and for the conservation of biodiversity is one of the primary
mechanisms currently used to help meet biodiversity targets outlined
in such strategic programs as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Similarly, tracking primary forest area is one method of capturing
change in forests that are assumed to be particularly important
ecologically. The global FRA serves as a unique instrument for
tracking changes in areas that countries self-report as primary forest,
protected forest, or forests set aside for the conservation of
biodiversity.
Our study showed a loss of 128 M ha of total global forest area
from 1990 to 2015, with the majority of that occurring in the tropics.
Both FRA and Hansen et al. (2013) show that global forest loss
is highest in the tropical domain, an area with high biological biodiversity
and increasing concern over forest protection. Global forest
area change and further comparisons with other datasets is
further explored in this special issue by