5 African countries agree to combat illegal timber trade

FAO forest cover data for the five countries that signed the Zanzibar Declaration.

Data released Monday by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) showed that at least 6.3 million hectares of primary forest cover in sub-Saharan Africa was degraded over the past decade. Some of that would have been the result of selective logging, especially in Central African countries like Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Central African Republic, which combined reported an annual loss of more than 500,000 ha of primary forest.

WWF says that East Africa is likely to be one of the world’s deforestation hotspots over the next 20 years.

Article published by Rhett Butler on September 10, 2015.