Did You Know...
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- About half of the world's tropical forests have been cleared due to deforestation
- 12% - 17% of the world's greenhouse gases emission are from deforestation
- Currently only 30% of the world's land mass is covered by forest
- 1.6 billion people around the world rely on forest products for living
- Each year forests as big a Panama are lost
- In 100 years the world may lose all of its forested land
- Up to 28,000 species may go extinct in the next 25 years because of deforestation
Deforestation is the act of cutting down and clearing trees from forested areas of the world. The reasons for deforestation in different areas vary, but generally there are a few that are quite common. Typically, these range from urbanization, pasturing livestock and both illegal and legal logging. Unfortunately, this very negative impact humans are putting on the world continues to occur in several heavily forested areas. This has not only put the land in danger, but also the wildlife both in and surrounding these areas. Areas including the Amazon, Honduras, the Philippines, Nigeria and Indonesia are currently amongst the top places in the world to currently face deforestation. If humans don't come together and clean up their act the world may face a crisis that can never be solved.
What is Deforestation?