Problem: Species-rich wild forests are being destroyed, especially in the tropics, often for livestock, soybean or palm oil orchards or other crops.
Today, about 30 percent of the planet's land area is covered by forests - more than half of what agriculture began about 11,000 years ago. About 7.3 million hectares (18 million acres) of forests are destroyed each year, mostly in the tropics. Tropical forests are used to cover about 15 percent of summer land; These have now come down to 6 per cent. Most of this residue has been degraded by logging or burning.
Natural forests not only act as reserves of biodiversity, they reduce carbon and keep it away from the atmosphere and oceans.
Solution: Preserve natural forest residues and restore degraded areas by replacing them with native tree species. It requires strong administration - but with a growing population, unequal law and order and a growing interest in land allocation, many tropical countries are still developing.
