In terms of forest age structure, the recent Multi-Purpose National Forest Inventory has shown that the major part of the Mongolian boreal forest is overmature, with 74.07 per cent of forest stands classified as mature or overmature, 14.16 per cent classified as submature, 11.29 per cent classified as middle aged and 0.48 per cent classified as young. As for the saxaul forest, 34.95 per cent is overmature, 51.82 per cent is mature, 11.55 per cent is reaching maturity, 1.28 per cent is middle aged and 0.4 per cent is young. Consequently, forests are not only less productive but also more prone to fires and pest attacks and are less resilient to climate change. The result is forest degradation and, ultimately, deforestation.