Protected And Intact Forests Endure Rapid Loss Around The World

Large portions of the world's protected and intact forests have been lost at high rates over the past 12 years, according to researchers from Aalto University in Finland.

The researchers found that about 3 percent of the protected forests, 2.5 percent of the intact forests, and 1.5 percent of the protected intact forests in the world were lost between 2000-2012. The rates of lost forests are relatively high compared to the total global forest loss, 5 percent, the researchers revealed in a news release.

Expansion and development of agricultural land is one of the main processes causing forest loss. In Australia and Oceania, along with North America, protected forest loss has exceeded 5 percent, while in parts of Europe, Central Asia and Africa the rates were even higher in protected areas, the study revealed.

"Forests maintain ecological diversity, regulate climate, store carbon, protect soil and water and provide resources and livelihoods for the world's population," Timo Räsänen, a Postdoc Researcher at Aalto University. "It is alarming that official protection in many places does not actually protect the forests."

Nonetheless, there were improvements in the tropics, the rate of forest loss in the Amazon has declined over recent years, according to Matias Heino, researcher at Aalto University.

The study was conducted using recent global forest cover change data along with global spatial datasets on protected areas and intact forest landscape, according to the researchers. 

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