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  An area of a rainforest the size of a football field is being destroyed each second.
  
  
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  The forests of Central Africa are home to more than 8,000 different species of plants.
  
  
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  More than 5,000 things are made from trees such as houses, furniture, pencils, utensils, fences, books, newspaper, movie tickets, even clothing and toothpaste.
  
  
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  The single oldest living thing on earth is a tree, its is 4,700 years old and is located in the US. It was growing when the Egyptians built the pyramids.
  
  
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  Most rainforests are cleared for their timber value and then are followed by farming and ranching operations, by companies such as Mitsubishi Corporation, Texaco and Unocal.
  
  
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  In less than one hundred years over half of the forest has now been cut and burned, leaving whole areas of the earth bare and unprotected, rendering entire regions lifeless.
  
  
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  In less than one hundred years over half of the forest has now been cut and burned, leaving whole areas of the earth bare and unprotected, rendering entire regions lifeless. Over fifty million acres of tropical rain forest are destroyed every year, enough trees to fill all of England and Scotland combined.
  
  
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  In what has been described as "the worst fire ever in the Brazilian Amazon,"a 250-mile-long line of fire destroyed about 15 percent of the Roraima State's savanna and forest before rains slowed the fires Covering an area the size of Belgium, the fires devastated about two thirds of the plants, animals and other biodiversity in the burned region.
  
  
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  Over 300,000 acres of forest has burned in Indonesia's East Kalimantan, and over 5,000 people are suffering from smog-related diseases.
  
  
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  While most of Malaysia is relatively clear of haze, certain parts, such as Siri in Sarawak, has been suffering from pollution indexes of above 500, which is considered hazardous to human health.
  
  
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  Last year's haze cost the people of Southeast Asia $1.4 billion, mostly in short- term health costs, according to a study conducted by the Indonesia Program of WWF and the Singapore-based Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA). Another study is currently underway to determine the long-term costs to human health and wildlife.
  
  
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  Fires are also destroying forests and wildlife in Vietnam, Thailand, Mongolia, Russia, Australia, Rwanda and several other countries.                                                           

The world’s forests fulfill many roles such as providing renewable raw materials and energy, maintaining biodiversity, and protecting land and water resources. However, they can be damaged by fire, agricultural and urban expansion, and other disturbances.

How much forest is there on the planet and at what rate is it disappearing?

-The area of land covered by forests is a key piece of information for forest policy in a country or region.

-About 30% of the global total land area is covered by forests, this amounts to just under 40 million km². This corresponds to an area roughly the size of a football field for every person on the planet, but it is unevenly distributed.

-Deforestation, mainly conversion of forests to agricultural land, is continuing at an alarmingly high rate. Forest area decreased worldwide by 0.22% per year in the period 1990-2000 and 0.18% per year between 2000 and 2005. However, the net loss of forest is slowing down as a result of the planting of new forests and of natural expansion of forests.

-Primary forests account for over a third of global forest area, but 60 000  km² (an area roughly the size of Ireland) continue to be lost or modified by logging or other human interventions each year. Forest plantations are increasing but make up less than 5% of overall forest area. The remainder are mainly modified natural forests, but also semi-natural forests.

How can forests affect climate change?

Forests influence climate change mainly by affecting the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When forests grow, carbon is removed from the atmosphere and absorbed in wood, leaves and soil. Because forests can absorb and store carbon over an extended period of time, they are considered “carbon sinks”. This carbon remains stored in the forest ecosystem, but can be released into the atmosphere when forests are burned. Overall, the world’s forest ecosystems are estimated to store more carbon than the entire atmosphere.

What is the biological diversity of the world’s forests?

- Biological diversity allows forest ecosystems to adapt continuously to changing conditions and to maintain their potential for meeting human needs.

- The amount of primary forest provides a basic indication of biodiversity. Nearly half of the primary forest is found in South America, a quarter in North and Central America, and nearly a fifth in the Russian Federation alone. Several countries, mostly in Europe and in the arid zones of Africa and Western Asia, have no primary forests left.

- Protected areas of forest are important to conserve biological diversity, although many areas outside protected areas are also managed for conservation purposes. The area of forest designated specifically for biodiversity conservation has increased significantly over the past 15 years. It now exceeds 11% of total forest area.

- The number of native tree species found in different countries varies greatly. In general, the highest number of species is found in countries located in the humid tropics and the lowest in those with boreal forests. The most common tree species appear to have remained the same in most countries over the last 15 years.

- Rare tree species and those with high economic value are often in danger of becoming locally extinct. On average, 5% of the tree species native to a country are threatened. There does not seem to be a clear relationship between loss of forest and number of threatened tree species.

How healthy are the world’s forests?

-Forests can be damaged by disturbances such as fires, airborne pollution, storms, invasive species, pests, diseases, and insects.

- About 1% of forests (an area roughly the size of New Zealand) are consumed by fire each year, causing casualties, economic damage, loss of biodiversity and release of carbon to the atmosphere. Nowadays, most forest fires are caused by humans.

- Problems caused by insects and diseases have increased in recent years, being spread by long-distance air travel and increased international agricultural and forest product trade. Globally, 3% of forest area is reported to be affected by insects and diseases.

- Other forest disturbances include climatic factors such as wind, snow, ice, floods, tropical storms and drought, or impacts of animals such as deer and rodents. In Europe, the average area of forest affected by disturbances in a year almost doubled between 1990 and 2000 due to the effects of severe storms such as those that hit Western Europe in December 1999.

What products are extracted from forests?

-Forests provide a wide range of products, not only timber and fuelwood, but also products such as food (berries, mushrooms, etc.) and fodder.

-Wood production continues to be an important function of many forests. 

-One third of the world’s forests are used primarily for production of wood and other forest products. Most of these are natural or semi-natural forests. Forests planted specifically to supply wood and other forest products make up less than 3% of the global forest area, but supply a substantial proportion of forest products.

-The growing stock is the amount of stemwood in a given area. It provides an indication of how much biomass and carbon is stored in the forest.

-Overall, growing stock has decreased slightly between 1990 and 2005.

-About 30% of the total growing stock is found in South America.

-The volume of timber and fuelwood harvested has remained constant over the last fifteen years.