The last frontier forests: ecosystems and economies on the edge. What is the status of the worlds remaining large natural forest ecosystems?

Research of the World Resources Institute (WRI) shows that almost half of the Earths original forest cover is gone much of it destroyed during the past 3 decades. Today only one-fifth of the worlds original forest cover remains in large tracts of relatively undisturbed forest known as the frontier forest. 40% of the Earth s forests qualify as frontier forest. However logging agricultural clearing and other human activity threaten 39% of the Earth s remaining frontier forest. Only 3% of the worlds frontier forest falls entirely within the temperate zone (regions characterized by moderate climate including much of the US and Europe. Today temperate forests are the most endangered frontier forests of all. Half of todays frontier forests lie in boreal regions within Canada Russia and Alaska. Frontier forests contribute a large portion of the ecological services that make the planet habitable and are home to many of the remaining indigenous people of the world. Indeed there are better ways to use manage and preserve forests. The reach of human ingenuity extends to the stewardship of trees but at the frontiers the destruction continues. This report describes the location and status of the frontier forests of the world. Working with several partners WRI developed a first map of frontier forest areas assembling in one place unprecedented location-specific information on current and future threats to forest integrity. Stewardship options for managing frontier forests are also discussed.