1.2.2: General Deforestation of Various International Areas.

The Himalayas.

An everyday sight in the himalayas is .. “the circle of degraded grassland around each hill village; the columns of villagers carrying firewood to the towns; the timber lorries that only seem to run at night; the ubiquitous grazing animals that chew every new shoot; the criss-cross tracks the animals weave across the hillsides; and landslides, everywhere landslides.”[1]; “A similar story of deforestation can be told throughout the region. Mainly as a consequence of too many people trying to live on too little land, forests have been falling in the foothills, then in the lower mountains themselves, finally in the upper reaches of the forested zones.”[2]; “In the Himalayas about 40% of the forests were destroyed in the thirty years after 1955 to provide fuel and increase the amount of agricultural land.”[3]

India, North Africa, Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire, Australia, Haiti, Canada, USA.

“India originally had more than 1.6 million sq. km of primary forest: some 95% has been destroyed. North Africa was once the breadbasket of Rome and from its forests, Hannibal drew the elephants with which he invaded Europe. Now the region is desert. In just 100 years, Ethiopia's forests have declined from 40% to only 3% of the land. Cote d'Ivoire is losing 15% of its tree cover every year: only a fortieth of its original tree cover remains. In the last 200 years, Australia lost half of its tree cover. Settlers in Indonesia already have converted some 16m hectares of forest into sterile wasteland and some one million families are clearing half a hectare apiece each year. Christopher Columbus found Haiti 'filled with trees of a thousand kinds and tall, so that they seem to touch the sky'. Now none are left. Canada has lost 60% of its old-growth forest to logging. In the USA, some 85% of its old-growth woodland has been felled.”[4]

India, Bangladesh, Sri lanka, Haiti, Ivory coast, the Philippines & Thailand.

“All the primary rainforests in india, bangladesh, sri lanka and haiti have been destroyed already. The ivory coast rainforests have been almost completely logged. The philippines lost 55% of its forest between 1960 and 1985; thailand lost 45% of its forest between 1961 and 1985.”[5]

New Guinea, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

“In south east asia it is to new guinea, laos, myanmar and cambodia, the last countries that remain still largely forested .. At the current rate of forest destruction, these countries will have been largely deforested within the next decade.”[6]

Haiti, India, Nepal, Mexico, sub-Saharan Africa and Thailand.

“Fuelwood consumption in the developing world rose 35% between 1975 and 1986, with replanting rare by peasants who are landless and thus lack economic incentive to husband resources. Jodi jacobson believes fuelwood supplies are becoming critical in haiti, india, nepal, mexico, sub-saharan africa and thailand.”[7]

1.2.3: Deforestation by Continent.

1.2.3.1: Africa.

West Africa.

Aside from highly depleted Forest reserves .. “there will soon be no significant forested areas left in West Africa (nigeria, liberia, ghana, cote d'ivoire).”[8]; “Droughts in west africa over the past 20 years may have been caused by the destruction of Rainforests in countries such as nigeria, ghana, and cote d’ivoire, according to a new study. Further deforestation in the region “could cause the complete collapse of the west african monsoon”, says xinyu zheng at m.i.t. West african coastal Rainforests, which receive copious amounts of rain from winds coming off the atlantic ocean, have helped to maintain rainfall in the drier lands of the interior. At the beginning of this century, the west african Forests covered around 500,000 square kilometres. Since then, up to 90% have disappeared to make way for farms and other kinds of human activity such as mining.”[9]

North Africa.

“It is now estimated that no more than 10% of the original forests that once stretched from Morocco to Afghanistan even as late as 2000BC still exist.”[10]; “The eastern and southern shores of the mediterranean were once relatively well watered, forested country; their conversion to grain groing areas for the roman empire and its successors contributed to their deterioration into semi-desert.”[11]

1.2.3.2: The Americas.

Latin America.

“It seems much of Latin America is locked in a race to see who is first to convert their country into a dry, infertile wasteland.”[12]; “Since 1970, farmers and ranchers have converted more than 20 million hectares of Latin America's most tropical forests to cattle pasture.”[13]

The Amazon.

“In twenty years amazonia may be as bereft of trees as haiti.”[14]; “An area of the Amazon rainforest equal to the size of western Europe has been completely deforested or seriously degraded over the last forty years.”[15] Gregg easterbrook offers a contra view, “Extensive burning of amazonia ended in 1991. The actual rate of forest loss was about 3.7 million acres per year .. .”[16]

1.2.3.3: Asia.

1.2.3.4: Europe.

Central Europe.

“One thousand years ago, 80% of central Europe was forested. Today 20%.”[17]

European Community.

