Deforestation rate notably slower

Deforestation slowed in the previous decade, in the first sign that global conservation efforts are bearing fruit, but an area the size of Costa Rica is still being destroyed each year, the United Nations said.

A report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation found that about 13 million hectares of forest a year were converted to other uses or lost through natural causes in 2000-10, down from 16 million a year in the previous decade.