title: Moving beyond the concept of "primary forest" as a metric of forest environment quality.
abstract: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been reporting country-level area in primary forests in its Global Forest Resource Assessment since 2005. The FAO definition of a primary forest (naturally regenerated forest of native species where there are no clearly visible indications of human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed) is generally accepted as authoritative and is being used in policy making. However, problems with this definition undermine our capacity to obtain globally coherent estimates. In addition, the current reporting on primary forests fails to consider the complementarily of non-primary forests toward the maintenance of ecosystem services. These issues undermine the appropriate tracking of changes in primary and non-primary forests, and the assessment of impacts of such changes on ecosystem services. We present the case for an operational reconsideration of the primary forest concept and discuss how alternatives or supplements might be developed.
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, PO Box 10380 Stn. Ste-Foy, Quebec, QC, G1V 4C7, Canada.
authors.forename: P Y
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8113-0496
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Bernier
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, PO Box 10380 Stn. Ste-Foy, Quebec, QC, G1V 4C7, Canada.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Paré
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, BC, V8Z 1M5, Canada.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stinson
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 580 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0E4, Canada.
authors.forename: S R J
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Bridge
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 580 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0E4, Canada.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Kishchuk
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 55 St. Clair Avenue East, Toronto, ON, M4T 1M2, Canada.
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Lemprière
authors.affiliation: Department of Wood and and Forest Sciences, Laval University, 2405 Rue de la Terrasse, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thiffault
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, BC, V8Z 1M5, Canada.
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Titus
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 580 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0E4, Canada.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vasbinder
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D065928:Forests; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: environmental indicator; forest inventory; forest naturalness; intact forest; protected areas; remote sensing; spatial integrity; sustainable forest management