Only 40 per cent of forests are considered to have high ecological integrity, according to a new global measure, the Forest Landscape Integrity Index.
Only 40 per cent of forests are considered to have high ecological integrity, according to a new global measure, the Forest Landscape Integrity Index.
The Index was created by 47 forest and conservation experts from across the world, including Professor James Watson of The University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
“This extremely fine-scale analysis of the ecological integrity of the world’s forests has found that only 17.4 million square kilometres of Earth’s remaining forests – or 40 per cent of them – are considered to have high integrity,” Professor Watson said.
“And just 27 per cent of this area is found in nationally designated protected areas.
“High integrity forests are those which contain high levels of biodiversity, provide high quality ecosystem services and are more resilient to climate change.
Read more: University of Queensland
Forest integrity data mapped via the Forest Landscape Integrity Index. (Photo Credit: WCS)
