Mexico Decries Loss of Tropical Forests
Mexico loses 988,000 acres of forest a year, and only 5% of its original tropical forests remain, a Mexican official told an international forestry meeting here this week.
Noe Garza Flores, director of the National Commission on Arid Zones, warned that if the country does not take the necessary steps, two-thirds of its land could become desert within 20 years.
Overgrazing is one of the main causes of desertification in Mexico, he added.
Representatives of 30 countries are attending the conference on desertification, a preliminary meeting to the World Forestry Congress July 1-10 in Mexico City.
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