![]() ![]() Only small areas of intact forest landscapes remain in temperate regions due to extensive commercial logging and agricultural activities prior to the year 2000. These areas also experienced the largest reduction in intact forest landscape area over the past two decades. Where and Why Are Intact Forests Becoming Fragmented?Ĭountries with the largest remaining areas of intact forest landscapes are found primarily in boreal and tropical regions. Therefore, this methodology does not take into account forest regeneration and assumes that once lost, intactness cannot be regained. For each update of the global intact forest landscape map, researchers only assess areas currently designated as intact forest landscapes. As a result, that intact forest landscape area is lost and the total global area decreases. For example, if a road is built across an intact forest landscape patch that causes the remaining patches to no longer meet the criteria, the entire patch would no longer be considered an intact forest landscape. If the trend doesn’t reverse, the world could lose much of its unbroken forest tracts this century, posing problems for nature, the climate and human well-being.Ī portion of an intact forest landscape, or in some cases an entire patch, may no longer be considered an intact forest landscape if these criteria are no longer met due to human-caused alteration or fragmentation. New roads developed for industrial timber and oil and gas extraction, agricultural expansion and fires are the main causes of reduction in the extent of intact forest landscapes. This is an area larger than twice the size of Chile.įurthermore, the global rate at which intact forest landscapes are decreasing is speeding up, from an average of 7.1 million hectares per year from 2000-2013 to an average of 9 million hectares per year from 2013-2020. They regulate temperature and rainfall across continents, provide homes to Indigenous Peoples, have some of the highest biodiversity rates in the world and store huge amounts of carbon, among other benefits.Īccording to the latest data on Global Forest Watch, the extent of world’s intact forest landscapes decreased by 12% (155 million hectares) between 20. Their intactness makes them uniquely valuable to nature. Intact forest landscapes, or vast stretches of unbroken forested wilderness, are some of the most important ecosystems in the world. Susan Minnemayer and Lars Laestadius contributed to a previous version of this article. ![]()
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