At the close of the twentieth century, there are approximately 3.5 billion hectares of forests in the world, representing 27 per cent of land use. Of this total forest area, 2 billion hectares are found in developing countries, mostly in the tropical and sub-tropical regions. Although the original forest area is not known precisely, it is estimated that the world has lost approximately 40 per cent of the original forest area of 6 billion hectares over the last 8,000 years. Most …showed first 75 words of 524 total…

…showed last 75 words of 524 total…more forests to farms. In many cases, political decision-makers knowingly permit deforestation to continue because it acts as a social and economic safety valve. By giving people free access to forested lands, the pressure is taken off politicians to resolve the more politically sensitive problems that face developing countries, such as land reform, rural development, power-sharing, and so on. Nonetheless, the problems do not go away. They persist as do the injustices associated with them.