The table gives us comprehensive data on the percentage of land covered by forest in the years 1990 and 2005, with an estimate for the year of 2015 in a few countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Chile.
Brazil has the highest percentage land covered by forest throughout followed by New Zealand, Australia and lastly Chile. However, we can see a significant decrease in the forest land of Brazil in 2005 and it is estimated to decrease even more by the year of 2015. A slight decrease in forest land is observed in Australia between 1990 and 2005, but the rate of forest land depletion is estimated to be faster by 2015. On the other hand, forest region in New Zealand has increased by a small margin in 2005 in comparison to 1990 and is set to increase even more by 2015. There is a healthy rate of forest land growth in Chile, increasing by more than a percent in the early 2000’s when compared to that of 1990. It is estimated that there will only be slight increase of forest land in Chile by 2015.
Even though Brazil has the highest percentage of forest land, their depletion rate is quite high which poses a risk for them in the long run. Unlike New Zealand and Chile who have a decent growth rate, even though their forest area is significantly lower than that of Brazil. Australia on the other hand, generally have a lower percentage of forest land and are depleting their forest also at a alarming rate.
