🌱 What biodiversity is found in forests?
Healthy forests are hubs for biodiversity. They are considered to be “one of the most biologically rich terrestrial systems”. The biodiversity found in forests includes a “multitude of plants, animals and microorganisms that inhabit [the] forest areas”, as well as “their associated genetic diversity”.
🌱 How many species are found in forests?
Over two-thirds of the terrestrial species on Earth are found in “tropical, temperate and boreal forests”.[i] More specifically, it is estimated that our global forests contain 60 000 different tree species and are home to 80% of the amphibian species, 75% of the bird species, and 68% of the mammal species on Earth.[ii]
🌱 Are there differences in the biodiversity found in forests?
While there is a lot of diversity in untouched virgin forests, the situation is completely different in commercial forests. Forests used for commercial purposes are managed by humans to produce wood for fuel, paper, packaging material, furniture, and building materials. Such forests often consist of very few different tree species. This may sometimes be just one species over a large area, and sometimes the species planted are not native to the area. Often times, all the trees are planted and harvested at the same time. These commercial forests can absorb less climate-damaging CO2 than untouched virgin forests. In addition, these monocultures are vulnerable to calamities.[iii]
🌱 Why are fragmented forests a problem?
It is key to note that forests globally have become incredibly fragmented. Of the global forest area, 20% are “located in more than 34 million patches across the world”. The vast majority of these patches have a size that is smaller than 1000 hectares. The fragmentation of forests sadly also means that the forests’ genetic diversity is split up and cannot interact. In line with this, cooperation across sectors and countries is “needed to restore degraded and damaged forest ecosystems”.[iv]
This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Christine Nikander and Heidrun Kordholste-Nikander. The newsletter titled “How can businesses protect forests and their biodiversity?” was originally published in “The Just Transition Newsletter” by Palsa & Pulk.
[i] Convention on Biological Diversity: Forest Biodiversity. https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/cop/cop-09/media/cop9-press-kit-forest-en.pdf (21.08.2024)
[ii] UN Environment Programme: Earth’s biodiversity depends on the world’s forests. https://www.unep-wcmc.org/en/news/earths-biodiversity-depends-on-the-worlds-forests (21.08.2024)
[iii] Greenpeace: Urwald vs. Nutzwald. https://greenpeace.at/hintergrund/unterschied-urwald-nutzwald/ (24.04.2024)
[iv] UN Environment Programme: Earth’s biodiversity depends on the world’s forests. https://www.unep-wcmc.org/en/news/earths-biodiversity-depends-on-the-worlds-forests (21.08.2024)