Paper
Document
Download
Flag content
0

Modification of forests by people means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity

Authors
H.S. Grantham,A. Duncan
T. Evans,K. Jones,H. Beyer,R. Shuster,J. Walston,J. Ray,J. Robinson,M. Callow,T. Clements,H. Costa,A. DeGemmis,P. Elsen,J. Ervin,P. Franco,E. Goldman,S. Goetz,A. Hansen,E. Hofsvang,P. Jantz,S. Jupiter,A. Kang,P. Langhammer,W.F. Laurance,S. Lieberman,M. Linkie,Yadvinder Malhi,S. Maxwell,M. Mendez,R. Mittermeier,N. Murray,H. Possingham,J. Radachowsky,C. Samper,J. Silverman,A. Shapiro,B. Strassburg,T. Stevens,E. Stokes,R. Taylor,T. Tear,R. Tizard,O. Venter,P. Visconti,S. Wang,J.E.M. Watson,Hedley Grantham,Martín Mendez,Tim Tear,Tom Evans,Kendall Jones,Hawthorne Beyer,Richard Schuster,Joe Walston,Justina Ray,John Robinson,Mark Callow,Tom Clements,Hugo Costa,Alfred DeGemmis,Paul Elsen,Jamison Ervin,Peter Franco,Elizabeth Goldman,Scott Goetz,Andrew Hansen,Patrick Jantz,Stacy Jupiter,Aili Kang,Penny Langhammer,William Laurance,Susan Lieberman,Sean Maxwell,María Méndez-López,Russell Mittermeier,Nicholas Murray,Hugh Possingham,Jeremy Radachowsky,Jacob Silverman,Aurélie Shapiro,Bernardo Strassburg,Todd Stevens,Emma Stokes,Rick Taylor,Timothy Tear,Robert Tizard,Oscar Venter,Piero Visconti,Siyu Wang,Cristián Samper
+89 authors
,James Watson
Published
Mar 6, 2020
Show more
Save
TipTip
Document
Download
Flag content
0
TipTip
Save
Document
Download
Flag content

Abstract

Abstract Many global environmental agendas, including halting biodiversity loss, reversing land degradation, and limiting climate change, depend upon retaining forests with high ecological integrity, yet the scale and degree of forest modification remains poorly quantified and mapped. By integrating data on observed and inferred human pressures and an index of lost connectivity, we generate the first globally-consistent, continuous index of forest condition as determined by degree of anthropogenic modification. Globally, only 17.4 million km 2 of forest (40.5%) have high landscape level integrity (mostly found in Canada, Russia, the Amazon, Central Africa and New Guinea) and only 27% of this area is found in nationally-designated protected areas. Of the forest in protected areas, only 56% has high landscape level integrity. Ambitious policies that prioritize the retention of forest integrity, especially in the most intact areas, are now urgently needed alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and restoring the integrity of forests globally.

Paper PDF

This paper's license is marked as closed access or non-commercial and cannot be viewed on ResearchHub. Visit the paper's external site.