UN FAO, 2010 - Two Sides

14
Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010
Figure 2.3
forest area as a percentage of total land area by country, 2010
(%)
0–10 10–30 30–50 50–70 70–100 No data
Table 2.2
high forest cover countries, 2010
country/area
forest area
1 000 ha % of land area
French guiana 8 082 98
Suriname 14 758 95
Micronesia (Federated States of) 64 92
american Samoa 18 89
Seychelles 41 88
Palau 40 88
gabon 22 000 85
Pitcairn 4 83
Turks and Caicos islands 34 80
Solomon islands 2 213 79
In 64 countries and areas, forests cover no more than 10 percent of the total land
area. Often referred to as low forest cover countries (LFCCs), these include many
SIDS and dependent territories, as well as 16 larger countries with relatively substantial
forest areas (more than 1 million hectares each). Three of these (Chad, the Islamic
Republic of Iran and Mongolia) each have more than 10 million hectares of forest.
A total of 161 countries and areas reported that they had some land classified as
‘other wooded land’ in 2010. However, it was evident from the comments provided in
the country reports that the vast majority of the remaining 72 countries and areas also
have vegetation that would be categorized as other wooded land using the definitions
employed for FRA 2010, but currently have no reliable data on the actual extent.
The total area of other wooded land is estimated to be at least 1.1 billion hectares –
equivalent to 9 percent of the total land area. This category suffered from reclassification
problems, particularly in dry zones such as those in Australia, Kenya, Mozambique and
Sudan, where the distinction between forest and other wooded land is not very clear.