According to the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, forests cover almost one-third of the world's land area or 3869 million hectares, of which 95% is natural forest and 5% is planted forest. Forests are distributed unevenly across the globe with 17% in Africa, 14% in Asia, 27% in Europe, 14% in North and Central America, 23% in South America and 5% in Oceania.
Forest cover and distribution
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Forest changes 1990-2000 |
Forest cover and distribution
Map of Global Forest Distribution
Dark green represents closed forest, more than 40 per cent covered with trees more than 5 metres high;
mid-green represents open (10-40 per cent coverage) and fragmented forest; light green represents other woodland, shrubland and bushland.
Source: FAO (2001)
Forest area distribution by region 2000
| Region | Land area | Total forest (natural forests and forest plantations) | ||
| million ha | million ha | % of land area | % of all forests | |
| Africa | 2,978 | 650 | 22 | 17 |
| Asia | 3,085 | 548 | 18 | 14 |
| Europe | 2,260 | 1,039 | 46 | 27 |
| North and Central America | 2,137 | 549 | 26 | 14 |
| Oceania | 849 | 198 | 23 | 5 |
| South America | 1,755 | 885 | 51 | 23 |
| WORLD TOTAL | 13,064 | 3,869 | 30 | 100 |
| Source: FAO (2001) | ||||
| Forests can also be grouped by their ecological type; tropical forests constitute the major forest type followed by boreal, temperate and sub-tropical forests respectively. |
Region | Global coverage (%) | |
| Tropics | 47 | ||
| Boreal zone | 33 | ||
| Temperate areas | 11 | ||
| Subtropics | 9 | ||
| WORLD TOTAL | 100 |
Forest Distribution by Country
Two-thirds of the world's forest is currently distributed among 10 countries: the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, USA, China, Australia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Angola and Peru. (see chart below)
Forest distribution by country
Photo: FAO 2001
