VANISHING FORESTS


USA: less than 15% of original forest left

Scotland: less than 1% of original forest left

China: will run out of harvestable forest within 10 years

Canada: 50% of all virgin forest logged

Norway: 3% of original forest left

Bangladesh: over 95% of original tropical forest destroyed

Cote d' Ivoire: 80% of forest destroyed

Haiti: virtually all primary rainforest destroyed

Ecuador: 140,000 hectares lost each year

Brazilian Amazon: 36 million hectares destroyed

Source: WWF Atlas of the Environment (1992)

Different types of forest


Our planet possesses a wide range of climatic zones.

There are "wet" tropical areas where rainfall and temperatures remain much the same throughout the year, and "dry" tropical regions, where temperatures and rainfall vary according to the season.

In temperate areas, winters are mostly cold, summers warm, and rain falls throughout the year. But in the far north, temperatures can range enormously - between - 68oC and + 38oC. Snow covers the land in winter and summers tend to be dry.

Different trees have therefore adapted to live in different parts of the world, and a variety of forest types have evolved.





Picture of a Finnish forest

Boreal
Finland
Picture of the rainforest

Temperate rainforest United States

Picture of a Polish forest

Temperate dry
Poland



Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature