The table provides information on how many millions of hectares of land were forested in six different areas of the world. Overall, the most noticeable changes are that forest areas generally declined in the first decade of the period while they experienced various changes in the latter half decade of the period.
Throughout the period, many forested land areas (Africa, North America, Oceania, and South America) have increased. South America, which has the most significant change, fell by 82 million hectares in 2005. It was followed by Africa, which declined from 749 to 691 million hectares. On the other hand, North America and Oceania had the smallest change, each decreasing less than 4 million hectares.
In contrast, Europe pursued an upward trend, increasing by 12 million hectares between 1990 and 2005. Also, Europe has been maintaining the first place in terms of forest land during the whole period. Asia, however, declined by 6 million hectares in 2000 whereas it grew by 14 million hectares in 2005.