Table 1: Basic country data
Population statistics on total population, population density, and rate of change are taken from World Population Prospects, the 1994 Revision, United Nations, New York, 1995. The 'Total Population' and 'Population Density' data refer to 1995. The 'Annual Rate of Change' data refer to the period 1990-95. The source of 'Percentage Rural Population' data is World Urbanization Prospects, the 1994 Revision, United Nations, New York, 1995. The reference year 1994.
The 'Land Area' data are taken from the FAO Production Yearbook, 1996, FAO, Rome. The reference year is 1994, The 'Land Area' figure refers to total area of the country, excluding areas under inland water bodies.
The GNP data are taken from The World Bank Atlas 1995, World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1996. The 'GNP Per Person - Total' figures refer to 1993 and the 'GNP Per Person - Real Annual Growth Rate' figures refer to the period 1985-93.
The meaning of the notations on the figures are as follows:
a) Equivalent to total area minus inland water bodies; representing total land area.b) From World Bank Atlas method, subtotals based on available data.
c) Estimated to be low-income (US$695 or less).
d) Combined Belgium-Luxembourg data.
e) Estimated to be upper-middle-income (US$ 2 786 to US$ 8 625).
f) Estimated to be high-income (US$ 8 626 or more).
g) Estimated to be lower-middle-income (US$ 696 to US$ 2 785).
h) Estimates for the economies of the former Soviet Union are preliminary, and their clarification will be kept under review.
i) GNP data for Eritrea are not yet disaggregated and are included in Ethiopia.
j) Total GNP per capita across former USSR countries is based on 1995 population estimates.
k) References to GNP related to GDP.
l) Data cover the East Bank only.
m) Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
n) GNP data cover mainland Tanzania only.
o) Total annual change in the former USSR is based on available data only.
p) Population rounded to zero.
Table 2: Forest cover, 1995; and Table 3: Change in forest cover, 1991-95
Method of data collection The forest cover data for developing countries contained in the tables are based on country assessments which were prepared on different dates, ' and which, for reporting purposes, needed to be adapted to the standard reference years of 1990 and 1995. This was done with the help of an adjustment function, called the deforestation model, developed to; permit the correlation of forest cover change over time with ancillary variables, including population change and density, initial forest cover and the ecological zone of the forest area under consideration.
The same model was applied for calculation of the 1990 estimates of forest cover for the Forest Resources Assessment 1990. However, the inputs to the model were updated for the State of the World's Forests 1997 report with more recent and accurate information on population, boundaries of ecological zones and, in the case of some countries, new national forest cover assessments.
The UN World Population Prospects (1994) containing updates to the 1990 population estimates and projections for 1995 was the main source of information for the new population information. It provided data needed not only to calculate 1995 forest cover figures, but to revise the forest cover estimates for 1990 that were given in FRA 1990. This more recent information showed new population estimates of state (1990) and change (1980-90) that are lower than the estimates available in 1990. This, along with new assessments of forest cover now available, account for higher estimates of forest cover for 1990 than those previously estimated by the Forest Resources Assessment 1990.
During 1996 a search was made to identify new assessments of forest cover which have been carried out since the FRA 1990 study. Many new and important national-level assessments were submitted to FAO and provided new inputs to the model for the calculation of the forest-cover area for 1995 and the recalculation of the 1990 estimate. Specifically, new forest inventory information was utilized as inputs to the model for Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau. (Other countries submitted information which is still being analysed for use in the Year 2000 Assessment.) The effect of this new information on global totals resulted in a revision (upward) of forest-cover estimates.
For the industrialized countries, The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and Food and Agriculture Liaison Office in Geneva (UN-ECE/FAO) conducted an enquiry into the state of forest cover. For this enquiry, official country representatives responded to a detailed questionnaire on the state of forest cover in their respective countries. This information was then passed on to FAO in Rome for compilation into composite tables and the calculation of regional, sub-regional and global totals.
Notes on Table 2
'Total forest' is the sum of natural forest and plantations. Because of difficulties in drawing a clear distinction between the two in many developed countries, only 'total forest' figures are provided for developed countries and n.ap. (not applicable) is indicated under 'natural forest'.
