Acting now to stop the loss of primary forests: Countering the biodiversity and climate crises

Irreplaceable and chronically undervalued primary forests, including intact forest landscapes, are intrinsic to terrestrial biodiversity, store vast stocks of carbon to mitigate climate change, build resilience enhancing adaptation responses and provide unparalleled ecosystem services on which human society depends– yet international policy does not reflect this important distinction. IUCN's constituencies, including a diverse task team created under WCC-2016-Res-045-EN will make the case for elevating the status of these unique forests, coalescing around a new policy with transformative global implications for how we treat primary forests. The speakers will demonstrate pathways for ambitious actions to stop fragmentation, damage and loss of primary forests – leading to how we can better acknowledge, distinguish, and safeguard the terrestrial world’s most precious guardians of life.