Forests

ISSUES

Forests

The forest area represents a little less than 4 billion hectares, that is to say a third of the planet's surface area. This surface area is not spread equally. Over half of these forests are just in five countries: Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States of America and China.
Every year, 13 million hectares of forest disappear. That is just over twenty football pitches a minute. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations considers the rate to be « alarming ». (1)
But if one takes the natural extension of some forests and plantations created by man into account, the net loss is « only » 7.3 million hectares for the 2000-2005 period.
The overall rate of deforestation has slightly slowed down in the past few years, partly thanks to the efforts of environmentalists. This is also due to the increasingly larger areas of plantations, particularly in China, and to the fact that the areas that are easier or more p...

NEWS

Orangutan 'exterminators' on trial in Indonesia

WWF urges Bulgaria to drop forest law changes

Price of gorilla permit increases to $750/day

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DEBATES

Mountain forests under threat

FAO

The integrity and resilience of mountain forests is under threat from increasing temperatures and wildfires, population growth...

Appalachian Regional Restoration Initiative

As a newly appointed UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, I am...

Restoring our forests, the Mau Forests Complex, Kenya

Trees have been an essential part of my life and have...

FOCUS

Collateral damage and forests

Because forests can hide enemies, armies sometimes see the destruction of forests as an important strategy. Between 1962 and 1971, the US military sprayed approximately 80 million litres of defoliants, including the notorious Agent Orange, onto the Vietnamese...

VIDEOS

04/11/2011	n this beautifully animated clip from Dirt! The Movie, Wangari Maathai...	28/03/2011	This short animated film highlights the role forests can play in national...
15/02/2011	A short documentary about the dangerous effects of first contact on the...	16/11/2010	What will one tribe have to do to save everything they know?UPDATE:...

GREEN TIPS

Buy some rain forest

The British non-governmental organization Cool Earth uses the donations it receives to acquire rain forests...

INDICATORS

Forest cover
Biocapacity
National biodiversity index
Threatened ecosystems
Protected areas

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