World's Last Great Forest Under Threat

The researchers from Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, University of Adelaide in Australia and the National University of Singapore have called for the urgent preservation of existing boreal forests in order to secure biodiversity and prevent the loss of this major global carbon sink.

The boreal forest comprises about one-third of the world’s forested area and one-third of the world’s stored carbon, covering a large proportion of Russia, Canada, Alaska and Scandinavia.

To date it has remained largely intact because of the typically sparse human populations in boreal regions. That is now changing says researchers and co-authors Associate Professor Ian Warkentin, Memorial University, Associate Professor Corey Bradshaw, University of Adelaide, and Professor Navjot Sodhi, National University of Singapore.

“Historically, fire and insects have driven the natural dynamics of boreal ecosystems,” says Associate Professor Warkentin. “But with rising demand for resources, human disturbances caused by logging, mining and urban development have increased in these forests during recent years, with extensive forest loss for some regions and others facing heavy fragmentation and exploitation.”

“Much world attention has focused on the loss and degradation of tropical forests over the past three decades, but now the boreal forest is poised to become the next Amazon,” says Associate Professor Bradshaw, from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute.

The findings have been published online in Trends in Ecology and Evolution in a paper called ‘Urgent preservation of boreal carbon stocks and biodiversity’. The findings include:

• Fire is the main driver of change and increased human activity is leading to more fires. There is also evidence that climate change is increasing the frequency and possibly the extent of fires in the boreal zone.

• Few countries are reporting an overall change in the coverage by boreal forest but the degree of fragmentation is increasing with only about 40% of the total forested area remaining “intact”.

• Russian boreal forest is the most degraded and least “intact” and has suffered the greatest decline in the last few decades.

• Countries with boreal forest are protecting less than 10% of their forests from timber exploitation, except for Sweden where the figure is about 20%.

Media Contacts:

Associate Professor Ian Warkentin
Environmental Science Unit
Memorial University, Canada
Phone: + 1 709 637 6246
Mobile : +1 709 639 0820
iwarkent@swgc.mun.ca
Associate Professor Corey Bradshaw
The Environment Institute
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
University of Adelaide
Phone: +61 8 8303 5842 (Mon-Wed)
Phone: +61 8 8207 5381 (Thu-Fri)
Mobile: +61 400 697 665
corey.bradshaw@adelaide.edu.au