, in humid tropical forests, natural fires are incredibly rare and more likely set by humans as a tool to clear land— to prevent vegetation from growing back over roads or to prepare land for agriculture. For example, in the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="http://bit.ly/2PQLy0k" target="_blank">DRC</a>, home to 60 percent of the Congo Basin rainforest, there have been over 90,000 MODIS fire alerts and 397,000 VIIRS fire alerts in the month of August alone (see box for fire alert details). Yet the majority of these fires are burning in the southern portion of the country, in <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/27/world/africa/congo-angola-rainforest-fires.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank">dry forest and grassland</a>, rather than in the heart of the tropical rainforest. Any alerts detected in rainforest areas generally indicate human presence along roads, transport corridors like rivers and urban areas. </p>



<p><a href="http://bit.ly/2MYvYxI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Bolivia</a> has seen a rash of wildfires this summer in its Chiquitano Dry forests. Although low levels of <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4874403/" target="_blank">fire disturbance</a> do shape the ecosystem of these forests, their seasonal dryness leaves them highly vulnerable to out of control burning. Almost <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-brazils-amazon-rainforest-thats-ablaze-bolivian-fires-are-threatening-people-and-wildlife-122335" target="_blank">800,000 hectares</a> of the Chiquitano forests were burned in just one week in August— far more forest than typically burns in the country in two years— and experts estimate it will take almost 200 years for the ecosystem to fully regenerate. This sort of atypical burning in core forest areas should put the public on high alert. </p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="Fires in Bolivia" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/AugustChiquitanoFire.gif" width="100%">Fires in Santa Crúz, Bolivia between August 1 and September 4. The alerts detected fires originating around human activity, but quickly spreading into the core forest zone.</div>



<h3><strong>Step 3: Consider historical trends</strong></h3>



<p>Looking at trends in fire alerts over time can also help
indicate whether current levels of alerts are normal for the region or not. Examining
the DRC’s history of fires shows that 2019 is actually tracking with the
average number of fires for the country in the past two decades.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="DRC fires seasons,2001-2019" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/GFW_Fires_DRC-01.png" width="100%">Data from NASA MODIS.</div>



<p>Angola, DRC’s neighbor to the south, however, has seen a
higher number of fires this year than its typical average. As of August, 2019
was the leading year for fires since 2001. Alert numbers that are atypical
compared to previous years, or are abnormally high given the time of year, can
be an indicator that factors like drought and higher temperatures are impacting
the region, or of increased human activity, and the situation should be
carefully monitored. </p>



<h3><strong>Step 4: Consider the carbon value of the area</strong></h3>



<p>Another indicator that fires are a cause for serious concern is whether they are burning in areas of high carbon stock like peatlands and intact forest landscapes (IFL). Not only do fires release massive amounts of carbon emissions— Indonesian wildfires in 2015 released more emissions daily than the US economy— but extremely intense fires can <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/05/14/how-massive-wildfires-can-actually-warm-the-planet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">inhibit quick forest regeneration</a>, reducing the potential future carbon sequestration.</p>



<p>IFLs absorb <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="http://bit.ly/2ZSfs4p" target="_blank">one fifth</a> of human caused emissions each year. Many boreal IFLs are also located atop permafrost, a type of permanently frozen soil that some scientists estimate store <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/frozenground/methane.html" target="_blank">more carbon</a> than the amount currently in the atmosphere today. Forest fires threaten to melt this important carbon store, releasing massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.</p>



<p>The state of Alaska, containing the most &nbsp;IFLs in the United States and large areas of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/23/climate/alaska-permafrost-thawing.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">permafrost</a>, has suffered an abnormal uptick in fires alerts between May and July of this year. In August, the massive <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/21/us/wildfires-in-12-states-alaska-mckinley-fire/index.html" target="_blank">McKinley Fire</a> burned through 1,740 hectares between Anchorage and Fairbanks. Since May, nearly three quarters of all the fire alerts picked up in Alaska were detected in intact forest landscapes. Increased burning in these carbon-critical areas should set alarm bells ringing.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="Alaska Fires seasons,2001-2019" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/GFW_Fires_Alaska-01.png" width="100%">Data from NASA MODIS.</div>



