Ad
related to: deforestation rate in africa map countries quiz game
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
By 2008, deforestation in Africa was estimated to be occurring at twice the world average rate, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). [5] [6] [7] Some sources claim that deforestation has already wiped out roughly 90% of West Africa's original forests. [8] [9] Today, deforestation is accelerating in Central Africa. [10]
In 2005, Nigeria had the highest rate of deforestation in the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). [6] Deforestation in Nigeria is caused by logging, subsistence agriculture, and the collection of wood for fuel. According to the gfy, deforestation has wiped out nearly 90% of Africa's forest.
The rate of deforestation in the country accelerated to 327,000 ha per year (1.9%) during the years 2000 and 2010 and is also currently the highest in Southern Africa. [2] In fact, the rate of deforestation in Zimbabwe is one of the highest globally – directly affecting ecosystems, biodiversity, and livelihoods. [3]
Rates of deforestation vary around the world. Up to 90% of West Africa's coastal rainforests have disappeared since 1900. [56] Madagascar has lost 90% of its eastern rainforests. [57] [58] In South Asia, about 88% of the rainforests have been lost. [59]
In contrast, most forest degradation – two-thirds of it – occurs in temperate countries. Centuries ago it was mainly temperate regions that were driving global deforestation [we take a look at this longer history of deforestation in a related article]. They cut down their forests and replaced it with agricultural land long ago.
Apart from Northern Africa, East African countries show the second highest decline rates of conservation forests in the continent. In a forest resource assessment of Ethiopia, Reusing found that within 17 years (1973–1990) high-forest cover decreased from 54,410 to 45,055 km² or from 4.72 to 3.96% of the land area. [ 5 ]
During the last two decades of the 21st century, Kenya's rate of deforestation has remained consistent. The first decade of the century experienced 2,914.55 hectares in a primary forest lost and 19,401 hectares lost in tree cover while the second decade of the century has experienced a total of 2,099.74 hectares lost in primary forest and 17,167 hectares lost in tree cover.
It contains some of the largest tropical rainforests in the world and is an important source of water used in agriculture and energy generation. [1] The rainforest in the Congo Basin is the largest rainforest in Africa and second only to the Amazon rainforest in size, with 300 million hectares compared to the 800 million hectares in the Amazon. [2]