1. Biomes Under Pressure Forests and woodlands Tropical forests Oceans
Coral reefs and mangroves

2. World Wood Consumption

3. Causes of Deforestation
Economic development
Human population growth

4. Frontier Forests 8,000 Years Ago
Global Forest Watch PowerPoint Slide #3: Frontier Forests 8,000 Years Ago
Here is a bit of history about Global Forest Watch.
In 1997, the World Resources Institute published The Last Frontier Forest, Ecosystems and Economies on the Edge. This publication documented for the first time how much forest originally covered the Earth, how much we have lost, and where natural intact tracks of forests – frontier forests – exist today.
Frontier Forest = “Old Growth” Forest, which never having been cut down and cleared by humans, they are in balance with natural disturbance events such as fire, winds, etc…

5. Frontier Forests Today
Global Forest Watch PowerPoint Slide #4: Frontier Forests Today
This study found that almost ½ of the Earth’s original forest cover is gone, and that only 1/5 of the original cover remains as frontier forests. – forests large enough to sustain large populations of indigenous species even when faced with natural disasters such as fire and storms.
Very few forests remain untouched by humans and our practices of large scale clearing for wood and agriculture lands.

6. North American Frontiers
Low or no threat
Medium or high threat
Non frontier forests
Unassessed for threat
Non-Frontier Forest are also called “Second Growth” Forests, meaning they have growth back at after at least one clearing.

8. Global Forest Watch PowerPoint Slide #6: Global Forest Watch Reports and Web site
Global Forest Watch was launched at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on February 29, This event featured representatives from Global Forest Watch chapters and included the release of our first three publications as well as our Web site, .

9. Cameroon in 1959 Man wants more farmland for livestock and crops.
Non-Forest
Unprotected Forest
Protected Forest
Logged or Logging
Global Forest Watch PowerPoint Slide #10 : Cameroon Logging Concessions in 1959
These forests have been opened up at a rapid pace. Here is a map showing logging concessions in Cameroon in 1959.
The logging concessions are shown in purple. The dark green indicates the location of protected areas. The light green shows forest area as of the early 1990s.

10. Cameroon in 1971 Non-Forest Unprotected Forest Protected Forest
Logged or Logging
Global Forest Watch PowerPoint Slide #11 : Cameroon Logging Concessions in 1971
Here is a map showing logging concessions in Cameroon in 1971.
You can see that there were many more concessions. In the lower left-hand corner (the south eastern part of the country), a logging concession had been allocated inside a protected area.

11. Cameroon in 1995 Non-Forest Unprotected Forest Protected Forest
Logged or Logging
Global Forest Watch PowerPoint Slide #12 : Cameroon Logging Concessions in 1995
By 1995, most of Cameroon’s forest area had been allocated as logging concessions. These concessions almost surround a protected area in the south central part of the country. A logging concession had also been allocated in a protected area in the southeastern corner.

12. Cameroon in 1999
Today, 80% of Cameroon’s Unprotected Forests are in Logging Areas or Concessions
Non-Forest
Unprotected Forest
Protected Forest
Logged or Logging
Global Forest Watch PowerPoint Slide #13 : Cameroon Logging Concessions in 1999
Here is the situation in 1999.
Today, more than 80 percent of unprotected forest has been, or is slated for logging. Much of this logging and other development has occurred within the past decade.
In Gabon, Global Forest Watch has documented similar trends. There, the logging concession area has doubled during the last five years.

13. Affects of Deforestation (Clear Cutting)
Loss of forests leads to:
Productivity
Nutrient recycling
Biodiversity
Soil erosion
Evapotranspiration
Air pollution
More or
Less

14. Sustainable Forest Management
Manage for sustainable outcomes
Responsible practices (teach others)
Protect the health of the forest
Recognize and protect unique forest ecosystems.
Continuous improvement (strive to be better forest managers; be adaptive)

15. New Forestry Practices
Cut trees less frequently
Leave wider buffer zones along waterways
Leave dead logs and debris
Protect broader landscapes
Build no new roads until damage to old ones is addressed
Added-value products (use of species other than wood/lumber species)

16. Loss of Tropical Rainforests – Why?
Colonization: consolidation of agricultural lands
Huge national debts
Fast food chains and cheap hamburger

17. Conserving Tropical Rainforests
Ecotourism
Extractive reserves & Value-added products
Management by indigenous people
Rubber, coffee & cocoa plantations
Sustainable logging
Carbon sequestration credits

18. Ocean Ecosystems
75% of the Earth’s
surface
An international
commons?

19. Global Fish Harvests 100 million metric tons of
Overfishing one species leads to shift to catch other less desirable species elsewhere.
100 million metric tons of
food on a sustained basis?

20. Fisheries Problems
Too many boats
High technology
Too few fish

21. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1976
Gave federal government authority to manage fisheries
Claimed the area between 3 and 200 miles off shore as the “Exclusive Economic Zone”
Designed to eliminate foreign fishing
Designed to restore and conserve fish

22. Impacts of Magnuson-Stevens Act
Swapped foreign with American exploiters
Huge conflict of interest among council members
Endangerment of 236 fish species

23. Fisheries in Distress
Georges Bank Cod Fishery Collapse: Regional management council versus NMFS, an example of regional politics over sound science in late 1970’s; 197 dramatic solutions = half-time, 2/3 area fished; buy-out program.

24. Sustainable Fisheries Act
The 1996 reauthorization of the Magnuson Act.
Mandates that fish stocks be rebuilt (reestablished)
Management plans and yields be based on sound scientific data
Steps be taken to minimize “by-catch”

25. Mangrove Forest: trees adapted to saltwater and flooded soils.

26. Mangroves Protects coasts from storm damage and erosion
Forms rich refuge and nursery for marine fish
Prevents sediments and excess nutrients getting to Coral Reefs
Shrimp farming and residential development are leading causes of clearing.

28. Coral Reefs as Resources for Man:
Important food sources for local people
Wave erosion control
Great diversity of marine vertebrates and invertebrates

29. Sources of Damage to Coral Reefs:
Climate Change
Warmer waters
(Coral Bleaching Hot Spots)
Sedimentation and Eutrophication
Coastal development
Shrimp aquaculture
Logging
Over-Fishing
Islander poverty
Northern Demand
Habitat Destruction/Alteration
“Loving it to death”
anchor and diver damage

30. Marine Sanctuaries
[Photo: Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve]

31. Belize Case Study About 70% Forest Remains
Second largest barrier reef in the world.
Tourism industry matches sugar Cane production as leading industry and revenue generator in Belize.
Approximately 45% of land area as park, reserves, or private land trusts.
Numerous marine sanctuaries!