Global Connections: Forests of the World
90°W

0°

90°E

60°N

60°N

Temperate Mountain Forest
Highlands around theworld are cooler andwetter (or drier) than thesurrounding areas, andthus often have different
forest vegetation. Thesemountain forests are
essential for watershed
and soil conservation, as
well as habitat diversity.

30°N

Temperate Oceanic Forest

CanadaGermany
Temperate oceanic
forests are associated withhumid climates, and are
the natural vegetation ofeastern North America,
Western Europe, Asia,and parts of Patagonia.
They include deciduous
species such as oak, birch,maple, and ash trees.

30°N

Boreal Coniferous Forest
RussiaBoreal coniferous forests
are found at high latitudes
where the climate is cold,
mainly in the northern
regions of North America,
northern Europe, andSiberia. These evergreen
forests are the world’s
major source ofcommercial softwood.

Subtropical Desert
Subtropical deserts havehigh temperatures, littlerain, and long dry spells.
They are found in Asia,
Australia, Africa andNorth and South America.
Trees grow sparsely or inpatches, and usually havesmall leaves adapted toretain moisture.

0°Costa Rica

Subtropical Dry Forest0°

Australia
Subtropical dry forests
are the natural vegetationof the Mediterranean
climate type (with mild,moist winters and drysummers), found invarious regions aroundthe world. The typicaltree species have small,leathery, evergreen leaves.

Tropical Dry Forest
Tropical dry forests andwoodlands occur intropical regions withpronounced dry seasons.
Relatively open with agrassy understory, theseforests are most extensivein eastern and southern
Africa, where they are
major habitats for wildlife.

Tropical Rainforest
30°S

Tropical rainforests arefound in the Amazon
basin of South America,
the Congo basin ofCentral Africa, and partsof Southeast Asia, where
it is hot and humid allyear. They constitute theworld’s most diverse
terrestrial ecosystem.

ZambiaBrazil30°S

Tropical Shrubland

Change in Forest Area

Tropical shrublands occur
in dry tropical regionswith too little rain to
support tall trees, mostextensively in Africa andAustralia. They are madeup of shrubs or small
trees, with grasses andother short plants
growing between them.

PolarAntarctica
Polar regions receive littlewarmth from the sun, andare covered by a treelesstundra, glaciers, or asemi-permanent layer ofice. They occur inAntarctica and in thenorthernmost areas ofEurasia and North America.

60°S

02,500Botswana

60°S

5,000

Forest by Domain

10,000Km

Approximate Scale 1 : 40,000,000

0Projection: World Robinson, center 0°, 0°

Forest cover density (%)

100

Forest Cover by Country1

Net Change in Forest Area by Country, 2005-2010 (in ha/year)
Net LossMore than 500,000

Small Change (gain or loss)
Less than 50,000

Net Gain
50,000-250,000

250,000-500,000

250,000-500,000

50,000-250,000

More than 500,000

Russian Federation
BrazilCanadaUSAChina
Democratic Republic of Congo
Australia
Indonesia
SudanIndia
Peru
MexicoColombia
AngolaBolivia
ZambiaVenezuela
Mozambique
Tanzania
MyanmarArgentina
Papua New Guinea
SwedenJapan
Central African Republic
049%
62 %
34 %
33 %
22 %
68 %
19 %
52 %
29 %
23 %
53%
33 %
55 %
47 %
53 %
67 %
52 %
12.7 %
38 %
48 %
11 %
63 %
69 %
69 %
36 %
3,000,000

Percent of country’s land area in forest
Forested Non-forested

6,000,000

9,000,000

12,000,000

15,000,000

18,000,000

Forested land
Percent of(sq km) world’s forest
809,090.00
Russian Federation
519,522.00
Brazil310,134.00
Canada304,022.00
USA
206,861.00
China
154,135.00
Democratic Republic of Congo
149,300.00
Australia
94,432.00
Indonesia
69,949.00
Sudan
68,434.00
India
67,992.00
Peru64,802.00
Mexico60,499.00
Colombia
58,480.00
Angola57,196.00
Bolivia
49,468.00
Zambia46,275.00
Venezuela
39,022.00
Mozambique
33,428.00
Tanzania
31,773.00
Myanmar29,400.00
Argentina
28,726.00
Papua New Guinea
28,203.00
Sweden24,979.00
Japan
22,605.00
Central African Republic
704,333.00
All others
Total 4,033,060.0020.06
12.88
7.69
7.54
5.13
3.82
3.70
2.34
1.73
1.70
1.69
1.61
1.50
1.45
1.42
1.23
1.15
0.97
0.83
0.79
0.73
0.71
0.70
0.62
0.56
17.46
100.00square kilometers
1Countries listed in descending order of forested land. Country-level forest statistics were compiled by FAO and reported in the Global Forest Resource Assessment 2010. For details on data sources and methods, see http://www.fao.org/forestry/fra/fra2010/en/.

Approximate Scale 1 : 110,000,000
0Forest cover density (%)

100Tropical
Subtropical
Temperate
BorealPolar

About the Poster: This poster is part of Global Connections: Forests of the World, a secondary environmental education module published by Project Learning Tree and World Forestry Center. The module helps educate students about their connections to the forests of the world as they learn about cultural, economic, environmental, and political aspects of the world’s forests. Educators can obtain a copy of Global Connections: Forests of the World by attending a professional development workshop. For more information about the module and Project Learning Tree, visit www.plt.org. For more information about the World Forestry Center, visit www.worldforestry.org. We would like to thank the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for permission to reprint the maps from The World’s Forests 2010 poster and from the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010. For more information about the data and the development of the maps, see http://www.fao.org/forestry/fra/fra2010/en/.