Rates of Deforestation
It is hard for the actual rates of deforestation to be determined but there have been several estimates made. The Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that the loss of tropical forests during the 1980’s was around 53,000 square miles per year (MSU). In table 1 below you can see that as of December 9, 1999 Jamaica is the number one country when considering the deforestation rates. The forested area has been reduced there from 516,000 ha in 1980 to 175,000 in 1999 (Bleeker, 1999). This is the top 10 list of the countries with the fastest rate of deforestation occurring today.
Table 1
|
Highest local deforestation speed |
Annual % | Half-life in years | ||
|
1 |
Jamaica |
7.4 |
9 |
|
|
2 |
Lebanon |
5.4 |
12 |
|
|
3 |
Haiti |
3.8 |
18 |
|
|
4 |
Philippines |
3.4 |
20 |
|
|
5 |
Afghanistan |
3.1 |
22 |
|
|
6 |
El Salvador |
3 |
23 |
|
|
7 |
Costa Rica |
3 |
23 |
|
|
8 |
Pakistan |
3 |
23 |
|
|
9 |
Sierra Leone |
2.9 |
24 |
|
|
10 |
Thailand |
2.8 |
24 |
|
Source: Marco Bleeker
Brazil is at the top of the charts when considering the absolute speed of deforestation as is shown in Table 2 below. Twenty percent of the world’s deforestation takes place in this country alone (Bleeker, 1999).
Table 2
|
Highest absolute deforestation |
speed (million ha per year) | |
|
1 |
Brazil |
2.55 |
|
2 |
Indonesia |
1.08 |
|
3 |
Congo |
0.74 |
|
4 |
Bolivia |
0.58 |
|
5 |
Venezuela |
0.5 |
|
6 |
Mexico |
0.5 |
|
7 |
Malaysia |
0.4 |
|
8 |
Myanmar (Birma) |
0.39 |
|
9 |
Sudan |
0.35 |
|
10 |
Thailand |
0.33 |
Source: Marco Bleeker
Global Rates Of Destruction
2.4 acres per second: equivalent to two U.S. football fields
149 acres per minute
214,000 acres per day: an area larger than New York City
78 million acres per year: an area larger than Poland
Species Extinction
Distinguished scientists estimate an average of 137 species of life forms are driven into extinction every day; or 50,000 each year.
TROPICAL MOIST FORESTS: PRESENT STATUS IN SELECT COUNTRIES (6)
|
COUNTRY (in sq km) |
ORIGINAL EXTENT OF FOREST COVER |
PRESENT EXTENT OF PRIMARY FOREST COVER |
CURRENT AMOUNT OF ANNUAL DEFORESTATION (in sq km /% per year) |
|
Bolivia (1,098,581) |
90,000 |
45,000 |
1,500 (2.1%) |
|
Brazil (8,511,960) |
2,860,000 |
1,800,000 |
50,000 (2.3%) |
|
C. America (522,915) |
500,000 |
55,000 |
3,300 (3.7%) |
|
Columbia (1,138,891) |
700,000 |
180,000 |
6,500 (2.3%) |
|
Congo (342,000) |
100,000 |
80,000 |
700 (.8%) |
|
Ecuador (270,670) |
132,000 |
44,000 |
3,000 (4.0%) |
|
Indonesia (1,919,300) |
1,220,000 |
530,000 |
12,000 (1.4%) |
|
Cote D'Ivoire (322,463) |
160,000 |
4,000 |
2,500 (15.6%) |
|
Laos (236,800) |
110,000 |
25,000 |
1,000 (1.5%) |
|
Madagascar (590,992) |
62,000 |
10,000 |
2,000 (8.3%) |
|
Mexico (1,967,180) |
400,000 |
110,000 |
7,000 (4.2%) |
|
Nigeria (924,000) |
72,000 |
10,000 |
4,000 (14.3%) |
|
Philippines (299,400) |
250,000 |
8,000 |
2,700 (5.4%) |
|
Thailand (513,517) |
435,000 |
22,000 |
6,000 (8.4%) |