80,000 acres of forest disappear a day

At least 80,000 acres of forest disappear from the Earth each day; and deforestation is estimated to be responsible for about 20 per cent of global carbon emissions.

Forests are vital to control climate as they control carbon. Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that 10.4 million hectares of tropical forest were permanently destroyed each year in the period from 2000 to 2005, an increase since the 1990-2000 period, when around 10.16 million hectares of forest were lost.

Among primary forests, annual deforestation rose to 6.26 million hectares from 5.41 million hectares in the same period.