When is a forest not a forest?

Abstract

Numerous published and legitimate definitions of forest exist. Most can be grouped into three categories-those that describe administrative units, those that describe land cover, and those that mean a type of land use-and then there are some miscellaneous types. Definitions vary widely from country to country and even among US federal agencies, sometimes with legal and policy ramifications. Agreement on the meaning of such terms as forest and forestland is a logical first step in reaching agreement on natural resource problems. Threshold values-minimum area, strip width, canopy cover, and tree height-are especially important for identifying classes of land.