FAO FORESTRY PAPER NO. 30; TROPICAL FOREST RESOURCES. FAO 1981.
The above study, published by FAO with financial assistance from UNEP, presents an in-depth analysis of the present situation and trends in tropical and sub-tropical forest resources. The study covers 76 tropical and sub-tropical countries in Africa, Asia and America, located between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Togeather these countries represent 97% of the total area of all tropical/sub-tropical countries.
A total reassessment of the present situation and evolution was made possible through the interpretation, within a common framework of concepts and classifications, of a large amount of data provided by forestry services and various other sources.
Estimated areas of natural woody vegetation in the 76 countries at the end of 1980 were about 1,200 million hectares of closed forest and 735 million hectares of open forest, totalling 1,935 million hectares, or 40% of their total land area. After adding the areas covered by forest fallows and shrub formations, the total area was close to 3,000 million hectares.
Deforestation and degradation of forest resources are mainly caused by human population pressure, through shifting cultivation and permanent agriculture, over-exploitation for fuelwood and charcoal, overgrazing and repeated fires. It is estimated that the closed forests of the 76 countries included in the study will be cleared at a rate of 7.5 million hectares per year (an average of 0.62%), mainly to make way for agriculture and ranching. Open tree formations will be cleared at an annual rate of 3.8 million hectares (an average of 0.52%). Total clearing, therefore, amounts to 11.3 million hectares per year, or 0.58%. A further 4.4 million hectares of closed forests are selectively logged every year for saw-logs and veneer logs.
By the end of 1985, 17 million hectares of plantations should be established in the 76 countries studied, representing 1.5% approximately of the area of closed natural forest formations. The average plantation: deforestation rate 1981 – 1985 is estimated at 1:10 (1:10.5 in Tropical America; 1:29 in Tropical Africa; and 1:4.5 in Tropical Asia).
In addition to FAO Forestry Paper no. 30 quoted above, which gives a summary of the findings of the project, the following more detailed regional reports (containing a regional synthesis and individual country briefs) have been published: (i) Technical Report no. 1, Los Recursos Forestales de la América Tropical; (ii) Technical Report no. 2, Forest Resources of Tropical Asia; and (iii) Technical Report no. 3, Forest Resources of Tropical Africa (2 volumes).
All the above publications are available at FAO Sales Agents throughout the world, or from Distribution and Sales Section, FAO, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy.
