FRENCH GUIANA The rainforests of French Guiana are still largely unexploited and sparsely populated. The majority of the population lives on the Atlantic coastal zone and is totally dependent on subsidies from France. The European Space Agency is responsible for more than 50 percent of the economic activity.

For the immediate future, the forests of French Guiana face relatively few threats, although timber extraction is increasing and a relatively high population growth rate of displaced Lao farmers and other local groups may pressure coastal forest regions with subsistence agriculture. Gold potential in the interior regions is attracting foreign development interest, and there are some concerns over a potential road project. In recent years sporadic outbreaks of civil disorder over independence have brought into question what would happen to forests should French Guiana become independent. Still, the country lost only 2.6 percent of its forest cover between 1990 and 2005, the lowest loss in South America. Average annual deforestation rates have actually declined by 17 percent since the close of the 1990s.

Overall, more than 90 percent of French Guiana is forested, about 95 percent of which consists of primary forest. The country has some 1,064 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles, according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Of these, 1.1 percent are endemic and 1.9 percent are threatened. French Guiana is home to at least 5,625 species of vascular plants, of which 2.6 percent are endemic. At present, 15.4 percent of French Guiana is protected under IUCN categories I-V.

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Suggested reading - Books

• Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 1 : The Northern Neotropics: Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana (Eisenberg, John F//Mammals of the Neotropics)
• Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana
• French Guiana Map
• Guide to the Vascular Plants of Central French Guiana: Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, and Monocotyledons (Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden)

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Last updated: 6 Feb 2006