Loss of old growth forest accelerates sharply since 2005
By Rhett A. Butler, www.mongabay.com
October 06, 2010 A new global assessment of forest stocks by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows a sharp acceleration of primary forest loss since 2005 despite gains in the extent of protected areas. FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 reveals some 13 million hectares of forest were cleared between 2000 and 2010, down from around 16 million hectares per year during the 1990s. Loss of primary forest—mostly a consequence of logging—averaged 4.2 million hectares per year, down from 4.7 million hectares per year in the 1990s. A new global assessment of forest stocks by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows a sharp acceleration of primary forest loss since 2005 despite gains in the extent of protected areas. FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 reveals some 13 million hectares of forest were cleared between 2000 and 2010, down from around 16 million hectares per year during the 1990s. Loss of primary forest—mostly a consequence of logging—averaged 4.2 million hectares per year, down from 4.7 million hectares per year in the 1990s, but the figures exclude Canada, which doesn’t report any change in old growth forest cover despite being a major timber exporter. Among countries with significant primary forest cover, Nigeria had the fastest rate of loss, approaching 20 percent per year from 2005 to 2010, followed by South Korea (3.95 percent per year), Malawi (3.77 percent), Guatemala (3.72 percent), Sierra Leone (3.21 percent), Central African Republic (2.94 percent), Gabon (2.16 percent), and Nicaragua (2.16 percent). Brazil led all countries in total primary forest loss during the 2005-2010 period, losing 2.3 million hectares per year. It was followed by Papua New Guinea (427,000 hectares per year) and Gabon (330,000 ha). Primary forests today account for 36 percent (1.4 billion ha) of the world’s forest area. 81 countries reported they have no remaining primary cover, although in some cases this may be due to a lack of data. The FAO report shows that while deforestation slowed in the 2000s relative to the 1990s, forest loss accelerated during the second half of the decade, led by Brazil (2.19 million hectares per year), Australia (924,000 ha), Indonesia (685,000 ha), Nigeria (410,000 ha), and Tanzania (403,000 ha). But Brazil’s rate actually represents a reduction relative to the 2000-2005 period when 3.09 million hectares were lost per year. …
