The world's last remaining "pristine" forest – the boreal
forest across large stretches of Russia, Canada and other northern
countries – is under increasing threat, a team of
international researchers has found.
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%.
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