They also yield other products for local consumption and for export, including food, fodder, fuel, gums, resins, dyes, tannins, herbs and medicines. Wildlife represents another substantial economic resource with diverse uses, and the social value of the forest for recreation and community life is great, though difficult to quantify. The major current problem is the extent and rate of destruction of forests. More than 11 million hectares of tropical forest were lost each year during the early 1980s when the annual reforestation rate was only 1.1 million hectares. The effects of deforestation and severe forest degradation are diverse and far reaching.
Impacts are environmental, economic and social.
Forests fulfill a number of environmental functions which are not yet fully understood in all their aspects. This makes it more difficult to manage them for sustainable economic and social use. Impact on climate Forest fires and the clearance of forest for agricultural use and roads or settlements, release copious volumes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is an important component of the so-called greenhouse gases, which also include methane and nitrogen oxides. These gases are regulators of global temperature.