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Two-Thirds of The World's Forests Lost Forever
EMBARGO: 06.00 GMT, Wednesday, 8 October 1997
London - WWF today (8 October) revealed shocking new figures which show, for the first time, that nearly two-thirds of the world's original forests have been destroyed.
Of the 8,080 million hectares of forest existing in the world 8,000 years ago1, only 3,044 million hectares remain today. Tropical forests are continuing to be destroyed at a rate of
17 million hectares per year2 and there are similar losses in forest quality across the temperate and boreal forests of Canada, Europe, Russia and the US. At current rates of deforestation, there will be virtually no natural forests left in countries such as Costa Rica, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand in less than 50 years' time.
The new mapping project, developed by WWF in association with the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), studied forest cover and forest protection in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America and Russia to show the extent of forest loss world wide. The WWF study reveals that the Asia Pacific region has already lost 88% of its original forest cover and only 5% of the remaining forest area is currently protected. The study also shows that within the next 25 years, only 10% of Asia Pacific's original forests will be left, and worldwide individual countries such as El Salvador, Ghana, Madagascar and Pakistan have already fallen below 10%.
Equally worrying is the revelation that none of the six regions has the internationally agreed minimum of 10% of each forest type within protected areas3. Only 2% of Europe and Russia's remaining forests are protected and less than 5% of the remaining natural forests in Africa, Asia Pacific and North America have any form of protection.
"We have always suspected that forest loss was high - but now we have proof of the extent of forest already lost" said Francis Sullivan, Director of WWF's Forests for Life Campaign. "The frightening thing is that the pace of forest destruction has accelerated dramatically over the last 5 years and continues to rise. As more and more countries run out of their own natural forests, previously untouched forests, and the people who depend on them, will come under greater threat - highlighting the urgent need for more forests to be formally protected now."
This is particularly true of Brazil - which five years since the Rio Earth Summit, still has the highest annual rate of forest loss in the world - and, as the South American dry season comes to a close, more fires have been reported in the Brazilian Amazon than ever before. However, it is not just the increase in forest fires which poses a threat to the survival of the Amazon rainforest - one of WWF's Global 200 Eco-Regions4 - new roads are constantly opening up the very heart of the Amazon to logging and development companies, making millions of hectares of primary forest vulnerable.
"Brazil contains the largest area of tropical forest in the world - and it is imperative that the Brazilian Government acts now to protect what is left of the one of the world's remaining outstanding eco-regions," said Francis Sullivan. "Unless governments take action to protect their remaining forests then within our children's lifetime there will be virtually no natural forests left in the most populated regions of the world - Latin America, Africa and Asia-Pacific. That is why WWF is calling on governments - such as Brazil - to make a commitment to protect a minimum of 10% of each of their different forests now."
For more information please contact:
Alison Lucas +44 (0) 1483 419266 or mobile +44 (0)468 688011
Rachel Thackray +44 (0) 181 347 6743 or mobile +44 (0)973 618304
WWF UK Press Office: Ed Matthew +44 (0) 483 412379 or mobile + 44 (0)468 867274
Notes to editors:
- 18,000 years ago or 6,000BC i.e. prior to human impact
- 2Source: FAO 1993
- 3Protected areas definition: IUCN Categories I-III
- 4The Global 200 is part of WWF's Living Planet Campaign - a broader effort to mobilize international support for conservation action. Nearly every country has a Global 200 Eco-Region within its political borders.
- BETA copies of a VNR are available, containing footage of forest fires in Brazil and interviews with Francis Sullivan, Director of WWF's Forests for Life Campaign, Garo Batmanian - Director of WWF Brazil, and Antonio Raposo Pereira, Atmospheric Monitoring Coordinator - IBAMA (Brazilian Environment Protection Agency).
- Regional maps available:
Africa 45% of original forest cover lost:
95% unprotected
Asia Pacific 88% of original forest cover lost:
95% unprotected
Europe 62% of original forest cover lost:
98% unprotected
Latin America 41% of original forest cover lost:
91% unprotected
North America 39% of original forest cover lost:
95% unprotected
Russia 35% of original forest cover lost:
98% unprotected
Also available 35mm colour transparencies.
- Countries committed to WWF's Forests for Life protected areas target:
Armenia, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, People's Republic of China, Colombia, Greece, Lithuania, Malawi, Mozambique, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Romania, Russian Republic of Sakha, Slovak Republic, Tunisia, Uzbekistan.
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) is providing support to WWF's Forests for Life programme in monitoring the conservation of the world's forests
- Also being launched on 8 October is the WWF European Hotspots map which features one hundred valuable forest areas in Europe which are in urgent need of protection. Copies of this map are available on request.
LET'S LEAVE OUR CHILDREN A LIVING PLANET
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