GEO-6 Regional Assessment for Latin America and the Caribbean


Table 2.4.2: Forest cover by sub-region. Sub-region


Land area (km2


)


Mesoamerica Caribbean


South America TOTAL


Source: FAO 2015c


In the region, 50 per cent of forests has very little human intervention (primary forests), and about 2 per cent are planted forests, mostly with exotic species. The remaining 48 per cent corresponds to other naturally regenerating forests (FAO 2015c) (Figure 2.4.5).


Forest loss is still a dominant process in the region although its rate has dropped (e.g. there is forest gain) since 1990 in all sub-regions (Figure 2.4.6). According to FAO (2010a), during the 2005 – 2010 period, the Caribbean had an increase in forest cover of 420 km2 4 040 km2


, and South America lost 35 830 km2


, while Mesoamerica lost . Deforestation


and reforestation are taking place simultaneously, with an increase in woody vegetation in areas where mechanized


Source: FAO 2016b Figure 2.4.5: Forest cover types.


Total (LAC region) South America


Central America Caribbean


50.10% 51.10% 44.60% 3.30% 0 10 20 30 Primary forest Source: FAO 2015c 40 86.40% 50 Percent Planted forest 60 70 80 48.10% 47.00% 54.90% 10.30% 90 100 1.80% 1.90% 0.50%


agriculture is not feasible or land has been abandoned, (Aide et al. 2013) (Figure 2.4.7).


These changes occur in certain hotspots whose locations reflect the close and complex links between land cover, agriculture and consumption patterns both inside and outside the region (Hecht 2014). Processes like forest clearing for creating pastures and agricultural land are still important but have shifted from forests to other natural ecosystems, like cerrado (Brazilian savannah) and mostly grasslands, where soybean crops are replacing native grasslands in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.


Mesoamerica


2 452 270 225 990


Forested area (km2


)


862 903 71 954


17 461 110 8 420 106 20 139 370 9 354 963


Proportion of sub-


region (%)


35.19 31.84 48.22 46.45


Caribbean


Figure 2.4.6: Average annual change in forest extent, 2000– 2015 (thousands of hectares per year).


South America


-40k


-35k -30k -25k -20k 2000


-15k


-10k -5k


Hectares per Year (thousand) 2005


2010


0k 2015


-5k


86


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