Javascript Other reports in this collection 11.3.4.2. Rainforests grow in ever-wet conditions where rainfall is heavy and spread throughout the year. These forests are evergreen or semi-evergreen and include lowland, montane, and swamp forests.
Monsoon forests grow where rainfall is high but unevenly spread throughout the year.
These two types of forest cover about 2 million km 2 in the region, although many forests are degraded by logging, farming, and fire. In Malaysia, Myanmar, and Sumatra, forests are being modified by timber extraction. Studies of the potential regional impacts of climate change on the forests and forestry of Tropical Asia are limited, although a number of local studies have been carried out. Results of research from Thailand suggest that climate change would have a profound effect on the future distribution, productivity, and health of Thailand s forests. A northward shift of tropical wet forests into areas currently occupied by tropical dry forests also is projected.