Forest Landscape Integrity Index

The Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII) is an annual global index of forest condition measured by degree of anthropogenic modification.[1][2][3][4][5] Created by a team of 48 scientists, the FLII, in its measurement of 300m pixels of forest across the globe, finds that ~17.4 million km2 of forest has high landscape-level integrity (with a score from 9.6–10), compared to ~14.6 million with medium integrity (6–9.6) and ~12.2 million km2 with low integrity (0–6).

Forest Landscape Integrity Index 2019 map of the Earth. 0 = Most modification; 10= Least.

The FLII finds that most remaining high-integrity forest landscapes are found in Canada, Russia, the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, the Amazon, the Guianas, southern Chile, Central Africa, and New Guinea. Low integrity forests, on the other hand, are found in Western and Central Europe, the American Southeast, South-East Asia, west of New Guinea, the Andes, much of China and India, the Albertine Rift, West Africa, Mesoamerica, and the Atlantic Forests of Brazil.

The results are meant to help decision-makers at all levels achieve their commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).[1]

Forest Integrity

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An ecosystem is considered to have integrity when its structure, composition, and ecological processes are within their natural range.[6]

Country rankings

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172 countries have been ranked: [7]

Forest Landscape Integrity 2019
Country Mean FLII Low integrity (km2) Medium integrity (km2) High integrity (km2) Total forest area (km2) Map
  Seychelles 10 0 0 68 68
 
  Sudan 9.8 1 72 495 569
 
  Guyana 9.58 4,162 40,817 147,413 192,391
 
  South Sudan 9.45 5,083 59,389 146,218 210,691
 
  Suriname 9.39 6,796 25,031 107,954 139,781
 
  Mongolia 9.36 520 11,915 27,407 39,841
 
  Central African Republic 9.28 30,161 139,350 379,097 548,608
 
  Botswana 9.13 13 187 372 572
 
  Gabon 9.07 11,780 118,348 120,852 250,979
 
  Russia 9.02 739,484 2,245,281 5,137,079 8,121,843
 
  Canada 8.99 480,206 1,027,386 2,968,268 4,475,860
 
  Congo 8.89 24,512 124,215 158,184 306,911
 
  Kyrgyzstan 8.86 329 2,819 2,761 5,909
 
  Peru 8.86 85,793 190,547 509,720 786,061
 
  Afghanistan 8.85 90 1,475 977 2,542
 
  Bhutan 8.85 1,620 16,769 10,140 28,529
 
  Papua New Guinea 8.84 37,294 183,415 216,355 437,064
 
  Vanuatu 8.82 734 5,322 4,448 10,504
 
  Venezuela 8.78 64,650 170,792 351,112 586,554
 
  Tajikistan 8.65 34 137 130 301
 
  Bolivia 8.47 78,745 280,532 272,007 631,284
 
  Namibia 8.43 5 13 17 36
 
  Angola 8.35 105,487 284,054 315,895 705,436
 
  Fiji 8.35 1,753 10,802 3,594 16,148
 
  Colombia 8.26 150,737 272,442 428,320 851,499
 
  Kazakhstan 8.23 6,068 18,926 15,294 40,288
 
  Palau 8.09 45 333 9 387
 
  North Korea 8.02 8,374 40,156 8,410 56,939
 
  Cameroon 8 66,191 181,336 119,263 366,789
 
  Equatorial Guinea 7.99 3,982 17,595 5,007 26,585
 
  Georgia 7.79 6,982 17,803 9,784 34,570
 
  Brunei Darussalam 7.71 1,102 2,842 1,498 5,442
 
  Comoros 7.69 284 1,149 82 1,515
 
  Iran 7.67 3,361 12,930 2,162 18,453
 
  Ecuador 7.66 48,822 77,585 73,492 199,900
 
  DRC 7.56 533,118 935,508 727,983 2,196,608
 
  Micronesia 7.55 8 35 0 43
 
  Brazil 7.52 1,374,902 1,354,961 2,338,101 5,067,963
 
  Zambia 7.5 96,969 164,376 110,822 372,167
 
  North Macedonia 7.42 2,034 7,090 459 9,583
 
  Pakistan 7.42 2,090 7,859 1,139 11,088
 
  Lesotho 7.4 1 4 0 5
 
  Chile 7.37 56,849 41,971 93,537 192,357
 
  Bahamas 7.35 741 1,935 399 3,075
 
    Nepal 7.23 13,785 41,992 3,760 59,538
 
  Australia 7.22 117,672 239,624 103,852 461,148
 
  Argentina 7.21 98,249 189,966 72,557 360,772
 
  Solomon Islands 7.19 6,871 15,310 3,149 25,329
 
  Myanmar 7.18 129,745 220,188 96,924 446,857
 
  Ethiopia 7.16 52,652 84,430 44,397 181,479
 
  Mali 7.16 451 996 140 1,586
 
  Somalia 7.16 347 1,384 46 1,777
 
  China 7.14 533,800 974,431 301,051 1,809,282
 
  Tanzania 7.13 123,997 159,712 122,812 406,521
 
  New Zealand 7.12 34,503 44,155 35,334 113,992
 
  Senegal 7.11 847 2,456 162 3,465
 
  Timor-Leste 7.11 1,783 7,008 47 8,838
 
  India 7.09 117,992 254,792 54,428 427,211
 
  Cyprus 7.06 388 1,026 18 1,432
 
  Norway 6.98 39,343 67,383 16,627 123,352
 
  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6.95 91 221 0 312
 
  Mozambique 6.93 150,665 189,362 115,379 455,406
 
  Mexico 6.82 193,908 280,445 121,842 596,195
 
  Albania 6.77 2,426 5,256 122 7,805
 
  Uzbekistan 6.77 214 227 199 640
 
  Morocco 6.74 2,260 4,076 451 6,787
 
  United States 6.65 1,328,079 1,144,693 658,645 3,131,417
 
  Sao Tome and Principe 6.64 31 140 0 171
 
  Trinidad and Tobago 6.62 1,478 2,176 418 4,072
 
  Greece 6.6 14,548 27,833 1,078 43,459
 
  Indonesia 6.6 535,370 509,018 431,973 1,476,361
 
  Azerbaijan 6.55 4,820 7,189 1,534 13,543
 
  Montenegro 6.41 2,949 4,778 82 7,809
 
  Paraguay 6.39 78,538 102,626 29,877 211,041
 
  Turkey 6.39 43,043 68,243 3,516 114,801
 
  Taiwan 6.38 8,786 14,547 1,453 24,786
 
  Cabo Verde 6.37 27 38 0 65
 
  Panama 6.37 25,420 21,310 14,605 61,336
 
  Cambodia 6.31 30,143 31,939 16,349 78,431
 
  Turkmenistan 6.31 5 33 0 37
 
  Zimbabwe 6.31 9,450 14,417 1,644 25,511
 
  Nigeria 6.2 64,621 65,355 24,307 154,283
 
  Chad 6.18 5,261 6,016 1,910 13,187
 
  Saint Lucia 6.17 235 316 0 551
 
  Belize 6.15 7,004 7,957 2,744 17,705
 
  Bulgaria 6.09 18,884 26,325 847 46,057
 
  South Korea 6.02 25,060 32,009 888 57,956
 
  Thailand 6 86,276 89,326 33,612 209,214
 
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 5.99 13,387 17,031 574 30,993
 
  Romania 5.95 38,395 48,394 607 87,395
 
  Philippines 5.91 91,820 100,831 8,393 201,044
 
  Togo 5.88 5,064 4,522 1,076 10,662
 
  Benin 5.86 4,724 3,698 1,769 10,191
 
  Sri Lanka 5.83 20,.541 22,390 1,613 44,544
 
  Japan 5.8 135,783 133,480 16,005 285,268
 
  Malawi 5.74 12,514 12,167 2,396 27,078
 
  Guinea-Bissau 5.7 9,274 8,702 855 18,831
 
  Laos 5.59 92,986 80,564 19,252 192,801
 
  Armenia 5.46 1,894 1,681 3 3,577
 
  Mauritius 5.46 567 478 0 1,045
 
  Bangladesh 5.45 10,013 7,251 1,947 19,211
 
  Cuba 5.4 22,605 18,460 1,632 42,697
 
  Sweden 5.35 174,415 109,779 23,494 307,687
 
  Vietnam 5.35 82,551 75,353 9,588 167,492
 
  Serbia 5.29 17,513 14,112 516 32,141
 
  Algeria 5.22 7,418 6,044 81 13,543
 
  Kosovo 5.19 2,628 1,775 47 4,450
 
  Tunisia 5.14 1,354 987 0 2,340
 
  Finland 5.08 144,310 83,572 9,294 237,176
 
  Jamaica 5.01 5,362 3,249 158 8,770
 
  Malaysia 5.01 130,825 91,957 21,499 244,281
 
  South Africa 4.94 45,489 34,968 3,196 83,653
 
  Croatia 4.92 15,732 10,522 379 26,633
 
  Guinea 4.9 81,702 54,877 2,895 139,475
 
  Libya 4.85 15 2 0 17
 
  Liberia 4.79 51,975 31,162 11,025 94,163
 
  Antigua and Barbuda 4.72 114 92 0 206
 
  Costa Rica 4.65 27,164 12,838 4,164 44,167
 
  Madagascar 4.63 120,340 66,584 11,922 198,846
 
  Gambia 4.56 181 85 0 266
 
  Saint Kitts and Nevis 4.55 95 50 0 145
 
  Ghana 4.53 57,519 28,901 2,160 88,580
 
  France 4.52 161,987 49,496 74,121 285,604
 
  Burundi 4.5 6,882 3,841 46 10,769
 
  Liechtenstein 4.5 59 42 0 101
 
  Honduras 4.48 57,899 23,802 3,692 85,392
 
  Andorra 4.45 170 49 0 219
 
  Uganda 4.36 77,303 36,381 7,507 121,190
 
  Slovakia 4.34 17,615 8,165 0 25,781
 
  Spain 4.23 82,770 46,013 133 128,916
 
  Grenada 4.22 221 86 0 308
 
  Eswatini 4.21 5,054 2,501 14 7,569
 
  Kenya 4.2 28,427 13,558 4,702 46,686
 
  Dominican Republic 4.19 19,890 9,364 518 29,772
 
  Israel 4.14 170 85 0 255
 
  El Salvador 4.05 8,837 2,947 0 11,784
 
  Haiti 4.01 7,116 2,831 12 9,959
 
  Guatemala 3.85 58,572 18,764 5,592 82,928
 
  Rwanda 3.85 5,665 2,170 619 8,454
 
  Slovenia 3.78 11,065 3,791 0 14,856
 
  Lebanon 3.76 541 115 0 656
 
  Italy 3.65 79,403 26,858 25 106,286
 
  Cote d'Ivoire 3.64 158,010 41,005 7,288 206,303
 
  Syria 3.64 841 282 0 1,123
 
  Belarus 3.63 77,870 20,847 91 98,808
 
  Nicaragua 3.63 65,356 17,646 4,858 87,860
 
  Uruguay 3.61 11,793 3,998 0 15,791
 
  Iraq 3.59 104 9 0 113
 
  Austria 3.55 36,666 12,422 21 49,109
 
   Switzerland 3.53 13,636 4,412 10 18,058
 
  Ukraine 3.3 89,540 20,183 176 109,900
 
  Estonia 3.05 24,473 4,832 52 29,358
 
  Jordan 2.79 12 0 0 12
 
  Sierra Leone 2.76 52,512 11,858 640 65,010
 
  Germany 2.28 122,168 11,307 0 133,475
 
  Hungary 2.25 18,729 2,047 0 20,776
 
  Poland 2.24 101,886 7,103 0 108,989
 
  Moldova 2.2 3,113 202 0 3,315
 
  Latvia 2.09 38,164 2,137 0 40,301
 
  Czechia 1.71 32,161 1,611 0 33,772
 
  United Kingdom 1.65 29,149 2,917 35 32,101
 
  Lithuania 1.62 24,554 930 0 25,484
 
  Belgium 1.36 8,803 297 0 9,099
 
  Luxembourg 1.12 1,170 0 0 1,170
 
  Singapore 1.11 170 2 0 172
 
  Dominica 1.06 531 2 0 533
 
  Ireland 0.92 5,283 96 0 5,378
 
  Portugal 0.82 25,966 553 0 26,519
 
  Netherlands 0.6 5,250 72 0 5,322
 
  Egypt 0.56 4,772 218 69 5,059
 
  Denmark 0.5 5,756 31 0 5,787
 
  San Marino 0.01 7 0 0 7
 
  Countries with high mean FLII (8-10)
  Countries with medium mean FLII (5-7.99)
  Countries with low mean FLII (0-4.99)

Background

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The index was authored by a global team of forest conservation experts, including:[1]

Institution Author(s)
Wildlife Conservation Society, The Bronx H.S. Grantham; A. Duncan; T. D. Evans; K. R. Jones; J. Walston; J. G. Robinson; M. Callow; T. Clements; H. M. Costa; A. DeGemmis; P. R. Elsen; P. Franco; S. Jupiter; A. Kang; S. Lieberman; M. Linkie; M. Mendez; C. Samper; J. Silverman; T. Stevens; E. Stokes; T. Tear; R. Tizard; S. Wang; J. E. M. Watson
University of Queensland, Brisbane H. L. Beyer; S. Maxwell; H. Possingham; J. E. M. Watson
Carleton University, Ottawa R. Schuster
Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, Toronto J. C. Ray
United Nations Development Program, Manhattan J. Ervin
World Resources Institute, Washington, DC E. Goldman; R. Taylor
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff S. Goetz; P. Jantz
Montana State University, Bozeman A. Hansen
Rainforest Foundation Norway, Oslo E. Hofsvang
Global Wildlife Conservation, Austin, Texas P. Langhammer; R. Mittermeier
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona P. Langhammer
James Cook University, Cairns W. F. Laurance; N. J. Murray
University of Oxford, Oxford Y. Malhi
The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia H. Possingham
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California S. Saatchi
World Wide Fund for Nature Germany, Berlin A. Shapiro
International Institute of Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro B. Strassburg
University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia O. Venter
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria P. Visconti

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Grantham, H. S.; Duncan, A.; Evans, T. D.; Jones, K. R.; Beyer, H. L.; Schuster, R.; Walston, J.; Ray, J. C.; Robinson, J. G.; Callow, M.; Clements, T.; Costa, H. M.; DeGemmis, A.; Elsen, P. R.; Ervin, J.; Franco, P.; Goldman, E.; Goetz, S.; Hansen, A.; Hofsvang, E.; Jantz, P.; Jupiter, S.; Kang, A.; Langhammer, P.; Laurance, W. F.; Lieberman, S.; Linkie, M.; Malhi, Y.; Maxwell, S.; Mendez, M.; Mittermeier, R.; Murray, N. J.; Possingham, H.; Radachowsky, J.; Saatchi, S.; Samper, C.; Silverman, J.; Shapiro, A.; Strassburg, B.; Stevens, T.; Stokes, E.; Taylor, R.; Tear, T.; Tizard, R.; Venter, O.; Visconti, P.; Wang, S.; Watson, J. E. M. (2020). "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 5978. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.5978G. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7723057. PMID 33293507.
  2. ^ Elcacho, Joaquim (2020-12-14). "Descubre con este mapa dónde están los mejores bosques de tu país y del mundo" [Discover with this map where are the best forests in your country and in the world]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  3. ^ "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity". Nature-based Solutions Initiative. University of Oxford. 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  4. ^ Попова, Марина (2020-12-09). "Прямое влияние человека обошло стороной 40 процентов современных лесов" [Direct human influence bypassed 40 percent of modern forests] (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  5. ^ "New Forest Landscape Integrity Index Reveals that Only 40 Percent of World's Forests Have High Integrity". WCS Newsroom. Wildlife Conservation Society. 2020-12-08. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  6. ^ Parrish, Jeffrey D.; Braun, David P.; Unnasch, Robert S. (2003). "Are We Conserving What We Say We Are? Measuring Ecological Integrity within Protected Areas". BioScience. 53 (9): 851. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2003)053[0851:AWCWWS]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0006-3568.
  7. ^ Grantham, H. S.; Duncan, A.; Evans, T. D.; Jones, K. R.; Beyer, H. L.; Schuster, R.; Walston, J.; Ray, J. C.; Robinson, J. G.; Callow, M.; Clements, T.; Costa, H. M.; DeGemmis, A.; Elsen, P. R.; Ervin, J.; Franco, P.; Goldman, E.; Goetz, S.; Hansen, A.; Hofsvang, E.; Jantz, P.; Jupiter, S.; Kang, A.; Langhammer, P.; Laurance, W. F.; Lieberman, S.; Linkie, M.; Malhi, Y.; Maxwell, S.; Mendez, M.; Mittermeier, R.; Murray, N. J.; Possingham, H.; Radachowsky, J.; Saatchi, S.; Samper, C.; Silverman, J.; Shapiro, A.; Strassburg, B.; Stevens, T.; Stokes, E.; Taylor, R.; Tear, T.; Tizard, R.; Venter, O.; Visconti, P.; Wang, S.; Watson, J. E. M. (2020). "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity - Supplementary Material". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 5978. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7723057. PMID 33293507.
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