Deforestation in Developing Nations

Deforestation is a major problem in many areas of the world ( especially in terms of preventing climate change.) Some countries are chopping down their forests at astonishing rates. But what you may not know is which nations really have the highest rates of deforestation. When considering all these it's important to recognize that although Brazil gets a lot of heat and notice for deforestation in the Amazon (which makes sense considering the total area of land) BUT, as a percentage of landmass cleared, it doesn't even in the the top twenty.  The top 10(ish) countries that deforest are Honduras (37%), Nigeria (36%), The Philippines (32%), Benin (31%), Ghana (28%), Indonesia (26%), Nepal & North Korea (combined 25%), Ecuador & Haiti (22%).

This is just important to note because it's impossible to just completely stop deforestation even though it is a huge problem. Lots of these developing nations have high levels of deforestation because constituents use this wood to build homes and provide fire for warmth. These are very complicated issues. The world wide push for a greener planet honestly seems to leave out the people that literally CANNOT afford it. This is just more than "poor people in places like America" which seems to be the only group that we (loosely used as students in America) seem to worry about. People in the slums of Honduras and Ghana that burn trees down to keep their family warm also need to be thought of and protected.

(Information Links)

http://www1.american.edu/ted/projects/tedcross/xdefor21.htm

http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/10-countries-with-the-highest-deforestation-rates-in-the-world.html