TROPICAL RAINFORESTS: Imperiled Riches—Threatened Rainforests
Japan's Total Tropical Timber Imports (1988-1995)
Year Cubic meters
1988 14,653,000
1989 17,299,000
1990 15,139,000
1991 14,197,000
1992 13,936,000
1993 12,570,000
1994 11,835,000
1995 11,695,000
Japan is the world's leading importer of tropical woods. To give an idea of how much 11,695,000 cubic meters is, it is 412,989,960 cubic feet, enough wood that if stacked on a football field, the pile would be 27,533 feet, more than 5 miles, high.
Continued: Economic Restructuring