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[more] WOOD REMOVAL FROM TROPICAL FORESTS Figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) show that wood removal is generally increasing in tropical Africa and decreasing in tropical Asia. In Latin America the results are mixed over the past 15-year period. In tropical Africa, subsistence fuelwood collection and agriculture combined with increasing logging operations and development pressures may be factors behind rising levels of wood removal. In tropical Asia vast areas were logged in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, timber harvesting in natural forests has diminished while forest plantations are replacing lost production. Total wood removal figures for tropical countries as reported by FAO Total wood removal Wood removal 2005 1990 2000 2005 % change Industrial roundwood Wood fuel 1000 m³ o.b. 1000 m³ o.b. 1000 m³ o.b. 1990-2005 1000 m³ o.b. 1000 m³ o.b. AFRICA Angola 3,668 4,905 5,196 42% 1,283 3,913 Botswana 792 851 881 11% 132 749 Burkina Faso 6,339 7,248 7,338 16% 5 7,333 Burundi 6,721 8,217 9,693 44% 383 9,310 Cameroon 14,861 17,989 19,772 33% 3,211 16,561 Central African Republic 4,054 3,566 3,566 -12% 1,108 2,458 Comoros 168 193 206 23% 9 197 Congo 2,059 2,424 2,767 34% 1,450 1,317 Congo, DR 54,922 78,791 82,994 51% 4,199 78,795 Côte d'Ivoire 8,826 12,137 12,545 42% 2,175 10,370 Equatorial Guinea 714 933 933 31% 419 514 Gabon 2,198 3,550 4,227 92% 3,600 627 Gambia 602 783 873 45% 154 718 Ghana 16,078 24,999 29,458 83% 1,205 28,253 Guinea 11,412 13,179 14,001 23% 748 13,253 Guinea-Bissau 1,110 1,309 1,417 28% 32 1,385 Kenya 21,385 24,900 26,658 25% 2,402 24,256 Liberia 5,048 5,610 5,918 17% - 5,918 Madagascar 7,246 9,973 7,031 -3% 598 6,433 Malawi 6,348 6,297 6,272 -1% 655 5,617 Mali 4,961 5,911 6,386 29% 507 5,879 Mauritius 27 18 14 -48% 8 6 Mozambique 18,174 20,744 22,029 21% 1,732 20,297 Niger 9,544 12,151 12,473 31% 594 11,879 Nigeria 63,756 79,002 86,627 36% 13,916 72,711 Rwanda 3,114 7,789 10,429 235% 226 10,203 Senegal 4,696 5,131 5,110 9% 10 5,100 Sierra Leone 5,534 6,212 6,551 18% 137 6,414 Sudan 20,684 21,715 22,230 7% 2,716 19,514 Tanzania 23,846 26,637 28,033 18% 2,833 25,200 Uganda 35,909 42,936 46,449 29% 4,408 42,041 Zambia 8,073 9,259 9,851 22% 1,053 8,798 Zimbabwe 8,552 10,519 11,566 35% 1,185 10,381 TROPICAL ASIA Bhutan 313 290 277 -12% 207 70 India 9,001 5,735 4,724 -48% 1,252 3,472 Indonesia 26,560 24,409 11,257 -58% 11,178 79 Laos 6,965 7,424 7,424 7% 682 6,742 Malaysia 53,739 28,289 24,014 -55% 20,600 3,414 Myanmar 39,084 40,708 43,060 10% 3,880 39,180 Nepal 138 110 119 -14% 67 52 Philippines 2,721 759 541 -80% 403 138 Sri Lanka 9,355 7,546 6,642 -29% 763 5,879 Thailand 710 54 49 -93% 41 8 Viet Nam 35,505 27,219 23,735 -33% 2,500 21,235 TROPICAL LATIN AMERICA Belize 216 216 216 0% 71 145 Brazil 368,706 293,219 290,476 -21% 168,091 122,385 Colombia 11,819 10,809 10,275 -13% 3,246 7,029 Costa Rica 1,198 2,398 2,400 100% 1,932 468 Ecuador 7,250 7,976 8,339 15% 1,360 6,979 El Salvador 4,275 5,957 5,201 22% 682 4,519 French Guiana 91 52 70 -23% 70 - Guatemala 13,143 17,211 19,245 46% 623 18,622 Honduras 10,916 14,022 15,576 43% 1,009 14,567 Mexico 9,399 8,740 8,351 -11% 7,667 684 Nicaragua 1,908 1,454 1,846 -3% 106 1,740 Panama 813 573 464 -43% 53 410 Peru 7,676 9,752 10,789 41% 1,891 8,898 Suriname 116 176 205 77% 200 5 Venezuela 664 1,138 813 22% 812 2 Continued: Rainforest Logging Unless otherwise specified, this article was written by Rhett A. Butler [Bibliographic citation for this page] Other pages in this section: A World Imperilled Threats from Humankind Economic Restructuring Logging Fires Commercial Agriculture Hydro, Pollution, Hunting Debt Consumption, Conclusion - - - - - References References References References References Natural forces Subsistence Activities Oil Extraction Mining War Cattle Pasture Fuelwood, Roads, Climate Population & Poverty - - - - - Kids version of this section - Why are rainforests disappearing? - Logging - Agriculture - Cattle - Roads - Poverty what's new | rainforests home | for kids | help | madagascar | search | about | languages | contact Copyright Rhett Butler 1994-2007 "Rainforest" is used interchangeably with "rain forest" on this site. Same for "rainforests" and "rain forests". "Jungle" is generally not used.

Recent news Amazon deforestation rate falls to lowest on record (8/10/2007) Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon for the previous year were the lowest on record, according to preliminary figures released by INPE, Brazil's National Institute of Space Research. Lowland rainforest less diverse than previously thought (8/9/2007) While rainforests are the world's libraries of biodiversity, species richness may be more evenly distributed in some forests than in others, reports an extensive new study by an international team of entomologists and botanists. The work, published in the current issue of the journal Nature, has important implications for forest management and conservation strategies. Experts: parks effectively protect rainforest in Peru (8/9/2007) High-resolution satellite monitoring of the Amazon rainforest in Peru shows that land-use and conservation policies have had a measurable impact on deforestation rates. The research is published in the August 9, 2007, on-line edition of Science Express. More rainforest news