Rainforest loss slower than thought - study
Date: 14-Aug-02
Country: EU
The study by a team at the European Union's Joint Research Centre found the area of rainforest destroyed between 1990 and 1997 to be 23 percent smaller than the generally accepted figure.
"I think we have to be cautious about saying it's good news," said Hugh Eva co-author of the team's report published in this week's issue of the Science magazine.
Even the new figures mean an area of rainforest twice the size of Belgium is cut down each year, Eva told Reuters on Monday.
Most researchers rely on data from the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation, which show the world's rainforest cover diminishing by about 0.5 percent a year.
Instead of measuring the entire area of rainforest, the new study used satellite images to concentrate on areas where deforestation was thought to be most likely. It estimated the annual loss to be 0.43 percent.
Rainforests account for much of the earth's biodiversity and help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Their destruction is believed to hasten global warming.