Thorny issue for Africa.

Africa experienced an annual net loss of more than 9 million acres of forest between the years of 2000 and 2005, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States (FAO). This makes Africa the continent with the second-highest rate of forest loss, right behind South America. Africa also leads other continents in forest fires, caused in large part by the tradition of burning forests to the ground to create space for agriculture or grasslands.

Although more than half of African countries have tried to remedy the problem of forest loss over the last 15 years by creating new forestry policies, establishing and enforcing these laws have proved difficult. The programs have yielded meager results, and Africa continues to suffer devastating forest losses each year, the FAO said.