SUDAN

Please note, this page is not longer being updated. For more recent information, please see news.mongabay.com and use the search function to find the country feed. For more up-to-date data on forest cover and loss, check out Global Forest Watch.

Sudan Forest Figures Forest Cover Total forest area: 67,546,000 ha % of land area: 28.4% Primary forest cover: 13,509,000 ha % of land area: 5.7% % total forest area: 20.0% Deforestation Rates, 2000-2005 Annual change in forest cover: -589,000 ha Annual deforestation rate: -0.8% Change in defor. rate since '90s: 8.4% Total forest loss since 1990: -8,835,000 ha Total forest loss since 1990:-11.6% Primary or "Old-growth" forests Annual loss of primary forests: -117800 ha Annual deforestation rate: -0.8% Change in deforestation rate since '90s: 8.4% Primary forest loss since 1990: -589,000 ha Primary forest loss since 1990:-11.6% Forest Classification Public: 97.7% Private: 2.3% Other: n/a Use Production: 44.9% Protection: 2.6% Conservation: 12.7% Social services: n/a Multiple purpose: n/a None or unknown: 39.9 Forest Area Breakdown Total area: 67,546,000 ha Primary: 13,509,000 ha Modified natural: 47,282,000 ha Semi-natural: 1,351,000 ha Production plantation: 4,728,000 ha Production plantation: 675,000 ha Plantations Plantations, 2005: 5,404,000 ha % of total forest cover: 8% Annual change rate (00-05): -47,123,000 ha Carbon storage Above-ground biomass: 2,235 M t Below-ground biomass: 827 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: 533 Critically endangered: 1 Endangered: 1 Vulnerable: 15 Wood removal 2005 Industrial roundwood: 2,716,000 m3 o.b. Wood fuel: 19,514,000 m3 o.b. Value of forest products, 2005 Industrial roundwood: $82,611,000 Wood fuel: $379,143,000 Non-wood forest products (NWFPs): $692,041,000 Total Value: $1,153,795,000 More forest statistics for Sudan

Civil war-prone Sudan is plagued with a huge foreign debt and increasing desertification. Wildlife is endangered by over-hunting and poaching.

Most deforestation is Sudan results from subsistence activities, especially the harvesting of fuelwood. The country lost about 11 percent—or 8.8 million hectares—of its forests between 1990 and 2005.

On paper around 5 percent of Sudan is under some form of protection. Sudan is home to 952 species of birds, 15 amphibians, 162 mammals, 302 reptiles, and 3137 plant species.

Recent articles | Sudan news updates | XML

[an error occurred while processing this directive] Suggested reading - Books

• Sudan: The Land And the People
• The Lost Boys Of Sudan: An American Story of the Refugee Experience
• Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania

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