Forests and woodlands are being degraded or destroyed and natural ecosystems reduced or fragmented, further threatening biodiversity. Many factors contribute to deforestation: timber production and clearance for agriculture being the principal; also cutting for firewood and charcoal, fires, droughts, strip mining, pollution, hydroelectric power development, mining, industrial infrastructure and railways, urban development, cyclones and war. The quality of the remaining forest is threatened by a range of pressures including acidification, climate change, water abstraction, fire, population pressures, diseases and invasive species

Forests take in carbon dioxide gas, provide oxygen and clean the air. Their water-holding capacity maintains soil and water levels, preventing disasters such as landslides, floods and droughts. Tropical forests, the most important surviving forest lands, contain about two thirds of all plant and animal species. Tropical plants are the basis for many useful drugs but vast numbers have not been tested for their medical properties. Tropical forests are also stores of genetic material to feed back into cultivated plants susceptible to disease and pests. At the present rate of deforestation, an estimated 15% of all forest species could disappear within the next two decades

Deforestation accelerates erosion, changes local hydrological cycles and precipitation patterns, and decreases the land's ability to retain water during rainy periods. Resulting flash floods destroy irrigation systems and plug rivers and resources with silt. And when silted coastlines decimate fisheries, fishermen turn to agriculture; they join land-starved farmers in cutting down more forests, completing a vicious circle

In many countries, and especially in the developing countries of the southern hemisphere where most uncleared forest land remains, systematic burning, grazing and cutting of forest land is still carried out in order to provide new land for crop agriculture or livestock. It is often done without factors such as climate and topography having been sufficiently studied and on lands where slope, nature of the soil or other physiographic characteristics clearly indicate that the land involved is suitable only for forest. Although this practice may lead to a temporary increase in productivity, in the long run there is usually a decrease in productivity per unit of surface and that erosion and irreversible soil deterioration often accompany this process

The underlying driving forces behind deforestation are poverty, population and economic growth, urbanization and expansion of agriculture lands. Clearance for agriculture is the largest cause of tropical deforestation; logging, however, is responsible for an estimated one-third of the total, the proportion rising to about one-half in Asia, and possibly higher still in parts of South America

Background Of the 29 million square kilometres of closed forests, 32% are boreal (subarctic), 26% temperate (in both hemispheres) and 42% tropical. Three-quarters of the open forests and shrubland are in the tropics

Since pre-agricultural times, the world has lost 20% of its forest resources, with a reduction from 12 billion to 10 billion acres. In the past, most of forest losses were in the temperate forests of Europe, Asia and North America. In recent years, it is the tropical forests of Latin America, Asia and Africa that have been disappearing most rapidly

Globally, between 1970 and 2002 forest cover has dwindled by 12 per cent. Between 1990 and 1995, 65 million hectares of forests were lost, a total loss of 65 million hectares in developing countries being partially offset by an increase of nearly 9 million hectares in the developed world

Trends documented by the the World Bank and Worldwatch Institute, and reported to the Rio+5 conference in 1997, suggest that about 6.1 million hectares of deciduous forests and 4.6 million hectares of tropical forests are disappearing each year

Deforestation continues at high rates in developing countries, mainly driven by the demand for wood products and the need for land for agriculture and other purposes. Despite increased public awareness and a large number of initiatives, deforestation is still continuing in most of Africa, Latin America, and Asia and the Pacific. In the early 1990s, the rate of deforestation in primary forests in South America was 2.2 million hectares per year. This is an increase of approximately 80 percent since the early 1970s. During 1980-90 alone, the Latin American region lost 62 million hectares (6.0 per cent) of its natural forest, the largest loss in the world during those years, with a further 5.8 million hectares a year lost during 1990-95

The USA cleared most of its forests in the 19th century and is still felling trees. In the last decade, logs equivalent to a 600,000 acre forest were shipped outside the US. By the year 2000, timber will be cut nearly twice as fast on national forests as new trees can replace it. Costa Rica has lost a third of its forests, loses 60,000 hectares a year and at this rate will have none by the 2000. Ethiopia had 60% forest cover in 1940, today it has just 2.5%. One million Indonesian farmers still use slash and burn techniques. Thousands of hectares have been lost due to warfare in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. More than a third of Switzerland's forests are dead or dying from pollution. Over 50% of the trees in western Germany are dead or dying. The coniferous taiga is one of the last remaining forest areas in Siberia. In recent years, 25 million tonnes of Siberian timber have been transported westwards annually along the Trans-Siberian railway line and millions of tonnes more to Pacific harbours such as Vladivostok and on to Japan -- part of the new Russian economic expansion. In addition, deliberate fires (to create pasture) and accidental fires consume one million hectares of Siberian forest every year, and air pollution from industry around Lake Baikal is affecting the health of the uncleared forest

Roughly 16 per cent of the world's forests - some 565 million hectares - are in the Asia/Pacific region. These forests harbour some of the world's rarest and unique animals and plants: the tiger, giant panda, Asian elephant, orang utan, rhino, Rafflesia (the world's biggest flower) and many variety of orchids. In the early 1990s, the rate of deforestation in primary forests in the Asia Pacific region was 1.8 million hectares per year. This is an increase of approximately 80 percent since the early 1970s. About 838,000 ha of the region's forests are lost annually to deforestation and degradation. The Himalayan watershed covering Northern India, Nepal, and Bangladesh had lost 40% of its forest by 1980, where the lowland terai forests are rapidly being logged and cleared, often illegally. Forest cover shrank at an average rate of 0.6 per cent a year throughout the 1980s in India and the rate was increasing. With barely a quarter of the land mass recorded as forest, the country fell well short of the government's aim to maintain a third of its area as forest. In the Himalayan-Hindukush-Karakorum mountain region from Afghanistan to Bangladesh, forests logged and degraded by excessive grazing, fodder and fuelwood collection, and pressure from the influx of refugees and political disturbance. China's forests have also been badly depleted and losses continue, especially within Tibet

In the Philippines, rainforests and mangroves are still being illegally logged despite already being reduced to fragments. Forests in Indonesia, are rapidly being logged and cleared often to establish exotic plantations. In addition, the country's forests have been burnt, much of this occurring in Kalimantan with the worst occurring as recently as this year, 1997. In Thailand, forests have already been fragmented, and a Thai Government logging ban has increased pressure on the forests of neighbouring countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. In the South Pacific, the forests of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are being logged, much of which illegally

1. Where it has not yet been ruined by modern man - forests devastated to set up pastures, industrial coffee plantations or vast plantations of other luxury crops for the industrialized world - the exuberant tropical vegetation is rich in plants, grasses and trees which are or could be used for food

2. There are important links between forestry and food security. Excessive deforestation is threatening not only the soil and water base essential for continued food production, but also the present and future availability of the many forest plants and animals that are sources of food

3. In order to address the underlying causes of deforestation, questions of indigenous rights, land security, agricultural stabilization, alternative income generating activities, and the impacts of other sectors including especially the energy, transport and mining sectors need to be raised

4. Unless energy alternatives to firewood, and other sources of income for people whose lives depend on forests, can be found, deforestation will continue

5. Growing forests help absorb the gases that warm the atmosphere. Burning those forests adds to the problem

6. As the Indian forests disappear, demand for wood and wood products grows. Many of the country's people and cattle depend heavily on forest resources. The timber industry says more forest will have to go if it is to meet rising domestic demand. India will have to import more wood and pulp unless the government implements an effective policy of sustainable development and ecological balance

7. As trees disappear, the fertile top soil is washed away by water and wind. Forest degradation is also blamed for flash floods, inadequate recharging of underground aquifers and silted-up river beds