Dear members of the FRA Forum,
Thank you to those that have already posted their feedback in the early stages of the consultation process. The contributions so far have provided valuable insights into the different methods used to measure primary forest cover (e.g. Landsat and aerial imagery; calculating tree densities and tree species cover; excluding areas around human impact areas) as well as methodological changes required to improve reporting (e.g. Harmonizing datasets and reporting rules; ensuring all forest areas are initially assessed). The current definition of primary forest generally appears to be well accepted by those who have contributed feedback, although issues around non-native forests being defined as primary forest is seen as an important consideration.
Also, the comments about the draft background paper have been very useful. The need for clarification about on ground forest condition assessment, primary forest detection methods and increasing the papers readability have been suggested.
Many thanks to those who have contributed so far. We welcome further inputs and reactions, as well as encouraging future contributors to refer as much as possible to the four guiding questions in the topic note.
Kind regards,
Patrick Norman
Griffith University
先生 Patrick Norman