The last frontiers of wilderness: Tracking loss of intact forest landscapes from 2000 to 2013

Potapov, Peter; Hansen, Matthew C.; Laestadius, Lars; Turubanova, Svetlana; Yaroshenko, Alexey; Thies, Christoph; Smith, Wynet; Zhuravleva, Ilona; Komarova, Anna; Minnemeyer, Susan; Esipova, Elena

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1600821

Cited by 616 publications

(614 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…These metrics do not include expansion into agroforests, which have been identified as a major source of expansion in previous studies. One global study focused on intact forests landscapes, and suggested that oil palm accounted for a negligible amount (0.2%) of forest clearing in tropical regions (496,497).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oil palm and biodiversity: a situation analysis by the IUCN Oil Palm Task Force

2018

102

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oil palm and biodiversity: a situation analysis by the IUCN Oil Palm Task Force

2018

102

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“…Also indicated are boundaries for all major watersheds, and political jurisdictions (inset right). [31]; 5 Approximate population density based on Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Chile) [32] and estimated population from cities and villages (Argentina). …”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are essential in terms of conserving biodiversity, climate change mitigation, or as reference systems for forest management or restoration [3]. Global inventories and mapping efforts focused on forest integrity have proliferated given the concerns on the rapid decline of primary forests [4,5]. These efforts include global distribution analyses of intact forest landscapes by biome [5], estimated rate of change of forest cover [4], levels of forest fragmentation [6], global human footprint [7,8], and areas prioritized for potential restauration [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Global inventories and mapping efforts focused on forest integrity have proliferated given the concerns on the rapid decline of primary forests [4,5]. These efforts include global distribution analyses of intact forest landscapes by biome [5], estimated rate of change of forest cover [4], levels of forest fragmentation [6], global human footprint [7,8], and areas prioritized for potential restauration [9]. Intact forests are also important for associated ecosystem services of carbon storage [10], soil and water conservation, regulating hydrological regimes, and affect the structure, function, biodiversity and geomorphology of stream and river ecosystems [11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Watersheds and Trees Fall Together: An Analysis of Intact Forested Watersheds in Southern Patagonia (41–56° S)

Astorga

Moreno

Reid

2018

Forests

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While intact forests have intrinsic value in terms of conserving biodiversity, they are also important for associated ecosystem services of soil and water conservation, in addition to the biodiversity, function and geomorphology of stream and river ecosystems. In this latter context, the perspective of watershed is more relevant than forest patch, however we are unaware of any landscape assessments of intact forested watersheds (IFWs). We mapped the coverage of forested watersheds with limited intervention for southern Patagonia (Chile, Argentina) using existing forest stand mapping and high resolution stream/watershed delineation (patch size~0.4 km 2 ). Validation and adjusted IFW boundaries was performed using high resolution satellite imagery for three major inland basins representing the north-south range of the study area. For both scales we evaluated size distribution, conservation status, forest type (deciduous vs. evergreen temperate forest) and bio-climatic zones (precipitation range 500 to >6000 mm/year). For the coarse regional analysis potential IFWs covered over 40% of land surface, and included nearly 60% of all forest cover. These figures were significantly reduced following basin scale validation to 6-21% for IFWs and 5-14% of forest contribution to IFW. IFWs identified in the regional analysis were lower elevation (0-100 m) due to abundant coastal drainages, whereas the basin analyses were higher elevation headwaters systems (1000+ m), the largest over 80 km 2 . Total IFW cover was estimated between 50,000-132,000 km 2 , the range a reflection of disparate results across these two scales, further highlighting the need for comprehensive revision and field validation. At the same time the difference in areas, defined mostly by minor levels of intervention, indicate the vast potential for management or restoration. Taken together they represent a nationally and globally significant contribution to of intact temperate forests and IFWs. Interactions between forest and stream ecosystems, and their implications for IFW conservation, are discussed in these contexts, based on examples from the region. Finally we used Getis-Ord Gi* statistics to identify hot and cold spots for different attributes, providing an example of a combined index for prioritizing IFW conservation.

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“…Additionally, Afromontane and old-growth forests are remotely located and owned by the state, which make them difficult for the public to access. This is a consequence of the decline of natural forest from 40% to 3% during the 20th century [68,69], which is a process that is continuing in Ethiopia. At the same time, agroforestry homegardens and agroforestry shade-grown coffee are widely distributed in the study area.…”

Section: Multiple Ecosystem Services From Priority Land Covers For Rumentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining Priority Land Covers that Secure the Livelihoods of Urban and Rural People in Ethiopia: a Case Study Based on Citizens’ Preferences

et al. 2018

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Securing land management systems that maintain land covers is important for sustaining human livelihoods in Africa; however, simultaneously maintaining a viable natural environment is a serious challenge. Aggravated by rapid population growth and biodiversity loss, Ethiopia is an illustrative example of this issue. Stressing the need for a bottom-up stakeholder perspective, we identify and map land covers that deliver multiple ecosystem services that are important for the livelihoods of rural and urban citizens in the southern part of Ethiopia's Rift Valley. First, we interviewed 400 urban and rural residents to identify the land covers that deliver desired ecosystem services in three agroecological zones, representing a steep gradient in the livelihood conditions. Second, to support the inclusion of priority land covers in spatial planning, we located spatial concentrations of individual land covers providing bundles of desired ecosystem services. The majority of urban respondents selected homegarden agroforestry (92% of respondents from this group), freshwater lake (82%), river (70%), agroforestry shade-grown coffee (65%), natural old-growth forest (59%), rural settlement (52%), Afromontane undifferentiated forest (52%), and urban areas (73%) as important for their livelihood. In contrast, the majority of rural respondents selected three land covers: homegarden agroforestry (80% of respondents from this group), agroforestry shade-grown coffee (58%), and urban areas (65%). To maintain the identified natural and semi-natural priority land covers, at least two land management strategies are crucial to sustain the provision of ecosystem services for the livelihoods of both urban and rural people, and biodiversity conservation: (1) maintaining traditional agroforestry land-use practices, and (2) enhancing the protection and sustainable management of natural forest ecosystems. Additionally, integrated spatial planning is needed that considers both rural local community-based resource management that focuses on local needs for employment and products, and global demands to conserve biodiversity.

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The last frontiers of wilderness: Tracking loss of intact forest landscapes from 2000 to 2013

Abstract: Intact forest landscapes have the greatest conservation value but are shrinking due to industrial logging and fragmentation.

Cited by 616 publications

References 42 publications

Oil palm and biodiversity: a situation analysis by the IUCN Oil Palm Task Force

Oil palm and biodiversity: a situation analysis by the IUCN Oil Palm Task Force

Watersheds and Trees Fall Together: An Analysis of Intact Forested Watersheds in Southern Patagonia (41–56° S)

Defining Priority Land Covers that Secure the Livelihoods of Urban and Rural People in Ethiopia: a Case Study Based on Citizens’ Preferences

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