GUINEA

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Guinea Forest Figures

Forest Cover
Total forest area: 6,724,000 ha
% of land area: 27.4%

Primary forest cover: 63,000 ha
% of land area: 0.3%
% total forest area: 0.9%

Deforestation Rates, 2000-2005
Annual change in forest cover: -36,000 ha
Annual deforestation rate: -0.5%
Change in defor. rate since '90s: -23.4%
Total forest loss since 1990: -684,000 ha
Total forest loss since 1990:-9.2%

Primary or "Old-growth" forests
Annual loss of primary forests: n/a
Annual deforestation rate: n/a
Change in deforestation rate since '90s: n/a
Primary forest loss since 1990: n/a
Primary forest loss since 1990:0.0%

Forest Classification
Public: n/a
Private: n/a
Other: n/a
Use
Production: 1.5%
Protection: 7.3%
Conservation: 44.7%
Social services: n/a
Multiple purpose: n/a
None or unknown: 46.5

Forest Area Breakdown
Total area: 6,724,000 ha
Primary: 63,000 ha
Modified natural: 6,568,000 ha
Semi-natural: 60,000 ha
Production plantation: 30,000 ha
Production plantation: 3,000 ha

Plantations
Plantations, 2005: 33,000 ha
% of total forest cover: 0.5%
Annual change rate (00-05): 2,040,000 ha

Carbon storage
Above-ground biomass: 1,026 M t
Below-ground biomass: 246 M t

Area annually affected by
Fire: n/a
Insects: n/a
Diseases: n/a

Number of tree species in IUCN red list
Number of native tree species: n/a
Critically endangered: 0
Endangered: 0
Vulnerable: 21

Wood removal 2005
Industrial roundwood: 748,000 m3 o.b.
Wood fuel: 13,253,000 m3 o.b.

Value of forest products, 2005
Industrial roundwood: n/a
Wood fuel: n/a
Non-wood forest products (NWFPs): n/a
Total Value: n/a


More forest statistics for Guinea

The rainforests of Guinea have been highly impacted by fires and agriculture. Today only scattered fragments of forest remain in a sea of grasslands. Some of these small sections of forest still contain emergent overstory trees, valuable for timber, which are only slowly exploited due to lack of heavy machinery. As of 2005, less than 1 percent of forest cover in Guinea was primary forest.

In the late 1990s, the government started to push conservation and sustainable development measures, but the effectiveness of these efforts was limited by lack of funds and resources. Guinea's few reserves, which cover just over 4 percent of the country's land mass, are still under-managed and underfunded, and are threatened by mining projects (Guinea has major mineral resources) and subsistence agriculture, which has limited productivity due to severe soil erosion.

From a biological diversity standpoint, of Guinea's 100 or so endemic species, over 40 percent are considered endangered by poaching and loss of habitat. The World Resources Institute says that Guinea has some 3,000 species of plants, 640 birds, 190 mammals, 94 reptiles, and 121 fish.



Suggested reading - Books
Unless otherwise specified, this article was written by Rhett A. Butler [Bibliographic citation for this page]

Other resources

Contact me if you have suggestions on other rainforest-related environmental sites and resources for this country.


Image copyright Google Earth, MDA EarthSet, DigitalGlobe 2005

CIA-World Factbook Profile
FAO-Forestry Profile
World Resources Institute


Last updated: 4 Feb 2006