forests for Life Campaign

WWF’s forests for Life Campaign has called for urgent action to protect the world’s forests habitats as it launched “Ancient Trees – Trees That Live For A Thousand Years” – a book by Edward Parker and Anna Lewington published by Collins and Brown. The book is the first pictorial, global survey of ancient trees (1000 years or older) for the general public.

Chris Elliott, Director of the Campaign said, “As a new century dawns, the world’s most ancient living species have already experienced many more millenniums than Man can imagine. Trees as old as Methuselah, and older, have been silent witnesses to all our great moments in history. However, the future of these trees looks bleak and if we don’t urgently address forest protection at an international level, these ancient giants could be lost in the next decade. This book could not be launched at a more pertinent moment in time.”

As the 21st Century approaches, the world’s forests are facing greater threats than ever before. Half the world’s forests have been destroyed in the last 100 years and there has been a rapid decline in forest quality in the temperate and boreal forests of Canada, Europe, Russia and the USA. Many of the world’s oldest trees are either endangered species or located within forest ecosystems which are under threat. The Campaign is pressing for at least 10% of all forest types to be protected by the end of the year 2000.

Information in the book includes:
+ Giant redwoods and their close ancestors have been on this earth for at least 200 million years and once formed massive forests across the northern hemisphere. Today, they are threatened species occurring only in isolated groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California
+ The El Tule tree in Mexico (Montezuma Cypress) is one of the world’s biggest trees with a bole measuring 119ft round (36.3m), or176ft (53.7m) including all the irregularities of its trunk. It is believed to be exceeded in size only by one or two individual baobab trees in Africa. Its estimated age is 2-4,000 years old
+ The Algerian cypress is perhaps the most threatened of all the ancient tree species. The last remaining stand of trees, some of which are more than 1000 years old, number only 150.
+ The alerce is sometimes referred to as the giant redwood of South America, and it is known to live for more than 3000 years. In the temperate rainforests of south central Chile, these colossal trees once formed extensive stands. These forests, however, have been massively exploited and although forests of young trees are regenerating, the giant ancient trees have been logged to virtual extinction. One of the few remaining giants now has its own guard!

Chris Elliott also announced the forests for Life Campaign’s new programme of action for the next 12 months including:
+ Increasing forest protection in Peru from 6.7% to 15% covering all its major forest types – the Rio Negro and Japura Moist forests; Andean Yungas; Southwestern Amazonian Moist forests; Tumbesian and North Inter-Andean Dry forests.
+ Establishing a trans-border network of protected areas linking up the most important belts of the Congo Basin forests – this region’s forests are one of the world’s richest ecosystems and home to more than half of Africa’s animal and plant species.
+ Hosting a major international conference in Thailand on the design and management of forest Protected Areas planned for May 2000.
+ Hosting a major international trade fair for FSC certified timber products in London planned for June 2000.
+ Arranging the first ever international certification conference in East Asia to push forward a sustainable timber industry in this key part of the world planned for September 2000.

“Our programme of work is ambitious but it is also achievable”, continued Elliott. “The significance of entering a new millennium should make all of us pause for thought. If forest destruction continues at its current rate, the apocalyptic vision of a world without forests could become a reality. That is why WWF is urging governments, consumers, and the timber industry to join the forests for Life Campaign in its overall goal to protect at least 10% of all the world’s forest types and dramatically improve the way we manage our forests in our quest for timber.”