Africa lost more than 9 million acres of forest each year between 1990 and 1995, primarily because of logging, overgrazing, conversion of land for agriculture, and civil unrest, according to a new study by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Africa had an annual deforestation rate of 0.7 percent between 1990 and 1995, more than twice the world average of 0.3 percent, and between 1980 and 1995, the continent lost an estimated 10.5 percent of its forests. In sub-Saharan Africa, dependence on firewood for domestic energy needs is increasing because of a growing population and mounting poverty, the report found. Military conflicts and political turmoil in several countries have hampered forest management and the development of national park programs.
