The XIV World Forestry Congress was recently held in Africa, where we heard a lot of news about forestry and deforestation, shedding some much needed light on one of earth’s natural resources. Some countries see lumber as rare, others have an abundant forest life and are protecting it. We’ve rounded up the 11 Countries With The Most Forests In The World.
The meeting was held in Durban, South Africa, from the 7th to the 11th of September. It was concluded that nowadays forests are “more then just trees” and that they hold vast potential to have a crucial role in ending hunger, improving livelihoods and combating climate change. We already wrote about deforestation in our article Countries With The Highest Deforestation Rates In The World .
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations says that forests cover 31% of total land area and the world’s total forest area is just over 4 billion hectares.
The Earth Policy Institute is providing a plan to save civilization and they recently declared that “We must not forget that forests provide many important goods, such as timber and paper. They also supply essential services—for example, they filter water, control water runoff, protect soil, regulate climate, cycle and store nutrients, and provide habitat for countless animal species and sand space for recreation.”
The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 is the most comprehensive assessment of forestry to date. Information has been collated from 233 countries and territories for four points in time: 1990, 2000, 2005 and 2010. This is the list of 11 countries with the most forests in the world.
11. Peru
Area: 67,992,000 Hectares
Approximately 53 % of Peru is covered in forests, the majority of which is tropical forest.
10. India
Area: 68,434,000 Hectares
India’s forests covers 24% of the country’s land mass.
9. Sudan
Area: 69,992,000 Hectares
The forest covers 27% of the country area as estimated by FAO Forests Resource Assessment.
8. Indonesia
Area: 94,432,000 Hectares
… which is equivalent to 47% country area.
7. Australia
Area: 149,300,000 Hectares
Australia has approximately 149 million hectares of native forest, which represents some 19% of land use. The majority of Australia’s trees are hardwoods, typically eucalyptus, rather than softwoods like pine.
6. The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Area: 154,135,000 Hectares
Fifty percent of the remaining rainforest in the Congo Basin lies within the boundaries of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
5. China
Area: 206,861,000 Hectares
Some 19% of the land area is covered by forest.
4. United States of America
Area: 304,022,000 Hectares
… which are equivalent to 30% country area.
3. Canada
Area: 310,134,000 Hectares
… also approximately 30% of the land area.
2. Brazil
Area: 522,000,000 Hectares
Forest makes nearly 57 % of the land area, but unfortunately deforestation is continuing at an alarming rate.
1. Russian Federation
Area: 809,090,000 Hectares
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Russia is not only the largest country in the world, but also the country with the largest forest area. Notice none of the 11 Countries With The Most Forests In The World are in Europe.