"Government figures show that England has over 960,000 hectares of woodlands and forests, equivalent to about 7% of the land surface. This compares with 10% for Great Britain and an average of 25% for the European Community as a whole."[18]

1.2.3.5: General.

.. “in the last decade it is africa, not south-east asia or south america that has suffered the highest level of deforestation. A study by the FAO shows that, from 1981 to 1990, Africa lost 17% of its rainforests, Asia 14% and Latin America 9%. During this period, the fastest rate of forest destructon was recorded in Nigeria - not Brazil, Malaysia or Indonesia.”[19]; “According to the unfao, in the 1980s mexico lost 18% of its forest; southeast asia lost 13%; madagascar lost 11%; the amazon lost 9%; central africa lost 7%.”[20]; “Although south-east Asian smog caught the headlines last year, and north-east Brazil is now the centre of attention, there were devastating fires in nine other major forest countries last year. The worst hit countries were Papua New Guinea, Colombia, Peru, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Australia, China and Russia. In Europe, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain lost large areas of already scarce temperate forest.”[21]

1.2.4: Deforestation by Political Categories.

New World.

“The United States, Canada, and Australia have devastated their ancient forests to a far greater extent than have most tropical nations their rain forests.”[22]

Developing Countries.

Forests and Woodlands in developing countries shrank by 125 million hectares in the 15 years up to 1986, according to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organisation.[23]

1.2.5: Deforestation by Forest Types.

1.2.5.1: Boreal Forests (The Taiga).

“Dr Norman Myers observes that as much as 400 billion tons of carbon could be sequestered in the 4.3 million square miles (three Europes) of boreal forest, and these are being logged and burnt apace. Some 70% of these forests are in Siberia, where logging has reached 15,500 square miles per year ..”[24]; "A recent literature survey concluded that the boreal forest absorbed an annual average 0.7 btC during 1980-1990, making the boreal forest the largest, single, net terrestrial sink for carbon. There are alarming signs, however, that this carbon sink is in decline. The boreal forest is about to turn from being one of the world's largest carbon sinks into one of the world's largest carbon sources, causing dramatic climate changes."[25]; “Northern forests is of great significance in the annual transfer of the carbon resources of the biosphere. Each year there is a spring growth spurt in the Northern Hemisphere, much of which occurs in the boreal forest, which is so important that it affects the carbon cycling in the atmosphere of the whole planet.”[26]; “Data buried for years in forestry ministries have lent new weight to the theory that the planet’s northern or ‘boreal’ forest has played a key role in damping down the greenhouse effect. According to the records, over the past half century, the forest has soaked up huge quantities of excess carbon dioxide. The Science and Policy Associates said the boreal forest is crucial for controlling atmospheric CO₂. Jorge Sarmiento of Princeton University has estimated the sizes of terrestrial CO₂ sources and sinks. Between 1920 and 1976, forests and other plants soaked up 35 million tonnes of CO₂. .. from 1976, the amount of CO₂ absorbed in the ocean and staying in the atmosphere equalled the amount released. Land plants had apparently started giving off as much CO₂ as they absorbed. The turning point, 1976, was the same year .. that the boreal forests slipped from net growth to net depletion.”[27]

1.2.5.2: Temperate Forests.

.. “the deforestation of temperate lands .. was largely achieved by the end of the 18thC and must have contributed substantially to the addition of CO₂ to the atmosphere.”[28]

1.2.5.3: Tropical Rainforests.

The Recent Past.

“45% of the world’s rainforests have been destroyed in the last 30 years.”[29]; “In 1950, 30% of the earth’s landmass was covered with tropical forest. By 1975 this figure was only 12%. In 1988 only 6% was left.”[30]; “Two thousand years ago, the tropical rainforest alone extended over 5 billion acres, covering 12% of the earth's land surface. In less than one hundred years over half the forest has now been cut and burned, leaving whole areas of the earth bare and unprotected, rendering entire regions lifeless.”[31]; “In the tropics half the original forest cover is gone. Half of what remains has been logged and degraded.”[32]; "Tropical deforestation accounts for 20-30% of annual carbon emissions, nearly half illegal."[33]

The Present.

“Our annual toll of tropical Forests nearly doubled between 1979 and 1989 ...”[34]; “It is the tropical forests of South America, west Africa and south-east Asia that have borne the brunt of (forest) destruction - overall since 1950 about half of the world’s tropical Forests have been destroyed and three-quarters of that clearance has been to provide land for agriculture. By the 1980s the best estimates suggest that 28 million acres a year were being cleared. Nearly all the ranches established in the Amazon area before 1978 had been abandoned by the mid-1980s.”[35]; “In the tropics, poor people, unable to get good land to feed their families, are driven to hack plots out from the rainforest. At least 150 million people worldwide are relentlessly pressing into the forests in this way, literally, to scratch a living.”[36]; “The unfao estimates that during the 1980s an average of 15.4 million hectares of tropical Forest disappeared every year.”[37]; “Myers (1992) suggests there has been an 89% increase in tropical deforestation rate during the 1980s. This contrasts with an fao estimate of a 59% increase.”[38]

The Future.

