Forests form a large part of the GCSE Geography syllabus. This quiz is all about deforestation - the deliberate destruction of forests.
Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, an estimated 18 million acres of rainforest are lost each year. And according to a study by the US University of Maryland and the World Resource Institute, since the last century Indonesia has lost 15.79 million hectares of forest land.
Deforestation is far from a modern phenomenon. Examination of pollen levels has shown that extensive deforestation took place in the Neolithic period in the UK, and since 1600 90% of the forests in the US have been removed. Now the bulk of the worlds remaining indigenous forests are in Canada, Alaska, Russia and the north-western Amazon basin.