Whose perspective counts? A critical look at definitions of terms used for natural and near-natural forests

Savilaakso, Sini; Lausberg, Nik; Waeber, Patrick O.; Hillgén, Oona; Isotalo, Anna; Kleinschroth, Fritz; Djenontin, Ida N.S.; Boul Lefeuvre, Nastasia; Garcia, Claude A.

doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2023.10.003

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Some 12 million km 2 of these forests consists of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs), defined as forests and natural treeless areas of at least 500 km 2 without remotely detectable signs of human activity, such as roads, settlements, or agriculture (Potapov et al, 2008). This definition and its emphasis on remote sensing does not totally exclude human use (Savilaakso et al, 2023). A significant proportion of the world's IFLs is concentrated in Russia, Canada, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility and effectiveness of global intact forest landscape protection through forest certification: the conservation burden of intact forest landscapes

Zwerts,

van der Linde,

Praamstra

et al. 2024

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) are defined as forested areas of at least 500 km2 that show no signs of remotely sensed human activity. They are considered to be of high conservation value due to their role in maintaining biodiversity and mitigating climate change. In 2014, the members of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), one of the major global certification schemes for responsible forest management, took a conservation stand by restricting logging in FSC-certified IFLs. However, this move raised concerns about the economic viability of FSC-certified logging in these areas. To address these challenges, in 2022, FSC proposed an integrated landscape approach, considering local conditions and stakeholders’ needs to balance IFL protection, economic sustainability, and community interests. Here, we leverage publicly available management unit (MU) data, to provide a global quantitative overview of IFLs designated for timber production. We use the concept of ‘conservation burden’ for the extent that MUs overlap with IFLs, representing the impact that IFL protection has on forest management operations if logging is disallowed. Our data indicates that currently FSC-certified MUs affect 0.6% of global IFLs. Too restrictive policies for logging in IFLs may discourage FSC-certification in global IFLs. Considering the environmental and social benefits of FSC certification, it warrants careful examination whether the benefits of protecting a limited subset of FSC-certified IFLs outweighs the cost of potentially reduced growth of the total FSC-certified area. Our data can provide a basis to facilitate stakeholder engagement for landscape-level IFL management.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%