FAO Forestry country profiles - natural woody vegetation

Forest types

Forest cover map

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Map source: Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, base map: ESRI

The above map is an extract from the Global Forest Cover map produced as part of FRA 2000. Please refer to FRA Working Paper 19 for a background to the production of the map.

French Polynesia comprises a total of 118 islands, forming five archipelagos. Some are high islands of volcanic origin, with an uneven relief pattern and high peaks, while others are low, flat coral islands (atolls) accompanied by coral islets (motus). The Society archipelago contains fifteen islands, nine of them high islands, rising to 2 241 m on Tahiti, the largest. The Tubuai archipelago in the south is a chain of seven islands (including one atoll) with a relief pattern rising to 633 m on Rapa. The Tuamotu archipelago is composed solely of atolls (76 in all), none of them reaching an altitude of more than a few metres, except for Makatea which rises to 115 m. The Gambier archipelago in the southeast is made up of eight islands (including two atolls), with a high point of 435 m on Mangareva, while the Marquesas archipelago in the north comprises ten main mountainous islands plus several minor islands. The climate throughout is tropical, warm and humid.

The flora of French Polynesia encompasses 675 species, 500 of which (or nearly three-quarters) are endemic, and a majority of which (70%) are woody species. The very distinctive flora is the outcome of various factors, such as geographical isolation, the small size of the islands, and soil variations arising from differing types of substratum.

The high islands have the richest flora, and the various types of natural vegetation are directly determined by the nature of the substratum, altitude, rainfall and exposure (to wind and sun). However, human activity is also a significant factor, and many cases of degradation are present, especially at lower altitudes. On the other hand, the flora on the low islands is poor (20 to 80 species, depending on atoll), although there are some rare and endemic species (such as Sesbania coccinea atollensis on Puka Puka in the Tuamotu Islands). The different types of vegetation depend essentially on human influence, but also on the constant presence of salinity and on the quality of the soil, which is fragile, little developed and deficient in nutritive elements. Initially, an atoll's woody vegetation was composed of a forest formation in the centre, surrounded by bush formations on the sandy substratum around the edges (e.g. Pandanus tectorius shrubland).

The Society Islands had an original vegetation consisting of closed moist montane forests and coastal forests. At present, untouched formations (mist forests) are found in the interior of the highest islands at altitudes above 1 000 m, whereas at lower altitudes the forest has been seriously degraded by humans and animals, and has been replaced by fern (Dicranopteris) heath and grass (Miscanthus) savannah. Moreover, in Tahiti the natural forests are in particular danger as they are in the process of being completely transformed through the invasion of a particularly rampant American woody species (Miconia calvescence). The atolls of this archipelago have for the most part been planted to coconut, the only natural woody vegetation now being some bushland.

The Tubuai Islands have a vegetation greatly altered by human activity. The only remaining untouched forest is found on the highest mountains, on steep slopes and in some ravines. The main formations on this archipelago are secondary forests of Hibiscus tiliaceus or Psidium guajava, and fern and grass savannahs, resulting from agricultural encroachment, repeated fires and overgrazing.

The Tuamotu Islands have a very poor flora, and when the natural forest vegetation has not been replaced by coconut plantations, it consists mainly of closed broadleaved forests. Most of the Tuamotu atolls have been turned into coconut groves, and only a few (in the southeast) still bear the remains of natural vegetation. There is also a type of bushy vegetation on most of the atolls.

The Gambier Islands are for the most part covered in secondary vegetation and grass savannah (Miscanthus).

The Marquesas Islands have a drier climate at lower altitudes, and the coastal forest contains xerophilous species. It has suffered from much overgrazing, as well as invasion by exotic plants. The montane forest in the moister zones is relatively well preserved, but floristically poor.