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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Agricultural Land

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what changes there have been in total land area used for agricultural purposes over the last 10 years, broken down by (a) country and (b) agricultural land use categories, as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. [165749]

Hilary Benn: The latest available figures from the Food and Agriculture Organisation indicate an overall 14.7 per cent. increase worldwide in land used for
 
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agricultural purposes during the period 1991–2001. However, the increase is not spread across all continents. While Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean have all increased, North and Central America and Oceania have decreased by varying amounts. This information is provided in the following two tables.
a) Total land area used for agricultural purposes by: country

Land use-agricultural area (1000ha)	1991	2001
Africa	1,098,071	1,108,071
Asia	1,306,609	1,679,915
Europe	218,665	487,771
Latin America and Caribbean	754,025	784,205
North and Central America	639,787	628,196
Oceania	482,826	475,132
Total	4,499,983	5,163,290

b) Total land area used for agricultural land use category

World land use	1991	2001
Africa (1000ha)	1,098,071	1,108,333
Arable land	168,209	182,294
Permanent crops	23,106	26,326
Permanent pasture	906,756	899,713
Asia	1,306,609	1,679,915
Arable land	457,324	508,595
Permanent crops	49,878	61,361
Permanent pasture	799,407	1,109,959
Europe	218,665	487,771
Arable land	123,695	288,132
Permanent crops	13,822	16,947
Permanent pasture	81,148	182,882
Latin America and Caribbean	754,025	784,205
Arable land	135,839	149,309
Permanent crops	18,625	20,321
Permanent pasture	599,561	614,575
North and Central America	639,787	628,196
Arable land	266,299	257,512
Permanent crops	7,661	8,500
Permanent pasture	365,827	362,184
Oceania	482,826	475,132
Arable land	48,759	52,384
Permanent crops	2,590	3,278
Permanent pasture	431,477	419,470
Total	4,499,983	5,163,552

Deforestation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what net percentage of forest cover worldwide has been lost since 1990; and what acreage this represents (a) in total and (b) broken down by country. [165810]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The net percentage of forest cover change worldwide between 1990 and 2000 was 2.4 per cent. This represents the change in forest cover over the 10-year period to 2000 and is the most up-to-date global assessment of forest resources.

(a) In terms of acreage this represents a total worldwide loss during the 1990s in forest cover of 232,214,811 acres (93,974,000 hectares).

 
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(b) Forest cover data for individual countries may be found in the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 Main Report. This is published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and is available online via the following web link: http://www.fao.org/forestry/foris/webview/forestry2/index.jsp?siteld=101&sitetreld=8334&langld=1&geold=0

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of land area in (a) Africa, (b) Asia, (c) South America, (d) Europe and (e) North America he estimates was covered in forest in (i) 1975, (ii) 1985, (iii) 1995 and (iv) 2002. [165811]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Reliable and comparative global forest cover data are not available for the years requested. They are available for the years 2000 and 1990 and I have provided these as follows.

This information is drawn from the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, which is the most comprehensive and technologically advanced assessment in FAO's 50-year history. The Global Forest Resources Assessment of 1990, although not as advanced, brings together comparable information on the world's forest resources for the period 1980–90.

The percentage of land area covered in forest in 1990 and 2000 in each of the regions of the world is as follows:

(a) Africa: (i) 23.6 per cent. in 1990; (ii) 21.8 per cent. in 2000

(b) Asia: (i) 17.9 per cent. in 1990; (ii) 17.8 per cent. in 2000

(c) South America: (i) 52.6 per cent. in 1990; (ii) 50.5 per cent. in 2000

(d) Europe: (i) 45.6 per cent. in 1990; (ii) 46 per cent. in 2000

(e) North and Central America: (i) 26 per cent. in 1990; (ii) 25.7 per cent. in 2000.

Land Degradation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of land area in (a) Africa, (b) Asia, (c) South America, (d) Europe and (e) North America he estimates was suffering land degradation in (i) 1975, (ii) 1985, (iii) 1995 and (iv) 2002. [165812]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Comparative global land degradation data are not available for the years requested. They are available for 1992 when the most recent global assessment of land degradation was made, and I have provided these as follows.

Land degradation takes a number of forms, including depletion of soil nutrients, salinisation, soil erosion, vegetative degradation, and deforestation. All of these types of degradation cause a decline in the productivity of the land, reducing potential yields and posing a potential threat to the rural livelihoods of poor people in developing countries.

Existing estimates of the current global extent and severity of the problem of land degradation should be considered indicative at best: land degradation is something that cannot be easily monitored and measured. Responding to the need for a global overview of land degradation, the Global Assessment of Human-induced Soil Degradation (GLASOD), published in 1992, became the first comprehensive soil degradation
 
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overview on a world scale. Soil degradation is considered to be a good indicator for measuring land degradation.

GLASOD is limited, however, and the need for more objective, qualitative approaches, using nationally-based data rather than global or regional figures, is widely recognised. New international initiatives are underway to develop national data acquisition on land degradation, using GIS (Geographic Information Systems), remote sensing and local assessments.

Based on the results of the 1992 Global Assessment, the percentage of land area per region affected by human-induced soil degradation is as follows:

(a) Africa: 16.6 per cent. of total land surface

(b) Asia: 17.6 per cent. of total land surface

(c) South America: 13.7 per cent. of total land surface

(d) Europe: 23 per cent. of total land surface

(e) North America: 5 per cent. of total land surface.

Afghanistan

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many refugees have returned to Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime. [164852]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, over 2.9 million Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime. This is in addition to some 500,000 people who were displaced within Afghanistan who have returned home.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees on support and return of displaced persons following transfer of responsibility for implementation of Annex VII of the General Framework Agreement for Peace from the Office of the High Representative to the Bosnia and Herzegovina
 
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authorities on 1 January; and if he will make a statement. [166413]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The British Government are in regular contact with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees. The most recent discussions took place on 29 March 2004. The British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with the Swedish Ambassador and Head of the Swedish Development Agency, met the Minister for Human Rights and Refugees to discuss how Bosnia and Herzegovina could make full use of its newly-acquired membership of the Council of Europe Development Bank. The bank provides low cost loans to its members, mainly to support reconstruction and facilitate the return of displaced persons.

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