making forest landscape restoration a force of change
DESCRIPTION
Forests once covered a much greater area than they do today. The map shows where forests could potentially grow today, based on global climate and soils data combined with WWF’s map of Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World.TRANSCRIPT
Original forest
A World of Opportunity
Forests once covered a much greater area than they do today. The map shows where forests could potentially grow today, based on global climate and soils data combined with WWF’s map of Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World.
Today’s forests cover just more than half of their potential extent. Large expanses of original forest have been lost—converted to produce food, timber and energy and to make space for settlement.
Current forest
A World of Opportunity
The loss of forests continues at a rapid rate. The map shows the location and extent of tropical deforestation for the years 2000–2005 according to satellite images (Hansen, et al., 2008).
Current forest Tropical deforestation 2000-2005
A World of Opportunity
Broad-scale restoration
Yesterday’s loss, however, can be tomorrow’s gain. Forest landscapes can recover and climate and other benefits will grow with the trees. The map shows the world from a forest landscape restoration perspective, based on an analysis by WRI and SDSU.
Irrigated croplands
Mosaic restoration Rainfed croplands
Tropical deforestation 2000-2005
A World of Opportunity
Forest landscape restoration potential(million hectares, excluding the boreal)
Higher probability Lower probability
Broad-scale Mosaic Irrigated croplands Rainfed croplands
Temperate 49 190 158 592
Humid Tropics 205 230 111 259
Dry Tropics 19 643 110 456
Total 272 1063 379 1306
More than a billion hectares, spread over many continents and countries, are likely to offer restoration opportunities.
