UN survey to check deforestation around the globe

2008-07-18 04:17:10 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Green, Top Stories)

Rome, Italy(WiredPRNews.com) — The UN has conducted a global survey of the Earth’s forests by remote sensing technology. This survey will help in enhancing knowledge about change in land use including reforestation, deforestation and forests’ natural expansion.

The survey is going to cover the whole of the Earth’s surface with nearly 9,000 samples, as per UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) that will work as a leading agency on this project. FAO assistant and director general of forestry coordinating the survey, Jan Heino said that rate of deforestation around the globe is over 32 million acres per year.

Concern has been growing over the loss of forests carbon, deforestation and role of the forests in climate changes. There has been an increased interest for monitoring the protected forest and tracking emissions through deforestation. Heino said that the policy processes of the nation want to address the critical issues like food, security and poverty alleviation related to forests.

The FAO, along with its partners, is going to use survey results in the next release of Global Forests Resources Assessment in 2010. This survey intends to strengthen all countries capacity to observe the forests on their own. The technology of remote sensing provides accurate information about forest degradation, deforestation and current forest trends.

FAO is supporting countries in monitoring their forests via a group of specialists from 176 countries sharing experiences and information. Aimed at addressing the exaggerated threats of fires in forests due to climatic changes, fire scientists and meteorologists from 25 different countries have come together at a UN-backed meeting held in Canada. The three-day meeting begun on Monday and focused on smoke forecasting, monitoring and improving fire danger index.

The forest fire occurrences depend largely upon climatic and meteorological factors. Lengthy episodes of low humidity, little rainfall and higher temperatures may lead to enhanced flammability in plants. The scientists say that 118% of the 10-year average area was burned down in the U.S. from January 2008 to July 2008 alone and 83% in neighboring Canada.

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