Colombia has a stunning deforestation rate of 86 acres per hour, according to the country’s Environment Ministry.
Environment Minister Frank Pearl says the country has destroyed a total of 14.8 million acres of forest, mostly to create pasture for livestock.
“The country has 58 million hectares [143 million acres] of forest. The rate of deforestation in Colombia is incredibly high, since we destroy more than a million and a half hectares [3.7 million acres] every five years. The principal cause is the transformation of forests into pastures.” said Pearl on Tuesday.
Over the past 20 years, Colombia had a deforestation rate of 310,000 hectares [766,00 acres] a year, according to the ministry and the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies (IDEAM).
The Environmental Ministry is working with the Ministry of Agriculture to create and implement new projects which would promote more sustainable combinations of agriculture and livestock rearing, aimed at reducing the nation’s high deforestation rate.