Countries continue to lose more trees than they regenerate

Countries continue to lose more trees than they regenerate. Global forest cover stands at approximately half the original extent of 8,000 years ago. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, an average of 9.4 million hectares of forest (roughly the size of Portugal) was lost annually during the 1990s. Africa and the Caribbean had the highest rates of deforestation, each losing 0.8 percent of total forested area per year. Major logging countries also suffer from rapid deforestation: Indonesia loses nearly 2 million hectares of forest annually, while Brazil lost 2.3 million hectares of Amazon forest between August 2002 and 2003. Worldwatch Institute - 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036 Tel 202.452.1999 - Fax 202.296.7365 - www.worldwatch.org

Subscribe to our newsletter.

Stay in the loop on rainforest conservation issues with our free newsletter!