"Knowing it is unlikely that all forests can be protected, it would be better to focus conservation priorities on target areas," said Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director. "The importance of healthy forests cannot be underestimated. They provide a variety of socio-economic and ecological goods and services. Forests also harbor some of the world's most precious and endangered wildlife (and) provide food and medicines for many local communities."

Despite the agreements and principles drawn up during the 1992 Earth Summit and the Convention on Biological Diversity, forests around the globe remain under threat from expanding populations and economic development.

Toepfer admits, "Short of a miraculous transformation in the attitude of people and Governments, the Earth's remaining closed-canopy forests... are destined to disappear in the coming decades."

Closed canopy forests are defined as forests with a canopy closure of more than 40%. This closure level is considered vital for a forest to carry out its ecological functions. Such forests are also the homes of some of the world's rarest species of animals, including the red panda of China and the gorillas of Congo.

Indeed, UNEP is working through its Great Ape Survival Project (GRASP) as an alternative way to help the world's closed forests. By establishing conservation projects in forests in Africa and Indonesia, UNEP will not only be helping to save the gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans; but will also be preserving precious forest at the same time.

While rapidly expanding populations have often been an excuse for expansion into forests, the UNEP report found that pressure from people on most of the remaining closed forests is low. China and India apart, approximately 88% of the world's remaining forests have low, if non-existent population densities.

"The low population densities... offer an excellent opportunity for conservation, if appropriate steps are taken now by the national governments and the international community," stated the 'Assessment of the Status of the World's Remaining Closed Forests (the UNEP report).

The report calls on governments of the 15 key countries to draft action plans detailing how they propose to conserve remaining forests. One important step would be to increase the amount of protected forest areas. Protected area percentages vary greatly between countries. Russia falls in last position with only 2% of forest land protected; whereas Venezuela leads with 63%.

UNEP recommends that wealthy countries invest in the protection of forests situated in poorer countries. Other recommendations will be published in the 'Strategy on Global Forest Assessment and Monitoring' report, soon to be published.

The 15 countries outlined by the report are Russia, Canada, Brazil, the United States, the Democratic Republic of Congo, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, India, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

UNEP hopes that the key countries will take note of their report, and will increase their efforts to save their closed forests--a vital resource not only for the countries where the forests are situated, but for the world in general.