Forests are disappearing at an alarming rate the world-over, says a recent study
a recent report released by the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development ( wcfsd ) says that about 12.5 per cent of the world's 270,000 species of plants and about 75 per cent of the world's mammals are threatened by the decline in forest cover. The threat will be particularly severe in the tropical zone where the diversity in plants and animals is greater than anywhere else, says the report titled Our forests, our future (see p60: Forests: lost in the wild).
The decreasing forest cover will affect around 350 million people around the world who depend entirely on forests for their subsistence. A further one billion deprived people -- around 20 per cent of the world's population -- depend on remnant woodlands, on homestead tree gardens and the agro-forestry system for their essential fuel wood, food and fodder needs.
About 60 million people worldwide have set up their homes in forests. In India, some 275 million landless people and small farmers benefit from the resources they gather from forests adjacent to their settlements.
According to the report, small countries dominate the world's remaining forested area today. Besides those in China and Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States ( cis ) has the largest forested area. It comprises more than 70 per cent of the world's remaining boreal forests which are located in Siberia and Russia. Illegal felling of these trees are encouraged by ineffectual government policies.
Europe is going through a cycle of deforestation and reforestation. In 1995, about 40 per cent of the forested area was manually planted with virtually no primary forests remaining. A study by the European Commission ( ec ) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe ( un-ece ) suggests that direct causes for decline in forest quality in Europe are drought, heat and pests. Air pollution from industrial sources and from other chronic disturbances is identified as indirect causes of forest decline. The ec-un/ece study says that half of Europe's forests are damaged.
North America has about 13 per cent (457 million hectares) of the world's forest cover which stretches across 75 per cent of the potentially forested area. Forests here are facing new challenges. The Indian sub-continent, Australia and the island chain of the south-western Pacific collectively have great land area, but are severely impoverished of forests. Together they contain about 16 per cent (568 million hectares) of the world's residual forests. Between 1990 and 1995, Asia and Oceania suffered high rates of deforestation averaging 1.1 per cent per year and concentrated in tropical areas.
During the 1980s, Thailand lost over 5 million hectares of forest equivalent to almost one-third of its natural forests. During the same time, Indonesia lost about 12 million hectares or 10 per cent of its natural forests.
In 1995, African forests accounted for about 15 per cent of the world's total forest area. About 50 per cent of the region's potential forest cover had been lost and primary forests cover only 8 per cent of the forest area. Between 1980-95, Africa witnessed about 10.5 per cent decrease in forest area.
Despite the tremendous loss in natural resources the report projected a certain amount of optimism for improvement. Since 1980 there has been an increase -- although a nominal 0.1 per cent -- in forest cover in developed countries mainly due to tree plantations. Between 1980-1995, forest plantations increased from approximately 45-60 million hectares to about 80-100 million hectares.
The study suggests that at this juncture a change in direction is still economically and politically possible. However, if there is any further delay in taking concrete action, the greater will be the cost. The report also calls for radical reforms in policies, a new political agenda, greater civil society and more science in policy.
The report cites many reasons for deforestation. "Timber concession terms, which under-price wood, encourage waste and condone corrupt forestry practices. Subsidies that give rise to destructive forestry and allow forest land to be converted for other purposes." Construction of roads into forest areas is another reason for forests disappearing.
The report has emphasised the importance of managing degraded forests. It has praised the Joint Forest Management ( jfm ) schemes as a highly influential force in restoring India's degraded forests.
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