Unsustainable exploitation of these forests, while not yet banned, is gradually giving way to better forestry in many countries with substantial populations of this invaluable resource. Globally, there are some 630 species of conifers, plus c. Seventy of these are likely to become extinct in the foreseeable future if current trends continue. Conifers occur on all continents except Antarctica, but their abundance is unevenly distributed both in terms of individuals and taxa. Where the vast boreal conifer forests stretch across continents and contain billions of trees, they sustain no more than a handful of species.
Many species occupy very small areas, often as relict populations of once greater abundance.
Some areas have a high diversity of species, but hardly any of these species are abundant enough to form forests of any appreciable size. A good example is New Caledonia in the Southwest Pacific, an island with 43 species of conifers, all endemic, in an area about the size of Wales. Unknown to many, c. 200 species of conifers are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, where vast conifer forests are unknown. It is this scattered diversity that is most threatened with extinction. This Action Plan assesses conifer diversity and its threats in Chapter 1.