| Tropical Asia leads global deforestation rates |
| Written by UN Food and Agriculture Organisation | |
| Monday, 04 June 2007 | |
© 2007 Jonathan Tan The worst deforestation rate of natural forests, 2000-2005 (Credits: R. Butler) includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam - lose about 1% of their forests each year. According to FAO (UN Forest and Agriculture Organisation), Vietnam lost a staggering 51% of its primary forests between 2000 and 2005, while Cambodia lost 29% of its primary forestsbetween 2000 and 2005. Original data showed Cambodia's primary forest cover declining to 122,000 hectares in 2005 from 356,000 hectares in 2000. New FAO data says Cambodia's current primary forest cover stands at 322,000 hectares]. Illegal logging, combined with rapid development, is blamed for much of Cambodia's forest loss. • An estimated US$15 billion in revenue lost per year to due to illegal logging in developing countries. |