<p>Peatlands also store large amounts of carbon within their soils. The heightened emissions from Indonesia in 2015 were in part due to the high proportion of fires burning on peatlands, exacerbated by El Niño droughts. Since the beginning of 2019, another El Niño year, about one third of Indonesia’s fires have been on peatlands. </p>



<h3><strong> 2019 fires and beyond</strong></h3>



<p>Globally, the fires we’re seeing this year are not so far
outside of average, but some smaller regions are beginning to see alarming new
trends. With increasing global temperatures, forests around the world are
becoming more and more susceptible to fires. Whether natural or human-caused,
fires will increase in frequency and intensity in a hotter, drier climate,
creating a feedback loop for more fires and an even hotter and drier climate if
nothing is done. Continuing to investigate fire data and monitor active fire
alerts will only become more important in the years to come. &nbsp;</p>



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BANNER PHOTO: Whiskey Complex Fire, Oregon 2013. Photo by  <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/9599175289/in/photolist-fCfhoe-deKKAa-Uypwbk-8u26Mv-7RdWa8-47ZhMe-n9LFXB-4Z7kDS-6C4BRJ-9R1hJT-9p4Rkt-daaCCd-oYiogA-hpscaw-6HvGw4-6xL91Z-7M7Uht-6TUsTF-eK3Qf6-XYhuUs-aaAzSE-231ZqeP-fyRTxg-2nUk9W-5aEkST-4UQwGe-oBns23-beYUn6-59S3wk-fuDpVr-jnz8wk-DoMVW-2fvLWnG-6KtdKi-KWc7d-f8Z53R-gLH9K-ofkcKs-2dRz9Yq-nm48P-M2KnTe-2d25oEQ-8EpNKP-Rg5P3-VAgoFh-oDa5pP-bAKZcW-YFUqHd-VXa7kU-Yrxe8W" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">USDA/Flickr</a>. 

 

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Placing Global Wildfires into Local Context

<p>Spurred by the media attention surrounding fires burning in the Amazon, people are starting to wonder if this intense heat is a global trend. A first glance at the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="http://bit.ly/2MYz5FN" target="_blank">Global Forest Watch (GFW) Fires</a> map shows an aggressive splash of fire alerts across the globe, giving the impression that half the world is on fire. Thankfully, that’s not the case. But how do we interpret the GFW data to know what’s normal and when we should be concerned? </p>



<h3><strong>Step 1: Understand
what a fire alert indicates</strong></h3>



<aside id="textbox"> <strong>Where does GFW data come from?</strong><p></p><div><em>GFW pulls data from two NASA active fire sensors: MODIS and VIIRS. MODIS, launched in the year 2000, provides a longer historical fire record and detects fires at a 1-kilometer resolution. VIIRS, launched in the year 2012, detects fires at a 375-meter resolution. Compared to MODIS, VIIRS can better detect smaller fires, perimeter fires, and nighttime fires. Read more technical details about fire alerts <a href="https://blog.globalforestwatch.org/fires/fighting-fires-with-satellites-viirs-fire-data-now-available-on-global-forest-watch">here</a>. </em></div> </aside>



<p>The quickest way to assess the fire situation in an area is to examine the number of alerts, which can provide a proxy for how many fires might be burning at a given time. But a fire alert doesn’t always mean there is a fire. An alert indicates that NASA satellites have detected a temperature anomaly of a big enough scale to register on the satellite’s sensor. A temperature anomaly could be caused by fires but can sometimes also result from extremely hot asphalt or the sun flashing off shipping containers. Other causes of inaccuracy include smoke or cloud cover, which may obscure a fire from detection by satellites, or double-counting a single fire as the satellite passes over in another rotation in its orbit. False alarm rates tend to go up as tree cover increases but never exceed a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://landval.gsfc.nasa.gov/ProductStatus.php?ProductID=MOD14" target="_blank">seven percent</a> margin of error. </p>



<p>In addition, a single alert doesn’t indicate the size or
intensity of a fire, only that in some part of that pixel a fire may be burning.
Highly clustered alerts may indicate a larger, more continuous fire, but one
must pay attention to the zoom level on the map. When zoomed out, alerts may
appear more clustered than they are. </p>



