Steady Increase in Global Forest Cover?
by The world’s forests shrink still further along, particularly in the tropics.
The world’s forests shrink still further along, particularly in the tropics.
Following the recent WWF forest index every year 13 million hectares of forest are being cut down – which is about the size of Greece. Overall, the world’s forests today amounts to only four billion hectares. So the planet over the past 8000 years have around a third of its forest lost.
Give the biggest loss today almost exclusively in the tropics, “said Philip Göltenboth, head of forest protection at the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Germany. Main reason is the high demand for wood. But there are areas cleared for agriculture or more grazing land.
WWF calls for more support for responsible forest management. In addition, imports must be banned from illegally logged timber law.
Natural disasters affected by deforestation
Forests are considered the most biologically diverse habitats on land. There, according to the WWF about two-thirds of the 1.3 million described animal and plant species on Earth. At the same time, they stabilize the climate.
Moreover, according to WWF relates a third of the world’s largest cities have an important part of drinking water from protected forest areas. Many natural disasters such as floods and landslides are also due to deforestation.
Increase in carbon dioxide
According to estimates by the Organization, it is due to the destruction of forests to more carbon dioxide than amounts together by cars, ships, airplanes and trucks. In addition, indigenous peoples lose their livelihood by grubbing.
The WWF’s forest-index with the title “The forests of the world – a status report”examines the global trends in forest development and its impacts on climate, people and nature.
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