Earth in Peril

World Forests, 1997
Experts estimate that almost half of the forests that once covered Earth have disappeared, along with many indigenous plant and animal species. A large portion of this forest loss has occurred over the past 30 years through aggressive logging and agricultural clearing. On this map, frontier forests are defined as the last of the remaining original forest ecosystems that existed before human intervention began about 8,000 years ago. Modified forests, on the other hand, include areas of significant human intervention. The researchers who produced this map estimate that nearly 40 percent of the world's remaining forests are endangered.