“The rate of destruction of tropical forests means that by the end of the century and given current trends, nearly all forests will be gone in India, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Madagascar, East Africa, West Africa, and central America, and virtually all primary forest will be eliminated in Burma and Ecuador.”[39]; “In just fifty years we have lost approximately half of the world’s tropical forests and at the rate we are going it will not be long - possibly as little as 30 years - before we have lost the rest.”[40]

1.2.5.4: Tropical Mountain Forests.

“During the last decade, tropical mountain Forests have had the fastest rates of both annual population growth and deforestation.”[41]; “Mountain forests have fared no better than ones in tropical lowlands, with vast areas cleared, leaving behind highly eroded, soil-less surfaces that can barely support any vegetation at all. A succession of photographs of hilly regions that were once forested, and then cleared, shows how, over a few decades at most, a place of luxuriant vegetation can turn into a desertified ruin. Madagascar, oaxaca in mexico, parts of the indian himalayas, and the andes in south america, all show signs of reckless land abuse.”[42]

1.2.5.5: Coastal Temperate Rain Forests.

"Now estimated to cover less than half their original area ... Coastal temperate rain forests once covered 30-40 million hectares, an area less than 0.3% of the earth's land area. A preliminary study by Ecotrust and Conservation International estimates that at least 55% of the world's coastal temperate rain forest has been logged or cleared for other uses. The remaining area now span about 14 million hectares, smaller than the state of Wisconsin."[43]

1.2.5.6: Comparisons.

.. “historically, temperate forests have fared at least as badly as tropical forests which are currently disappearing fastest.. The percentages of the four forest types lost are: over 60% of temperate broadleaf and mixed forest; around 30% of needleleaf forest; about 45% of tropical moist forest; and approximately 70% of tropical dry forest.”[44]; “90% of Central America's primary forest has been destroyed. An area of Amazonia the size of Europe has been felled. Twice that area of cerrado woodland has gone. 33% of tropical mountain forests have been destroyed. 45% of tropical rainforests have been destroyed in the past 30 years. The rate of destruction doubled in the 1980s despite increasing international alarm and promises of action. Over 80% of Philippine mangroves were felled between 1920-1988.”[45]

1.2.6: Global Deforestation.

1.2.6.1: The Historical Scale of Global Deforestation.

The scale of global deforestation which has taken place since the end of the last ice age is nothing less than frightening, “Over the last 10,000 years, the earth’s mantle of forests and woodland has shrunk by a third as trees were cleared to make way for crops, pasture and cities.”[46]; “During the past ten thousand years, global forest cover has been reduced by about one third, from an estimated 6.3 x 10⁹ ha to about 4.2 x 10⁹ ha. A considerable proportion of the historic deforestation has taken place in the temperate and boreal regions to meet the needs of an expanding population.”[47]; “Before humans invented agriculture there were 6 billion hectares of forest on Earth. Now there are 4 billion, only 1.5 billion of which are undisturbed primary forest. Half of that forest loss has occurred between 1950 and 1990.”[48]; "Before the advent of agricultural civilizations, about 10,000 years before present, forests and open woodlands covered an estimated 6.2 billion ha, or about 47% of the world's land area. Relative to the original state of affairs, the (current) reduction in forest cover is at least 16%, and could be twice as much on a forest quality basis."[49] Unep offers the most conservative estimate. It .. “suggests that in pre-agricultural times there was a total of 12.77 million km² of tropical closed Forest and that by 1970 this had been reduced by 0.48%, to 12.29 mkm² and that the total area of all kinds declined by 7.01%, from 46.28 to 39.27mkm² over the same period.”[50] Half of the Forests that existed after the recovery from the last ice age have now gone, “Half of the world’s original forest has gone. This would be close to the maximal area of forest some time after the last ice age, around 6,000-8,000 years ago.”[51]

1.2.6.2: The Current Scale of Global Deforestation.

There are a number of estimates of the current scale of global deforestation:-

Caring for the Earth.

"In less than 200 years the Planet has lost six million square kilometres of Forest .."[52];

Alan P Durning.

“The planet’s mantle of trees, already a third less than in pre-agricultural times and shrinking by more than 11 million hectares per year.”[53]

The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

 “The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization claims that forests are disappearing at the rate of 43 million acres a year.”[54]

Aubrey Meyer.

