Forest Ecosystems
|
Closed Forests |
||||||||||||||
|
Forests as a % of |
Percent |
Forest Ecosystems (1996) |
||||||||||||
|
Original |
Original Forests |
Frontier |
Sparse Trees and |
|||||||||||
|
Total Land |
Forest as |
Current |
Frontier |
Forests |
Mangroves |
Tropical Forests |
Nontropical Forests |
Parkland |
||||||
|
Area |
a % of |
Forests |
Forests |
Threatened |
Area |
Percent |
Area |
Percent |
Area |
Percent |
Area |
Percent |
||
|
(000 ha) |
Land Area |
1996 |
1996 |
1996 |
(000 ha) |
Protected |
(000 ha) |
Protected |
(000 ha) |
Protected |
(000 ha) |
Protected |
||
|
Cuba |
10,982 |
90.4 |
28.8 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
767 |
7.0 |
1,761 |
15.3 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Dominican Republic |
4,838 |
97.7 |
25.1 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
70 |
52.1 |
1,171 |
16.9 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Guyana |
19,685 |
98.9 |
97.4 |
81.8 |
41.1 |
159 |
0.0 |
17,844 |
1.3 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Haiti |
2,756 |
93.2 |
0.8 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
64 |
2.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Jamaica |
1,083 |
96.7 |
35.6 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
9 |
10.8 |
399 |
20.5 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Suriname |
15,600 |
91.7 |
95.6 |
92.2 |
21.7 |
109 |
35.9 |
13,219 |
4.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Trinidad and Tobago |
513 |
93.5 |
35.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
5 |
5.9 |
124 |
7.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Caribbean |
57,737 |
94.7 |
71.9 |
54.7 |
.. |
1,119 |
11.6 |
34,582 |
5.4 |
0 |
.. |
0 |
.. |
|
|
Costa Rica |
5,106 |
98.4 |
34.9 |
9.5 |
100.0 |
53 |
1.9 |
1,464 |
44.8 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
El Salvador |
2,072 |
99.4 |
9.9 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
45 |
0.0 |
111 |
4.5 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Guatemala |
10,843 |
98.7 |
46.2 |
2.2 |
100.0 |
16 |
16.7 |
3,862 |
31.9 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Honduras |
11,189 |
99.5 |
51.6 |
16.4 |
100.0 |
231 |
42.2 |
5,273 |
18.3 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Nicaragua |
12,140 |
100.0 |
44.3 |
21.6 |
100.0 |
94 |
14.8 |
5,322 |
24.7 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Panama |
7,443 |
97.2 |
62.0 |
34.8 |
100.0 |
180 |
2.1 |
3,744 |
30.9 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Central America |
48,793 |
98.9 |
46.6 |
15.9 |
.. |
619 |
19.2 |
19,776 |
26.9 |
0 |
.. |
0 |
.. |
|
|
Argentina |
273,669 |
5.5 |
59.5 |
6.3 |
99.9 |
0 |
0.0 |
4,360 |
5.5 |
19,094 |
10.1 |
6,392 |
9.4 |
|
|
Bolivia |
108,438 |
53.9 |
77.2 |
43.6 |
96.9 |
0 |
0.0 |
68,638 |
12.1 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Brazil |
845,651 |
64.0 |
66.4 |
42.2 |
47.8 |
1,340 |
28.4 |
301,273 |
6.9 |
2,613 |
6.9 |
137,494 |
1.3 |
|
|
Chile |
74,880 |
39.0 |
40.6 |
54.4 |
76.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
14,526 |
27.1 |
263 |
0.6 |
|
|
Colombia |
103,870 |
92.2 |
53.5 |
36.4 |
18.7 |
368 |
22.2 |
53,186 |
10.8 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
Ecuador |
27,684 |
78.8 |
66.4 |
36.9 |
99.5 |
238 |
14.2 |
13,508 |
23.9 |
0 |
0.0 |
755 |
46.9 |
|
|
Paraguay |
39,730 |
21.9 |
44.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
9,290 |
2.6 |
2,848 |
4.9 |
16,253 |
2.7 |
|
|
Peru |
128,000 |
74.4 |
86.6 |
56.7 |
99.6 |
0 |
0.0 |
75,636 |
5.1 |
0 |
0.0 |
2,660 |
3.0 |
|
|
Uruguay |
17,481 |
1.6 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
2 |
0.0 |
97 |
1.0 |
325 |
1.6 |
|
|
Venezuela |
88,205 |
74.7 |
83.6 |
59.3 |
37.3 |
621 |
65.1 |
55,615 |
59.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
3,997 |
18.6 |
|
|
South America |
1,707,608 |
66.3 |
67.9 |
43.7 |
.. |
2,567 |
35.1 |
581,508 |
12.9 |
39,178 |
15.8 |
168,139 |
2.4 |
|
|
Mexico |
190,869 |
55.7 |
63.4 |
8.1 |
77.0 |
0 |
0.0 |
45,765 |
4.3 |
212,930 |
3.1 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
|
LAC |
2,005,007 |
68.0 |
66.8 |
39.7 |
.. |
4,305 |
26.6 |
681,631 |
12.9 |
252,108 |
.. |
168,139 |
.. |
|
Sources: Total Land Area: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), FAOSTAT Statistics Database, Rome, 1998. Forest Data: The World Resources Institute (WRI), World Resources, A Guide to the Global Environment, 1998-99, Washington, D.C., 1998
Definitions: Closed forests exclude some woodlands and wooded savannah. Original forest as a percentage of land area refers to the estimate of the percentage of land that would have been covered by closed forest a bout 8,000 years ago assuming current climatic conditions. Current forests refer to estimated closed forest cover within the last 10 years. Frontier forests are large, relatively intact forest ecosystems. They represent undisturbed forest areas that are large enough to maintain all of their biodiversity, including viable populations of wide-ranging species associated with each forest type. Percent of frontier forests threatened refers to those frontier forests where ongoing or pla nned human activities such as logging, mining and other large-scale disturbances will eventually degrade the ecosystem through species decline or extinction, or drastic changes in the forest's age structure. Under the forest ecosystems heading, tropi cal forests include all forests located between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. All other forests are categorized as nontropical. Percent protected includes forest areas that fall within the protected areas that are listed as the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) management categories I-V. Refer to the Sources and Technical Notes of Table 6.1 for a description of these categories.
Note: Subregional averages are weighted by total land area.[an error occurred while processing this directive]