Stretching across roughly 460 million hectares (Mha) as of 2018, forests that are highly significant for biodiversity are disproportionately important for supporting forest-dependent species. Designation of these areas of high significance for forests accounts for both species richness and endemism across forests globally, and is complementary to key biodiversity areas, which also include important areas for geographically restricted species. Key biodiversity areas, however, determine important sites for biodiversity according to a broader range of criteria, including ecological integrity, threat status, or irreplaceability.
Loss of forest habitat in areas with high significance for biodiversity, specifically, may have outsized impacts on the species that inhabit these areas, but tree cover loss in these areas continues to occur. In 2022, for example, the world lost 2.2 Mha of tree cover in areas of high significance for forest biodiversity, with over a quarter of these losses concentrated in Brazil, Indonesia, and Madagascar.
Stretching across roughly 460 million hectares (Mha) as of 2018, forests that are highly significant for biodiversity are disproportionately important for supporting forest-dependent species. Designation of these areas of high significance for forests accounts for both species richness and endemism across forests globally, and is complementary to key biodiversity areas, which also include important areas for geographically restricted species. Key biodiversity areas, however, determine important sites for biodiversity according to a broader range of criteria, including ecological integrity, threat status, or irreplaceability.
Loss of forest habitat in areas with high significance for biodiversity, specifically, may have outsized impacts on the species that inhabit these areas, but tree cover loss in these areas continues to occur. In 2022, for example, the world lost 2.2 Mha of tree cover in areas of high significance for forest biodiversity, with over a quarter of these losses concentrated in Brazil, Indonesia, and Madagascar.