Of the world's estimated 3.8 billion hectares of forests in 1992, the Asia-Pacific region had over 0.6 billion hectares, or 16% of the total. Table 11 presents the forest land areas in the countries of the region. The top three countries are China with 1.26 billion hectares, Indonesia with 1.09 billion hectares and Australia 1.06 billion hectares. However, larger forest land areas do not necessarily mean more forest reserves. China has more forest land area than Indonesia, but the average volume of growing stock in China is under 100 m3/ha, while it is about 180 m3/ha in Indonesia.
Historical data on forest areas for the Asia-Pacific region show a worse deforestation rate, than the world average. Between 1962 and 1992, the forest land area decreased at about 0.47% per year, which is much higher than the world average rate of 0.3% per year. The largest forest land area losses have occurred in Southeast Asia, e.g., 1.7% per year in Thailand, 1.4% in Philippines, 1.1% in Viet Nam, and 0.86% in Malaysia.
Table 11. Total forest land area in countries of the Asia-Pacific region (1000 ha).
|
Country |
1962 |
1972 |
1982 |
1992 |
|
Australia |
137700 |
137700 |
106000 |
106000 |
|
Bangladesh |
2224 |
2229 |
2144 |
1891 |
|
Bhutan |
2604 |
2589 |
2574 |
2561 |
|
Cambodia |
13372 |
13372 |
13372 |
13372 |
|
China |
155404 |
144424 |
133065 |
126515 |
|
Fiji |
1177 |
1185 |
1185 |
1185 |
|
French Polynesia |
115 |
115 |
115 |
115 |
|
Hong Kong |
18 |
19 |
21 |
22 |
|
India |
56655 |
63690 |
67416 |
66950 |
|
Indonesia |
124400 |
122400 |
115500 |
109200 |
|
Japan |
25558 |
25043 |
25198 |
25105 |
|
Korea Dem People's Rep |
8970 |
8970 |
8970 |
8970 |
|
Korea Rep |
6694 |
6628 |
6554 |
6480 |
|
Laos |
15500 |
14500 |
13500 |
12600 |
|
Macau |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Malaysia |
25580 |
23180 |
20930 |
19000 |
|
Myanmar |
32172 |
32172 |
32143 |
32397 |
|
Nepal |
2480 |
2480 |
2480 |
2480 |
|
New Caledonia |
708 |
708 |
708 |
708 |
|
New Zealand |
7450 |
7150 |
7120 |
7370 |
|
Pakistan |
1667 |
2768 |
3050 |
3480 |
|
Papua New Guinea |
38750 |
38550 |
38350 |
38220 |
|
Philippines |
17100 |
15671 |
11963 |
10150 |
|
Samoa |
151 |
141 |
133 |
134 |
|
Singapore |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
Solomon Islands |
2560 |
2560 |
2560 |
2560 |
|
Sri Lanka |
1880 |
1820 |
1747 |
2100 |
|
Thailand |
28320 |
20770 |
15678 |
14000 |
|
Tonga |
11 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
|
Vanuatu |
914 |
914 |
914 |
914 |
|
Viet Nam |
14200 |
13700 |
10560 |
9340 |
|
Asia Pacific |
724338 |
705459 |
643961 |
623830 |
|
World |
4223141 |
4175978 |
4082835 |
3841507 |
|
Share |
17% |
17% |
16% |
16% |
Source: FAO.
