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THE WORLD’S TROPICAL, RAINFORESTS: 
HOW MUCH HAS GONE? HOW MUCH IS LEFT? 
L. Alan Eyre 
University of West Indies 
Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory 
P.O. Box 35, Discovery Bay, St. Ann 
Jamaica 
ISPRS Commission VII / Working Group 3 
ABSTRACT 
[n recent years many estimates have been made of the total extent of rainforest and of rates of 
deforestation. These estimates, along with the actual definition of rainforest as a biome, vary so widely 
that governments, journalist and even many scientists doubt their accuracy and basis in fact. This study, 
sponsored by the Fulbright and Rockefeller Foundations, attempts first to rationalize these widely 
varying estimates and assess their empirical bases. More constructively, using climatic parameters, it 
attempts to define those areas throughout the tropics where, in the absence of other land uses, rainforest 
would presently occur - i.e. areas with a climax tropical rainforest climate. Using national and 
international data bases, and remote sensing, areas estimates are presented of existing rainforests with 
some indication of where these are anthropogenically degraded, and the proportion of the rainforest 
climate area which these now occupy. Changes in rainforest area and condition from 1962 to 1992 are 
evaluated in detail. The population of the tropical rainforest areas of the world is quantified for both 1962 
and 1992. Finally, on the basis of these data, the future prospects for the rainforest climate areas of the 
world, and reasonably realistic scenarios for the future status of the tropical rainforest themselves are 
briefly discussed. 
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