The table depicts the percentage of land covered by forest in four countries – Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Chile – in the years 1990, 2005, and 2015.
Overall, we can see two opposing trends. On one hand, the percentage of forested areas in New Zealand and Chile was increasing from 1990 to 2015. On the other hand, a decrease in forested areas was observed in Australia and Brazil over the same time frame.
In 1990, Brazil had the largest proportion of forested area at 62.2%. In 2005, its forest coverage had decreased to 57.2%, and then it shrank even further to 53.5% in 2015. New Zealand, on the other hand, has the second largest percentage of land covered by forest, starting at 28.8% in 1990. Contrary to the trend in Brazil, though, the percentage of forested area in New Zealand steadily increased, reaching 32.3% in 2015.
Australia and Chile are also showing contrasting trends in forest coverage. In 1990, Australia had a higher percentage of land covered by forest at 21.9%, while Chile had only 20.4%. But over the next 25 years, the forested area in Chile grew in proportion, while Australia’s forests shrank. In 2015, Chile ended up with 22% forest coverage, which is higher than Australia’s 20% coverage.