Offers the first scientific assessment of the world's large, intact natural forests and graphically depicts the extent of human impacts on global forests.

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By now, most people who read a newspaper or watch television know that deforestation is a serious problem, particularly in the tropics. This World Resources Institute (WRI) analysis shows that we have lost almost half -- almost 3 billion hectares -- of the forests that once blanketed the earth. Every year at least 16 million additional hectares fall to the ax, torch, bulldozer, or chain saw. [1],[2]

Hidden behind such familiar statistics, however, is another, equally sobering reality. Of the forests that do remain standing, the vast majority are no more than small or highly disturbed pieces of the fully functioning ecosystems they once were. These modified forests should not be forgotten, of course. They are the last refuge for some of the world's most endangered species and they provide important economic products and environmental services. Yet, they may have lost their ability to sustain themselves in the long term. To support their full complement of plant and animal inhabitants, fragmented forests will probably need regular interventions by resource managers.

In contrast, frontier forests -- large, ecologically intact, and relatively undisturbed natural forests -- are likely to survive indefinitely without human assistance. (See "Definitions Used in This Study" and the Technical Annex.) Within these forests, natural ecological and evolutionary processes will continue to generate and maintain the biodiversity upon which we all rely. Frontier forests also contribute a large portion of the ecological services -- such as watershed protection and climate stabilization -- that make the planet habitable. And they are home to many of the world's remaining indigenous peoples.

Keeping Earth's last frontier forests will require a fundamental shift in how we view them. From the American Wild West of the 1800s to Russia's Far East and the South American Amazon today, frontiers have been seen as limitless providers of land, timber, gold, wildlife, and other sources of wealth. Careless and wasteful, a typical frontier economy mines the forest for a quick profit and moves on.

We believe it is time to replace this outdated thinking with a concept of frontier that is based on stewardship -- taking responsibility for the forest and ensuring that its riches will be available for future generations. Good stewardship may mean complete protection of some frontier forests combined with careful management of portions of others for both timber and non-timber products.

The change must happen soon: over the coming years, citizens, policy-makers, industry leaders, and others have a chance to decide the fate of the world's last frontier forests. The key decisions before us are windows of opportunity that may never open again.

Notes

1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Forest Resources Assessment 1990: Global Synthesis, FAO Forestry Paper 124 (FAO, Rome, 1995), Annex 1, p. 21.

2. The FAO estimate applies to annual loss of natural forest cover between 1980 and 1990 for developing countries only. It does not include large areas of forest logged over and left to regenerate. No data are available for developed countries of the world.