5/4/2002
New Survey Points to Even Faster Degradation of Ancient Forests

New reports from the Washington DC based World Resources Institute conclude much of the World's intact ancient forests are at risk than previously thought. Six reports covering the primary and old-growth forests of Central Africa, Russia, North America, Chile, Venezuela, and Indonesia show that in most regions intact forests are fast becoming a myth.

As an example of the risk that forests are under, the Institute, an environmental think tank, points out that at least half of Central Africa's tropical forest, the world's second biggest tropical forest, has now been allocated in logging concessions.

The six new reports, which cover nearly half the world's forests, reveal that while extensive areas of intact natural forest remain in some countries, poor management, bad economics, and corruption is responsible for a rapid, ongoing degradation of many of these remaining tracts.

The authors say that while many countries have enacted laws to protect their forests, these are often designed to promote short-term economic gain, rather than long-term stewardship. In Chile, for example, government policies encourage people to clear native forests to make way for plantations of exotic species.

The surveys were undertaken as part of Global Forest Watch. This monitors the world's remaining intact forests through maps, satellite technology, ground verification, and the Internet. It has 75 partners in 8 countries.

These surveys which have provided the first detailed mapping of ecological conditions in Russia, have indicated that only a quarter of the forest zones there remain as intact landscapes, within what used to be an endless taiga. In the bulk of the USA only six percent of forests are in large tracts of low-accessed forests, less than a fifth of which is strictly or moderately protected.