<h3><strong>Step 2: Consider what’s “normal” for a given forest
ecosystem</strong></h3>



<p>Fires can be a natural part of the ecology of dry forests and grasslands, helping clear debris and spur new growth. However, in humid tropical forests, natural fires are incredibly rare and more likely set by humans as a tool to clear land— to prevent vegetation from growing back over roads or to prepare land for agriculture. For example, in the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="http://bit.ly/2PQLy0k" target="_blank">DRC</a>, home to 60 percent of the Congo Basin rainforest, there have been over 90,000 MODIS fire alerts and 397,000 VIIRS fire alerts in the month of August alone (see box for fire alert details). Yet the majority of these fires are burning in the southern portion of the country, in <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/27/world/africa/congo-angola-rainforest-fires.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank">dry forest and grassland</a>, rather than in the heart of the tropical rainforest. Any alerts detected in rainforest areas generally indicate human presence along roads, transport corridors like rivers and urban areas. </p>



<p><a href="http://bit.ly/2MYvYxI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Bolivia</a> has seen a rash of wildfires this summer in its Chiquitano Dry forests. Although low levels of <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4874403/" target="_blank">fire disturbance</a> do shape the ecosystem of these forests, their seasonal dryness leaves them highly vulnerable to out of control burning. Almost <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-brazils-amazon-rainforest-thats-ablaze-bolivian-fires-are-threatening-people-and-wildlife-122335" target="_blank">800,000 hectares</a> of the Chiquitano forests were burned in just one week in August— far more forest than typically burns in the country in two years— and experts estimate it will take almost 200 years for the ecosystem to fully regenerate. This sort of atypical burning in core forest areas should put the public on high alert. </p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="Fires in Bolivia" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/AugustChiquitanoFire.gif" width="100%">Fires in Santa Crúz, Bolivia between August 1 and September 4. The alerts detected fires originating around human activity, but quickly spreading into the core forest zone.</div>



<h3><strong>Step 3: Consider historical trends</strong></h3>



<p>Looking at trends in fire alerts over time can also help
indicate whether current levels of alerts are normal for the region or not. Examining
the DRC’s history of fires shows that 2019 is actually tracking with the
average number of fires for the country in the past two decades.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="DRC fires seasons,2001-2019" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/GFW_Fires_DRC-01.png" width="100%">Data from NASA MODIS.</div>



<p>Angola, DRC’s neighbor to the south, however, has seen a
higher number of fires this year than its typical average. As of August, 2019
was the leading year for fires since 2001. Alert numbers that are atypical
compared to previous years, or are abnormally high given the time of year, can
be an indicator that factors like drought and higher temperatures are impacting
the region, or of increased human activity, and the situation should be
carefully monitored. </p>



<h3><strong>Step 4: Consider the carbon value of the area</strong></h3>



<p>Another indicator that fires are a cause for serious concern is whether they are burning in areas of high carbon stock like peatlands and intact forest landscapes (IFL). Not only do fires release massive amounts of carbon emissions— Indonesian wildfires in 2015 released more emissions daily than the US economy— but extremely intense fires can <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/05/14/how-massive-wildfires-can-actually-warm-the-planet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">inhibit quick forest regeneration</a>, reducing the potential future carbon sequestration.</p>



<p>IFLs absorb <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="http://bit.ly/2ZSfs4p" target="_blank">one fifth</a> of human caused emissions each year. Many boreal IFLs are also located atop permafrost, a type of permanently frozen soil that some scientists estimate store <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/frozenground/methane.html" target="_blank">more carbon</a> than the amount currently in the atmosphere today. Forest fires threaten to melt this important carbon store, releasing massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.</p>



<p>The state of Alaska, containing the most &nbsp;IFLs in the United States and large areas of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/23/climate/alaska-permafrost-thawing.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">permafrost</a>, has suffered an abnormal uptick in fires alerts between May and July of this year. In August, the massive <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/21/us/wildfires-in-12-states-alaska-mckinley-fire/index.html" target="_blank">McKinley Fire</a> burned through 1,740 hectares between Anchorage and Fairbanks. Since May, nearly three quarters of all the fire alerts picked up in Alaska were detected in intact forest landscapes. Increased burning in these carbon-critical areas should set alarm bells ringing.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="Alaska Fires seasons,2001-2019" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/GFW_Fires_Alaska-01.png" width="100%">Data from NASA MODIS.</div>



