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Intact Forest Landscapes

Protect ancient forests

Forest destruction produces about one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than that emitted from all the cars, planes, and trains in the world.

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Forests

What lies in the forest between the trees? See for yourself what dangers lie ahead and how we're working to save forests both near and far.

Africa

Three of our closest relatives, the gorilla, chimpanzee and bonobo all depend on the Congo rainforest for their survival. Of exceptional ecological importance, the forest is home to 270 species of mammals, of which 39 are unique to the region.

Forests Worldwide

Eight thousand years ago, large tracts of ancient forest covered almost half the earth's land area. Today, only one-fifth of the original forests remain as large areas of ancient forest. The rest have been destroyed, degraded or fragmented by relentless human activity.

Amazon

While much of the Amazon rainforest falls within the borders of Brazil, it also reaches into regions of Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Paradise Forests

Only 20 percent of the world's ancient forests remain in large, intact tracts. Some of the ancient forests under greatest threat are the ‘Paradise Forests’.

Asian Russia

Asian Russia makes up the eastern third of the Russian Federation and covers over 663 million hectares, more than two-thirds the size of the US.

Europe

The Last Ancient Forests of Europe combine Europe's few remaining tracts of ancient forest in Scandinavia with the adjoining forest of European Russia (from the western flanks of the Ural mountains). These boreal forests represent Europe's last remaining intact ancient forest.

North America

The Ancient Forests of North America are extremely diverse. They include the boreal forest belt stretching between Newfoundland and Alaska, the coastal temperate rainforest of Alaska and Western Canada, and the myriad of residual pockets of temperate forest surviving in more remote regions.

South America

The Temperate Jungle of South America, which covers regions of Southern Chile and Argentina, represents the largest tract of essentially undisturbed temperate forest in the world.

*This includes both damaged areas and intact forest areas smaller than 500 km2

Where are the remainder of ancient forests located?


    • 35 percent in Latin America.
    The Amazon rainforest is mainly located in Brazil, which clears a larger area of forest annually than any other country in the world.

    • 28 percent in North America.
    North America destroys 10,000 square kilometers of ancient forests every year. Many of the fragmented forests of southern Canada and the United States lack adequate animal travel corridors and functioning ecosystems for large mammals.

    • 19 percent in Northern Asia.
    Northern Asia is home to the second largest boreal forest in the world. The Siberian tiger once roamed across huge areas of Northern Asia but today it can only be found in a small area of intact forest near the Sea of Japan. Only 400 remain in the wild, with twice as many in zoos.

    • 7 percent in South Asia Pacific.
    The Paradise Forests of Asia Pacific are being destroyed faster than any other forest on Earth. Much of the large intact forest landscapes have already been cut down, 72 percent in Indonesia and 60 percent in Papua New Guinea.

    • 8 percent in Africa.
    Africa has lost most of its intact forest landscapes in the last 30 years. The timber industry is responsible for destroying huge areas of intact forest landscapes and continues to be the single largest threat to these areas.

    • Less than 3 percent in Europe.
    In Europe, more than 150 square kilometers of intact forest landscapes fall victim to the chainsaw every year and the last areas of the region’s intact forest landscapes in European Russia are shrinking rapidly.

Read our in-depth report: Roadmap to Recovery

For more detailed maps available as google earth (.kmz) or Arcview (.shp) file downloads, methodology explanation and discussion forum go to www.intactforests.org
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