Food Wasted, Food Lost

due to deforestation and natural events (FAO 2010a). This is equivalent to an area about the size of 36 football fields being lost every minute (WWF 2013). When taking into account the expansion of natural and planted forests, the annual net loss in forest area between 2000 and 2010 was 5.2 million hectares (FAO 2010a). Deforestation rates are highest in the tropical areas of South America and Africa (FAO 2010a), where the majority of forest dependent people live (MA 2005; FAO 2012a). Between 2000 and 2010 South America had a net loss of 4 million hectares per year, while Africa had a net loss of 3.4 million hectares per year. As a region, Asia had a 2.2 million hectare net increase per year from 2000 to 2010, but thiswasmostlydue toChina’s large contribution to afforestation as other countries inSouth andSouth East Asia are still experiencing high rates of net loss (FAO 2010a). While Central and North America had about the same extent of forests in 2010 as in 2000, European forests are expanding. Deforestation is due to a combination of economic, political and institutional factors (MA 2005). They include agricultural expansion, timber extraction, illegal logging and land conversion to grazing land and plantations (FAO 2012a). Agricultural expansion is by far the main driver, causing about 80 per cent of deforestation worldwide (Kissinger et al. 2012).

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