The Frontier Forest Index

WRI's Frontier Forest Index shows that most of the world's nations have already lost, or might soon lose, their last frontier forests. (See Frontier Forest Index Table.) The index ranks countries according to the percentage of frontier forest lost and to the proportion of remaining frontier that is moderately or highly threatened -- in other words, high-scoring countries have lost much of their frontier, and most of what remains is threatened.

Seventy-six countries have lost it all. These include almost all of the countries of Europe and Eastern Africa and all of North Africa and the Middle East. For these countries, forest restoration should be a priority. (See Countries With Most of the World's Remaining Frontier Forest)

Another 11 countries -- including Nigeria, Thailand, Sweden, Finland and Guatemala -- are classified as on the edge. They have at most 5 percent of their original frontier left, and it is threatened. While core areas of these isolated frontiers may be protected in parks or reserves, logging and other activities outside (and sometimes inside) protected areas threaten the ecosystems as a whole. Unless these countries act immediately, they are likely to lose most of the little frontier they have left.

In 28 countries, there is not much time to protect remaining frontier forests. Most of these nations have lost most of their original frontier, and much of the remainder is threatened. These countries include the United States (which, if not for Alaska's vast boreal forest, would rank among countries "on the edge"), Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Panama, Mexico, Argentina, India, and Australia.

Only seven countries -- Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela, and Russia -- and one Overseas Department of France (French Guiana), still have a large proportion of their original forest cover remaining in an unthreatened state. These nations have great opportunities to sustain large areas of frontier forest if they begin to follow stewardship principles now. (See Ten Countries with the Highest Plant Biodiversity in Their Frontier Forest)

Even in these eight places, some frontiers are under siege. In Canada, two thirds of British Columbia's temperate coastal rainforest -- one of Earth's biologically richest temperate ecosystems -- has been degraded by logging or other development, and much of what remains intact outside protected areas is slated for logging in coming years. [1]

International timber companies have been trying to negotiate contracts to log much of the remaining Amazon and Guyana Shield frontier -- including one third of Suriname's forests. [2] Decisions made within the next few years will decide the fate of frontier forests within these countries.

References and notes

1. Ecotrust and Conservation International (CI), Coastal Temperate Rain Forests: Ecological Characteristics, Status and Distribution Worldwide, Occasional Paper Series No. 1, (Portland: Ecotrust, 1992), p. 33.

2. Jonathan Friedland and Raphael Pura, "Log Heaven: Trouble at Home, Asian Timber Firms Set Sights on the Amazon," The Wall Street Journal, November 11, 1996.