The world's tropical forests

circle the globe in a ring around the Equator They are surprisingly diverse, ranging from lush rain
forests to dry savannas and containing millions of species of plants and animals (fig. 1). Tropical
forests once covered some 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha). In recent times, however, they have
been cut at a rapid rate to make room for agriculture and to obtain their many valuable products.
Between 1985 and 1990, 210 million acres (85 million ha) of tropical forests were destroyed.

This guide shows how modern forest practices can help stem the tide of forest destruction while
providing valuable forest products for people. The tropical forests of Puerto Rico, which were
abused for centuries, were badly depleted by the early 1900's. Widespread abandonment of poor
agricultural lands has allowed natural reforestation and planting programs to create a patchwork
of private, Commonwealth, and Federal forests across the land (fig. 2). The most frequent
example in this publication is the Luquillo Experimental Forest, which could be a model for
protecting and managing tropical forests worldwide.

The world's tropical forests circle the globe in a ring around the Equator They are surprisingly
diverse, ranging from lush rain forests to dry savannas and containing millions of species of
plants and animals (fig. 1). Tropical forests once covered some 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha).
In recent times, however, they have been cut at a rapid rate to make room for agriculture and to
obtain their many valuable products. Between 1985 and 1990, 210 million acres (85 million ha) of
tropical forests were destroyed.

This guide shows how modern forest practices can help stem the tide of forest destruction while
providing valuable forest products for people. The tropical forests of Puerto Rico, which were
abused for centuries, were badly depleted by the early 1900's. Widespread abandonment of poor
agricultural lands has allowed natural reforestation and planting programs to create a patchwork
of private, Commonwealth, and Federal forests across the land (fig. 2). The most frequent
example in this publication is the Luquillo Experimental Forest, which could be a model for
protecting and managing tropical forests worldwide.

The world's tropical forests circle the globe in a ring around the Equator They are surprisingly
diverse, ranging from lush rain forests to dry savannas and containing millions of species of
plants and animals (fig. 1). Tropical forests once covered some 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha).
In recent times, however, they have been cut at a rapid rate to make room for agriculture and to
The world's tropical forests circle the globe in a ring around the Equator They are surprisingly
diverse, ranging from lush rain forests to dry savannas and containing millions of species of
plants and animals (fig. 1). Tropical forests once covered some 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha).
In recent times, however, they have been cut at a rapid rate to make room for agriculture and to
obtain their many valuable products. Between 1985 and 1990, 210 million acres (85 million ha) of
tropical forests were destroyed.

This guide shows how modern forest practices can help stem the tide of forest destruction while
providing valuable forest products for people. The tropical forests of Puerto Rico, which were
abused for centuries, were badly depleted by the early 1900's. Widespread abandonment of poor
agricultural lands has allowed natural reforestation and planting programs to create a patchwork
of private, Commonwealth, and Federal forests across the land (fig. 2). The most frequent
example in this publication is the Luquillo Experimental Forest, which could be a model for
protecting and managing tropical forests worldwide.

obtain their many valuable products. Between 1985 and 1990, 210 million acres (85 million ha) of
tropical forests were destroyed.

This guide shows how modern forest practices can help stem the tide of forest destruction while
providing valuable forest products for people. The tropical forests of Puerto Rico, which were
abused for centuries, were badly depleted by the early 1900's. Widespread abandonment of poor
agricultural lands has allowed natural reforestation and planting programs to create a patchwork
of private, Commonwealth, and Federal forests across the land (fig. 2). The most frequent
example in this publication is the Luquillo Experimental Forest, which could be a model for
protecting and managing tropical forests worldwide.

The UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section monitors all aspects of forest,
forest resources, their functions and services in the region, and makes available
the information on the state of forests in the UNECE region. It provided regional
inputs to the global Forest Resource Assessments 2010 and 2015. The Section
works with partners in countries, international organisations and the scientific
community to collect information according to agreed standards and rules,
improve the quality of the information, notably by ensuring international
comparability, storing, disseminating and analyzing the information and helping
countries to strengthen their capacity in this area.
Increasingly, information is organized according to internationally agreed sets of
criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management.

Work area 2 comprises the following programme elements:

• Collecting, validating and disseminating information according to criteria
and indicators of sustainable forest management
• Regional contribution to FAO Forest Resource Assessment 2010
• Reporting on and analysis of the state of forests in the UNECE region
• Monitoring and analysing forest ownership and tenure