“The rate of global deforestation has increased by 90% over the last decade.”[55]

J E Young and A Sachs.

“Since 1950, nearly a fifth of the Earth’s forested area has been cleared. Industrial logging has more than doubled since 1950 .. .”[56]

Real World Resources Guide Website.

“Forests function as the Earth's skin, performing many critical ecological roles. They are being destroyed at an enormous and suicidal rate both in the temperate and tropical areas.”[57]

Nicky Chambers, Craig Simmons & Mathis Wackernagel.

“Less than half of the planet’s original forest cover remains.”[58]

It has already been concluded above that there is no accurate measure of the Earth’s current Forest cover and it is likely, given the substantial degree of illegal deforestation, that there is no accurate measure of the rate at which Forests are being cleared. Any estimates are likely to be under-estimates.

1.2.6.3: The Future Scale of Global Deforestation.

For the first time in history, it is possible to envisage the eradication of the boreal Forests of canada and alaska as well as the world’s tropical Rainforests, “The rate of destruction of tropical forests means that by the end of the century and given current trends, nearly all forests will be gone in India, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Madagascar, East Africa, West Africa, and central America, and virtually all primary forest will be eliminated in Burma and Ecuador.”[59]; “All the world’s forests could be destroyed within 60 years according to Professor Peter Raven, director of the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St Louis.”[60]; “Attempts to save most of the world’s tropical rainforests are doomed to failure and should probably be abandoned. Pressure from farmers and loggers has meant that much of the rainforest is already beyond repair. This is the claim of a group of scientists who have mapped tropical deforestation “hotspots” for the first time. The report, which was published this month, comes from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre’ Tropical Ecosystem Environment Observation by Satellite (TREES) project which monitors deforestation in detail from space. TREES called in 12 leading experts in tropical forests to identify on the ground where it should focus its remote sensing satelites. Their conclusions on their selected areas were dire. They claim there is no hope of stopping deforestation by logging companies and farmers in major rainforest regions such as indonesia or much of the brazilian amazon. Tim whitmore says, “Southeast asia has had it. There is little old-growth forest left there anywhere.” The team found that the driving forces behind deforestation differed between regions. In southeast asia, most of the land is grabbed for oil palm, coffee, rubber or commercial forest plantations. In the Amazon, cattle farmers clear the forest for pastures while in central africa logging companies often dominate.”[61]; “90% of Central America's primary forest has been destroyed. An area of Amazonia the size of Europe has been felled. Twice that area of cerrado woodland has gone. 33% of tropical mountain forests have been destroyed. 45% of tropical rainforests have been destroyed in the past 30 years. The rate of destruction doubled in the 1980s despite increasing international alarm and promises of action. Over 80% of Philippine mangroves were felled between 1920-1988.”[62]

As a consequence of this wholesale deforestation, it has been postulated that the Earth is one continent short of the Forests needed to maintain climatic stability, “Dysen and Marland have calculated that .. to absorb the 20,000 million tons of CO₂ currently emitted every year into the atmosphere, an area of 7 million square kilometres (roughly the size of Australia) would have to be planted.”[63]

1.2.7: The Current Extinction of Tree Species.

It is believed the number of Tree species on Earth is currently in decline, “A report by the world conservation monitoring centre lists 304 species (of Trees) so exploited they are considered threatened at a global level. A total of 1,868 species were identified as involved in the timber trade, being imported to europe from africa and asia."[64]; “Some 8750 tree species - one-tenth of the 80,000 to 100,000 known to science - are at risk of extinction, a new study has found. Only 12% of those threatened grow in protected areas. The report compiled by the world conservation monitoring centre (wcmc) and the world conservation union, shows that well over half the threats to tree species arise from loss of habitat, due to agriculture or human settlement.”;[65]; “More than a tenth of the world’s plant species are heading towards extinction, according to the first fully comprehensive study of the crisis. The iucn red list of threatened plants, published by the world conservation union this week, includes 33,798 species, of which 380 are extinct in the wild, 371 may be extinct, and the remainder are vulnerable or rare.”[66]; “A tenth of all tree species are facing extinction, a report revealed today. In britain alone 11 types of native trees are at risk. Nearly a thousand different species are on the critical list. And another 7,750 of the 100,000 known to man are under threat. The grim danger to woodland is revealed by the world wide fund for nature. Among those most at risk in britain are:

Sorbus Wilmottiana - only 20 remain, clinging to the Avon Gorge at Bristol.

Arran Service Tree - found only in Glen Diomhan in Arran. There are about 500 left.

Welsh Whitebeam - 44 left in ust two sites in Breconshire.

Ley’s Whitebeam - the report said just 16 of them exist in a tiny area of the Brecon Beacons near Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales.”