Deforestation processes were less numerous in the last decade, which represents the first conservation effort which showed results. Nevertheless, whole forests are destroyed annually in Costa Rica.
According to a report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN, 13 million hectares of forest/year have been converted into agriculture terrains or lost due natural causes during 2000-2010, in comparisson to the 16 million hectares lost in the previous decade. The net losses of forest areas amounted to 5.2 million between 2000 and 2010, an area as large as Costa Rica. "For the first time, we were able to show that the rate of deforestation has decreased worldwide as a result of local and international efforts", said Eduardo Rojas, assistant director at FAO.
Since 2000, 66 countries have implemented new laws on stopping deforestation. The proportion of forests that are in national parks and other protected areas have increased by 13% since 1990, which means aproximately 94 million hectares. Forests cover 4 billion hectares, which means 31% of the total land regions of the world and can absorb up to 289 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide. "A lower rate of deforestation and planting new forests have helped to reduce carbon emissions," said Mette Wilkie Loyche, coordinator of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010.
However, tree planting programs in China, India and Vietnam will end by 2020. "Unless action is taken we risk a return to higher rates of forest losses and carbon emissions will continue to grow,as they did in 1990," said Wilkie.
Source: http://news.google.com |
