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Data for 2015

Tree Cover Loss, 2015

Figures for 2015, as World Resources Institute — Global Forest Watch (data: University of Maryland) published them · stored as published, never rewritten

This is how much tree cover a country lost in a year, in hectares, measured from Landsat satellite images by the University of Maryland and published by Global Forest Watch. It counts every patch where most of the canopy was cleared or died — for farms, logging, mining, roads, fire or storms.

Tree Cover Loss, 2015 covers 210 countries on 2 measures. Canada is highest, at 2,733,434.83; 41 countries share the lowest reading, 0.00. The middle country reads 2,302.82. Against 2014, 187 values changed (36 up, 151 down), the same countries are covered.

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Tree Cover Loss · Data for 2015

HighestCanada

2,733,434.83

Lowest41 countries share it

0.00

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Tree Cover Loss, 2015, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 210 countries · select a heading to sort

Tree Cover Loss, 2015: every country, as published by World Resources Institute — Global Forest Watch (data: University of Maryland).
CanadaCANNorthern America2,733,434.83418,066,874.8
RussiaRUSEastern Europe2,332,110.88761,226,509.4
United StatesUSANorthern America2,289,653.11279,375,325.2
BrazilBRASouth America2,222,653.78519,056,655.7
IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia1,746,464.32160,640,822.2
DR CongoCODMiddle Africa928,502.23199,272,121.1
ChinaCHNEastern Asia490,493.17162,873,594.1
MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia454,490.8229,444,768.4
MadagascarMDGEastern Africa301,788.6617,141,084.1
MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia293,305.1842,863,360.7
LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia284,935.1419,118,849.5
ParaguayPRYSouth America279,304.2824,273,208.1
AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand261,574.2942,281,440.1
Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa232,761.735,617,879.8
VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia217,883.2516,550,834.6
SwedenSWENorthern Europe216,031.2027,883,711.6
MexicoMEXCentral America197,533.4253,168,926.1
LiberiaLBRWestern Africa186,010.139,384,718.1
MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa181,404.7528,920,531.0
Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia180,806.8042,920,262.3
ArgentinaARGSouth America180,227.8139,069,969.4
FinlandFINNorthern Europe172,639.5821,627,650.4
PeruPERSouth America166,449.3178,063,554.9
BoliviaBOLSouth America166,250.9064,556,285.1
GuineaGINWestern Africa161,819.878,159,636.2

02In 2015

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

  1. Canada2,733,434.83
  2. Russia2,332,110.88
  3. United States2,289,653.11
  4. Brazil2,222,653.78
  5. Indonesia1,746,464.32

Lowest

  1. Yemenshared0.00
  2. British Virgin Islandsshared0.00
  3. Uzbekistanshared0.00
  4. Tuvalushared0.00
  5. Turkmenistanshared0.00

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 2,302.82. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Tree cover in 2000 (hectares, >30% canopy)

    HighestRussia761,226,509.4

    Lowest9 share it

    Middle country: 1,245,965.5

032014 → 2015

Since 2014

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 187values changed, of 210 in both
  • 36 · 151rose · fell
  • 23unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

  • Russia4,489,888.74 → 2,332,110.88−2,157,777.86
  • Brazil2,692,910.39 → 2,222,653.78−470,256.61
  • DR Congo1,338,360.70 → 928,502.23−409,858.47
  • Côte d’Ivoire346,899.26 → 152,453.51−194,445.75
  • Malaysia646,026.95 → 454,490.82−191,536.13

Changes in value, not in places: a country’s place also moves when others do.

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

  • 170 distinct values among 210

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 17 decimals. 41 countries share 0.00. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 210 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full
  • .csv

    For a spreadsheet or code

    210 rows · 11 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel

    Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.

    Download tree-cover-loss-2015-nations-inquiry.csv
  • ↗

    The publisher’s original

    World Resources Institute — Global Forest Watch (data: University of Maryland)’s own file, on its own site.

    v20260407

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

World Resources Institute — Global Forest Watch (data: University of Maryland) (2015). Tree Cover Loss, 2015 [data set], describing 2015. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/tree-cover-loss/2015

0625 held

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