Spare these trees! WWF's Forests for Life Campaign combats deforestation

Wildlife conservation in Namibia

New national organization in Brazil

What is a forest?

WWF's forests for life campaign targets

"Don't buy trouble"!






header: What is a Forest?


The major problem in mapping forests is to decide at what point tree cover becomes dense enough to be called a forest rather than, say, an open woodland. There is no straightforward answer. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) classifies as forest any area with more than 10 per cent canopy cover. But this very wide definition includes many areas which few would regard as forests. A more satisfactory definition is one covering closed canopy forest: any area with over 40 per cent crown cover. This works well with broadleaf or mixed coniferous or broadleaf forests, but less well with purely coniferous forests, where canopy cover is often less than 40 per cent.