Africa has many miles of tropical rain forests.  For many years though, deforestation has been claiming the trees.

In 1990, the UN estimated that about 38% of the continent of Africa consists of forests or wooded areas.  This amounts to about 1.14 billion acres.

Once, Africa's forests covered a much greater area.  In Western Africa, forests once covered much of the land.  Now, more so than any other tropical area, they have been heavily depleted.  Only about 30% of Africa's forest areas still exist today.

Deforestation is claiming many of Africa's forests.  While the continent had 569 million hectares of tropical forests in 1980, that figure had been reduced to about 530 million hectares in 1990.

Levels of deforestation vary across the continent.  Most forest areas are removed so that people can plant crops or because the trees are needed as fuel.

Estimates say that the average African family uses 7 metric tons of wood annually.  As use has increased, the availability of wood has decreased.  Countries such as Chad, Niger, and Burkina Faso are suffering severely from wood shortages.

Timber is also being collected commercially.  So far, this is less of a problem than other causes of deforestation, but it does heavily affect nations such as Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Despite the deforestation that has occurred in recent years, much of Africa remains covered with forests.  In Central Africa, home to 80% of Africa's rainforests, large forest