Development has affected 7 percent of virgin forests since 2000: Study
On the surface, it鈥檚 just a vast expanse of land. But look closer, and the untouched areas of Canada鈥檚 boreal forest are a teeming mass of life 鈥撀爋ne that may hold some life-sustaining answers.
Yet in Canada and worldwide, untouched wilderness is coming under increased pressure, according to research published Friday in the journal Science Advances. The study鈥檚 authors, who have been using satellite data to track changes in the world鈥檚 intact landscapes for more than a decade, report that since 2000.
As these landscapes disappear or are sliced up by human activity, the multiplicity of species that inhabit these pristine corners of the earth are threatened. Not only are these species critical to understanding life on earth, but they may also hold hints for sustaining a growing global population. In addition, soils and forests act as a bulwark against the effects of climate change.
鈥淎s we lose [pristine areas], we lose ,鈥� explained forest expert and study co-author Lars Laestadius to the Washington Post.
The authors define an intact forest landscape as a piece of land greater than 500 square kilometers (200 square miles) that has not been touched by human activity, from human-caused wildfires to pipeline construction. These areas can include ecosystems from deserts to wetlands.
What鈥檚 driving their decline? With human societies covering an ever-increasing portion of the globe, it鈥檚 simply easier to access these once-remote areas, Dr. Laestadius suggested to the Post. NASA鈥檚 Earth Observatory indicates that 鈥撀爄ncluding building railways and expanding agriculture 鈥撀爃ave also caused significant deforestation.
When human activity encroaches, it can have a devastating impact on biodiversity. Some species only exist in tiny areas of an ecosystem, notes NASA鈥檚 Earth Observatory, meaning that they can be wiped out altogether. And activities such as clear-cutting trees can fundamentally change the types of wildlife that spring up.
With the loss of these species and their habitats comes a corresponding loss in scientific understanding, observed Laestadius.
鈥淎s we lose [them], it becomes more difficult for us to understand what is happening in those parts of the world that are already subject to human influence,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e sort of lose the benchmark of Mother Nature.鈥�
Forests鈥� biodiversity could hold the clues for all kinds of questions facing life on earth, including feeding a growing population, suggests NASA鈥檚 Earth Observatory:聽鈥淗idden in the genes of plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria that have not even been discovered yet may be 鈥� the key to improving the yield and nutritional quality of foods.鈥�
Old-growth forests may also have an important role to play in combating climate change. All trees and soils . A 2008 study in the journal Nature indicated that old forests were particularly successful as carbon sinks, with those in the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Russia taking in . As these forests are cut down or burned, that stored carbon is released.
At current rates, 19 countries will lose all their intact forests within 60 years, the authors of the new study write 鈥撀燼nd in four countries, they will be gone within 20 years. With all of the benefits at stake, how can the decline in intact forests be slowed?聽
Sebastiaan Luyssaert, author of the 2008 study, told Scientific American that more emphasis needs to be placed on protecting existing forests, rather than seeing them as a resource that can be restored.
"Any kind of existing program that gives credit to reforestation ," he suggested. Instead of replanting trees, in other words, use the funds to maintain old forests.
Formal forest protection is another answer. The authors of the Science Advances study found that protected areas were three-and-a-half times less likely to be compromised. But only about a tenth of the remaining untouched areas are protected, they say, highlighting a need for 鈥渃arbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation efforts that target the most valuable remaining forests.鈥�
