WHY ARE THESE FORESTS IMPORTANT?
Forest cover in small Island Developing states (sIDs)12 represents less than 1 percent of the world’s forest area, insignificant in global terms. However in many sIDs, forests and trees play a more crucial role in social and economic development than in many larger countries. many island habitats also have global significance for conservation of biological diversity and particular endemic species.
Forest management is important in sIDs because of the vital role of forest in soil and water protection and disaster risk resilience. In addition, coastal forests and mangrove forests are important for marine habitat and for protection from coastal erosion.
WHAT HAS CHANGED AND WHY?
small Island Developing states have some of the world`s highest forest cover in percentage of land area covered by forest. In fact, six of the top ten countries in proportion of forest to land area are sIDs. over 25 years the total forest area in sIDs has increased from 80.8 million ha to 82 million ha in 2015.
the five largest forest area countries represent more than 86 percent of the total forest area of sIDs while the 38 smallest countries in terms of forest area represent only 1.6 percent of the forest area (table 11). While forest area in sIDs countries with the least forest increased from 1990 to 2010, the rate of increase has declined from +11,000 ha in the 1990s to +2 800 in the 2000s. this
12 American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Cook
Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, French Polynesia, Grenada, Guam, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kiribati, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia (Fed. States of), Montserrat, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, United States Virgin Islands, Vanuatu.
FIGure 35 Annual change in forest area by forest area categories
table 11 Small Island Developing States forest area by forest area size class (2015) Country forest area class Number of countries Forest area
(million ha) % of SIDS forest area
large (>2 million ha) 5 70.8 86
medium (200 000 to 2 million ha) 11 9.9 12
small(<200 000 ha) 38 1.3 2
Total 54 82.0
FIGure 34 Annual change in forest area by income categories
changed to a forest area loss of 1 000 ha per year from 2010 to 2015.
the forest area increased in sIDs with large forest areas and in the high- and upper middle-income categories, while lower middle- and low-income category countries (Figure 34) and small forest area countries (Figure 35) showed decreases in forest area.
thanks to a wide variety of plant species providing habitats for a wealth of animal species, mangrove ecosystems are not only rich in biodiversity but they also serve as protection areas from natural disasters such as cyclones, erosion from sea level rise and tsunamis.
they also provide landscapes that are highly valued for residential and tourism uses. Globally there are almost 15 million ha of mangroves of which about 15 percent (2.2 million ha) are found in sIDs.
WHAT IS THE FUTURE OUTLOOK?
Forests in small Island Developing states will remain important for biodiversity and socioeconomic values. Forest area change is difficult to predict given the volatility in change rates, but it is unlikely that large changes in area will occur in the near future. the only exception appears to be in the small sIDs where forest area is decreasing; this is an important issue given the loss rates in these countries over the past 25 years.
1990-2000 2000-2005 2010-2015 000 ha/year 0.0 5.0 -5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0
Large Medium Small
2005-2010 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 High Upper
middle middle Lower Low
1990-2000 2000-2005
2010-2015 2005-2010
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
understanding past forest resource change tells us what presently exists and where change has been important. It does not necessarily tell us what to expect in the future. Human populations, demand for food and forest products, less suitable soils for cultivation and greater access to forested land – all these factors have implications for future forest area. this is true for both conservation and production forest.
WHAT DO WE EXPECT WILL CHANGE?
changes in forest area differ dramatically by region. Figure 36 shows forest area by region as calculated from Fra data for the period 1990-2010 (solid line); projected from the Global Forest resources model (GFrm) towards 2050 (dotted line); and extrapolated
from the country specific aspiration for 2030 as reported in Fra 2015 (large dots). south america has the largest proportion of projected forest loss, followed by africa. Forest in all other regions is projected to increase. note that the divergence for asia and africa is strongly influenced by the low representation of reporting countries and changing trends expected from certain countries within these regions.
south america and north america have the largest areas designated for protection and small projected loss in protected areas. africa and asia are projected to suffer the highest portion of protected areas loss (–0.7 percent and –0.9 percent). subregions with little or no projected loss in areas such as northern africa, east asia and Western and central asia have very small protected areas.