Mekong Subregion: 40 years, 40 million hectares of forest lost.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has released a report stating that five countries in the Mekong Subregion have lost nearly one-third of their forest area (approximately 40 million hectares) in the past 40 years, severely impacting wildlife and human life.
Based on satellite data and tracking data from 1973-2013, WWF scientists report that Cambodia has lost 22% of its forest area, Laos and Myanmar 24%, while Thailand and Vietnam have lost as much as 43%.
Natural forests in the Mekong Subregion are in danger - Photo: WWF
In particular, the alarming rate of forest fragmentation, with "core" forests – areas containing at least 3.2 square kilometers of contiguous forest – declining from 70% in 1973 to just 20% in 2009, threatens the habitats of animals such as tigers, Asian elephants, Irrawaddy dolphins, and the endemic saola – also known as the Asian unicorn.
The report notes that a large portion of the primary forest area in the five countries was cut down in the past but is now being prioritized for reforestation. In Vietnam, there are currently only about 80,000 hectares of primary forest remaining, and thanks to government attention, more than 3.5 million hectares of forest have been newly planted to date.
WWF scientists emphasize that if the governments of these countries do not strengthen forest protection measures, more than one-third of the remaining natural forest area in the Mekong Subregion will disappear within the next two decades.
According to Tuoi Tre - VT
