Peru has approximately 73 million ha of forests, of which almost 69 million hectares or 94% of total land area are found in the country’s Amazon region. On a global scale, Peru’s extensive forests rank ninth in the world in terms of forest cover, fourth in terms of tropical forests, and second among the Amazonian countries. Although Peru has extensive forests, they contribute little to the national economy. Forest management has been historically been weak, resulting in inadequate forestry budgets and the conversion of the forests into focal points of social conflict.

Madagascar is one of eight largest biodiversity hotspots in the world, and is considered a priority conservation area due to a disconcerting number of species threatened with extinction. Despite major biodiversity conservation efforts, ecosystems in the country’s eastern forest are so fragmented and degraded that many native large animal species have been lost. Madagascar’s direct drivers of deforestation include small-scale agriculture, energy production, artisanal and illegal mining, forest harvesting, and livestock practices.

Panama is one of the fastest-growing economies in Latin American, but some of this growth has led to the loss of more than 250,000 hectares of mature forest in less than a decade. Uncontrolled deforestation has increased erosion rates and the risk of desertification, which are expected to be aggravated by the effects of climate change.

The area of highest priority for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Nicaragua is its Caribbean Coast that contains 80% (3.2 million ha) of Nicaragua’s total forest area, and is home to the country’s Bosawas Biosphere Reserve and Indio Maiz Biological Reserve. The Caribbean Coast has been a major source of deforestation and forest degradation in Nicaragua, driven primarily by extensive livestock and agricultural production, forest fires, firewood collection and logging.

Liberia’s forests are extremely rich in biodiversity and are recognized as a global conservation hotspot. The country has approximately 6.6 million ha of lowland tropical forests that form part of the remaining Upper Guinea forests of West Africa. 

Kenya has an estimated 3.5 million ha of forest and an additional 24.5 million ha of bush land. The country loses about 12,000 ha of forest each year through deforestation driven primarily by forest conversion for agriculture and infrastructure development. The remaining forests are degraded due to several factors, including unsustainable land use, illegal logging, uncontrolled grazing and exploitation for charcoal.

Some of the most important forest cover areas in Indonesia lie in the country’s East Kalimantan Province. This region has just under 7 million ha of tropical forests which are home to a wealth of globally significant biodiversity, and that support numerous indigenous and other local communities. More than 10% of East Kalimantan’s remaining forest cover was lost over the past decade, due primarily to the expansion of oil palm plantations, timber plantations, and mining. 

Ghana’s cocoa forest landscape has one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa, at 3.2% per year. Forest degradation and deforestation across this agro-forest mosaic, which covers 5.9 million ha of Ghana’s High Forest Zone, is being driven by continued cocoa farm expansion and other types of agriculture, coupled with a recent up-surge in illegal mining and logging. View Country Profile. 

Guyana has an estimated 18.4 million ha of forests, accounting for about 85% of the country’s total land area. Much of these forests make up part of South America’s Guiana Shield, one of the largest remaining blocks of primary tropical forest on earth, containing the highest percentage of primary forest cover (over 90% is intact tropical forest) of any major tropical forested area. It is therefore critical for Guyana to choose a development pathway rooted in sustainable land use, including reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).

Gabon is an equatorial country located at the western end of the Congo Basin rainforest, and is the second most forested country in the world. Substantial oil and mineral resources have helped to keep deforestation rates relatively low. The country’s main drivers of deforestation include some limited agricultural expansion, timber and fuelwood extraction, and infrastructure development.