Forests are being better managed: FAO
The Forestry Agriculture Organisation says the rate at which the world is losing its forests has been halved.
The organisation's José Graziano da Silva says this is positive news as some 129-million hectares of forest land, equivalent to the size of South Africa, have been lost worldwide since 1990.
Da Silva's been speaking at the World Forestry Congress currently underway in Durban.
He says more and more forest areas are coming under protection.
''We have been protecting our forests better - about 13% of the world's forests which is more than a half a billion hectares.
''An area larger than the territories of two largest African countries are now designated primarily for bio-diversity conservation,'' he said.
(File photo)