<p>Peatlands also store large amounts of carbon within their soils. The heightened emissions from Indonesia in 2015 were in part due to the high proportion of fires burning on peatlands, exacerbated by El Niño droughts. Since the beginning of 2019, another El Niño year, about one third of Indonesia’s fires have been on peatlands. </p>



<h3><strong> 2019 fires and beyond</strong></h3>



<p>Globally, the fires we’re seeing this year are not so far
outside of average, but some smaller regions are beginning to see alarming new
trends. With increasing global temperatures, forests around the world are
becoming more and more susceptible to fires. Whether natural or human-caused,
fires will increase in frequency and intensity in a hotter, drier climate,
creating a feedback loop for more fires and an even hotter and drier climate if
nothing is done. Continuing to investigate fire data and monitor active fire
alerts will only become more important in the years to come. &nbsp;</p>



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BANNER PHOTO: Whiskey Complex Fire, Oregon 2013. Photo by  <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/9599175289/in/photolist-fCfhoe-deKKAa-Uypwbk-8u26Mv-7RdWa8-47ZhMe-n9LFXB-4Z7kDS-6C4BRJ-9R1hJT-9p4Rkt-daaCCd-oYiogA-hpscaw-6HvGw4-6xL91Z-7M7Uht-6TUsTF-eK3Qf6-XYhuUs-aaAzSE-231ZqeP-fyRTxg-2nUk9W-5aEkST-4UQwGe-oBns23-beYUn6-59S3wk-fuDpVr-jnz8wk-DoMVW-2fvLWnG-6KtdKi-KWc7d-f8Z53R-gLH9K-ofkcKs-2dRz9Yq-nm48P-M2KnTe-2d25oEQ-8EpNKP-Rg5P3-VAgoFh-oDa5pP-bAKZcW-YFUqHd-VXa7kU-Yrxe8W" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">USDA/Flickr</a>. 

 

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infographic

wilderness

<p>Today Greenpeace, the University of Maryland, and Transparent World, in collaboration with WRI and WWF-Russia released new analysis on the state of the world’s Intact Forest Landscapes.  The interactive infographic below, designed by Ilona Zhuravleva and the team at Greenpeace Insternational, demonstrates the concept of Intact Forest Landscapes as well as key findings from the analysis.  <script id="infogram_0_copy-world-intact-forest-landscapes-2000-2013-analysis-ver2" title="world Intact forest landscapes: 2000-2013 Analysis" type="text/javascript" src="//e.infogr.am/js/embed.js?zK7"></script> </p>
<div style="padding: 8px 0; font-family: Arial!important; font-size: 13px!important; line-height: 15px!important; text-align: center; border-top: 1px solid #dadada; margin: 0 30px;"><a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogr.am/copy-world-intact-forest-landscapes-2000-2013-analysis-ver2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">world Intact forest landscapes: 2000-2013 Analysis</a> <a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogr.am" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Create your own infographics</a></div>


Infographic: World Intact Forest Landscapes, 2000-2013 Analysis

Today Greenpeace, the University of Maryland, and Transparent World, in collaboration with WRI and WWF-Russia released new analysis on the state of the world's Intact Forest Landscapes.  The interactive infographic below, designed by Ilona Zhuravleva and the team at Greenpeace Insternational, demonstrates the concept of Intact Forest Landscapes as well as key findings from the analysis.  <script id="infogram_0_copy-world-intact-forest-landscapes-2000-2013-analysis-ver2" title="world Intact forest landscapes: 2000-2013 Analysis" type="text/javascript" src="//e.infogr.am/js/embed.js?zK7"></script> <div style="padding: 8px 0; font-family: Arial!important; font-size: 13px!important; line-height: 15px!important; text-align: center; border-top: 1px solid #dadada; margin: 0 30px;"><a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogr.am/copy-world-intact-forest-landscapes-2000-2013-analysis-ver2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">world Intact forest landscapes: 2000-2013 Analysis</a> <a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogr.am" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Create your own infographics</a></div>