Clearance
of natural & semi-natural forested areas
LB-5
Loss
of Biodiversity
Pressure
1 Indicator
definition and unit of measurement
Rate
of loss of natural and semi-natural forested areas through clearance. Unit of
measurement is area or percentage of existing natural/semi-natural forest
cleared per year
..
2 Placement
in the framework
5EAP:
Chapter
4: Selected target sectors, section 4.4: Forestry.
Chapter
5: The themes and targets of the programme, section 5.3: Protection of nature
and bio-diversity.
Agenda
21:
Chapter
11: Combating deforestation, section 11.12 d) sets as an objective "to maintain
and increase the ecological, climatic, biological, sociocultural and economic
contributions of forest resources" (section 15.5. g).
Chapter
15: Conservation of biological diversity, calls for action “for the
conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats” (section 15.5 g).
International
conventions and agreements:
Habitats
Directive 92/43 (May 1992): Appendix I: Special Areas of Conservation:
including Forests.
Convention
on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 22nd June 1992).
Rio
Declaration on Forest Principles, 1992.
Ranking:
Core
ranking:
5
(38%)
Policy
Relevance:
1
(3.2)
Analytical
Soundness:
2
(3.4)
Responsiveness:
5
(2.9)
Most
appropriate related state indicators:
Extent
of natural and semi-natural forest & woodlands (ha) as a proportion of
total land area.
3 Significance
Purpose:
The
indicator represents the extent of loss of entire, contiguous forests and
woodlands as a result of clearcutting, defoliation (through air pollution/acid
rain) and fire (see Definitions section below). This will include conversion to
other uses (agriculture, transport networks) but not conversion to forest
plantations which are dealt with by a separate indicator (LB-9), nor forest
fragmentation (LB-4).
Relevance:
The
forests issue encompasses both biodiversity (habitats) conservation and the
wider international issues of forests and timber production. In addition, 40%
of the total forest area in Europe is suffering ill-health from acidification.
Linkages
to other pressure indicators:
LB-4:
Forest fragmentation; LB-9: Conversion to exotic monoculture; LB-6: Change in
traditional land use practice; LB-1: Protected areas loss and
damage/fragmentation.
In
Resource Depletion, RD-6: Timber balance.
In
Air Pollution, AP-3: SO2 emissions; AP-1: NO
x
emissions.
In
Climate Change, CC-5: NOx emissions; CC-6: SO
x
emissions.
Targets:
5EAP:
No further deterioration.
Convention
on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992): National forestry action plans.
4 Methodological
description and underlying definitions
Underlying
definitions and concepts:
Definitive
forest loss, or "clearance" can occur through direct cutting or defoliation and
fires. The direct cutting can, of course, occur for a number of reasons. When
this removes a substantial portion of existing natural or semi-natural forest,
the ecosystem is lost. Fragmentation (see LB-4) and degradation (see LB-9) of
forest biodiversity have different results for biological diversity, although
the reduction of overall area resulting from fragmentation and that resulting
from the loss of a proportion of existing forest may have similar effects.
Measurement
methods:
There
is currently considerable effort devoted to compiling national and
international databases on forest cover. Definitive forest loss is measured by
area (km
2)
compared to an appropriate historical baseline.
Limitations
of the indicator:
(i)
Need to take care to avoid double-counting with forest fragmentation and
conversion.
(ii)
Forest ecological quality, and hence biodiversity, will vary considerably -
there is a need for harmonisation of categories and systematic establishment of
forest health criteria (possibly through the use of plant bioindicators),
particularly in the face of increasing emphasis on the integration of multiple
objectives for forestry (there may come a point where a particular
natural/semi-natural forest
area
has remained static (or indeed increased) but biodiversity
per
se
decreases).
Alternative
definitions:
Number
of
sites
per forest type
per
size category per region or number of sites in approved forestry schemes (e.g.
no clearcutting).
