Temperate and Boreal Forests Data from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre(WCMC)

To date, WCMC's forest mapping activities have centred on the
tropics. However, as the need for information on temperate and
boreal forests has increased, WCMC has also started to gather
spatial information on the forests of the temperate and boreal
zones.

Until recently, international concern has largely focused on
tropical forests. However, it has become increasingly clear that
temperate and boreal forests are subject to many of the same
problems. It was recognised at the UN Conference on Environment
and Development that there are difficulties facing the
sustainable management of all types of forests, not just
tropical.

WWF in a recent assessment of temperate forests, Forests in
Trouble, determined that temperate forests are experiencing a
loss in quality, even though forest quantity appears to be stable
or increasing in some countries. This loss in quality is due to
replacement of natural forests with mono-cultures, often of
exotic species, which have little conservation value. The
recently completed FAO/Economic Commission for Europe Forest
Resource Assessment (Temperate Zone) 1990 illustrates that the
area of forest in developed regions (Europe, North America,
Australia, Developed Asia and Oceania) remained more or less
unchanged over the decade 1980 to 1990. However, this apparent
stability of forest cover, is not true of all temperate and
boreal countries (US and former USSR) and does not reflect the
loss in quality. WCMC is collaborating with GRID-Europe to
assess existing sources of mapped data on European forests.

To build on these activities, WCMC is collaborating with
international and national organisations to improve the
availability of information on temperate and boreal forests.
Most countries have their own forest maps and classifications but
no accurate global baseline of temperate and boreal forests
exists. In addition, information for protected areas and other
managed areas is often not readily available. By bringing
together mapped information on forest extent, management and
condition, regional and global assessments can be carried out.
Once the information is in place, analyses such as evaluating the
protection of old growth forests, future monitoring of
deforestation and afforestation, or assessing the contribution
of these forests to the global carbon sink, can then be
undertaken.

Data holdings at WCMC for the temperate and boreal region are
currently incomplete. Through a range of projects WCMC aims to
improve on these dataholdings, make the information more widely
available to users, and to raise public awareness of the issues.
Projects include: compilation of an Atlas of Temperate and Boreal
forests, in collaboration with IUCN, WWF and others, and a Gap
Analysis of Forest Protected Areas in Europe, in collaboration
with WWF-International. WCMC is chairing a working group to
investigate information needs in preparation for the UNECE/FAO
Temperate and Boreal Forest Resource Assessment in the year 2000.

LANGUAGE:
English

STATISTICAL INFORMATION:

ACCESS AND DISTRIBUTION:

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provision of datasets, and through the provision of either standard or
customised reports. WCMC is committed to the principle of the free
exchange of data with other institutions and users. In so far as is
practical, it places its data in the public domain and encourages
their wide distribution. However, costs may be incurred in accessing
and distributing datasets, and where analysis and assessment provide
an added-value service. Such costs are passed on to the user.