Our disappearing forests

Ten million hectares of ancient forest are being cleared or destroyed every year. That's an area the size of a soccer pitch every two seconds.
There are still around 1,350 million hectares of ancient forest around the world that remain undisturbed by large scale industrial activities. This sounds like a lot- after all, that's an areas bigger than all of China. But in fact this is only seven percent of the Earth's land surface, and only one-fifth of the forests' original size.
Since 1950, 20 percent of the world's ancient forests have been cleared. The ancient tropical forests of Indonesia and Central Africa could be gone in a few decades if forest destruction continues at the current pace.
Many scientists believe that the world is facing the largest wave of extinctions since the disappearance of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. It is estimated that nearly 24 percent of mammals, 12 percent of birds and almost 14 percent of plants face extinction. Most of these extinctions will be due to habitat destruction; most of these habitats are ancient forests.

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(an article from http://www.greenpeace.org)