UN: World Deforestation "out of control"*

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), has released a new
report about the destruction of rainforest in the developing world.

The report reveals how the destruction of rainforest in poorer countries
are "out of control and accelerating".

The total area of forest lost in the developing world is directly
negating the improvements made by other countries, in particular in
Europe, to maintain existing forests or even increase their forest cover.

Global forest cover amounts to just under 4 billion hectares, covering
about 30% of the world's land area. From 1992 to 2005, the world lost
three percent of its total forest area - about 0.2% or over 32 million
acres of forest a year.

Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean are at this point in time the
regions with the highest losses.

Africa, which accounts for 16% of the world's forest, lost over 9% of
its trees between 1990 and 2005.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, home to 50% of the world's forest,
half a per cent of the trees were lost each year in the period from the
early 90's to 2005.

In contrast, the forest cover in Asia between 2000 and 2005 actually
went up, though the increase in trees was dwarfed by the losses
elsewhere in the world.