Description:
Despite showing signs of slowing at the global level, the present pace of deforestation continues to be a source of serious concern for Latin America and the Caribbean. While the region’s forests represent one of the most important potential sources for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, it equally accounted for approximately 70% of the world’s decrease in forests between 2005 and 2010 (FAO 2010). The global forest resource assessment (FRA) conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) identifies Brazil as the country with the greatest net annual loss of forest area in the world, though this must be viewed as a historical process caused by multiple factors, both internal and external. Between 1990 and 2000, Brazil lost 2.8 million hectares per year (ha/year) of forests, while between 2000 and 2010 the loss was 2.6 million ha/year. The list of the ten countries with the highest net forest losses in the last decade includes the Plurinational State of Bolivia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, with a combined loss of 290,000 ha/year. These countries, along with Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador, constitute critical areas of deforestation in the region.