The global net deforestation rate has slowed in the last decade, with China's large-scale planting and less logging in the Amazon, according to UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

"For the first time, we are able to show that the rate of deforestation has decreased globally as a result of concerted efforts taken both at local and international level," said Eduardo Rojas, assistant director-general of FAO's Forestry Department in a press release.

About 13 million hectares of forests were converted to other uses or lost each year between 2000 and 2010, down from 16 million hectares per year during the 1990s, according to FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010.

Over the 10-year period, Asia had a net gain of about 2.2 million hectares annually, mainly because of ambitious tree planting programs in China, India and Vietnam.

Brazil and Indonesia, which had the highest loss of forests in the 1990s, have also significantly reduced their deforestation rates.

"Not only have countries improved their forest policies and legislation, they have also allocated forests for use by local communities and indigenous peoples and for the conservation of biological diversity and other environmental functions," Rojas said. "This is a very welcoming message in 2010 - the International Year of Biodiversity."

But the rate of deforestation remains "very high" in many countries, Rojas said, adding that they must further strengthen their efforts to better conserve and manage them.

The highest net annual loss of forests occurred in South America and Africa, which lost 4 million and 3.4 million hectares, respectively. Oceania also registered a net loss, due partly to a severe drought in Australia.

The assessment also highlighted the key role that forests play in climate change mitigation through their role as carbon sinks. Forests store vast amounts of carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases that experts believe contribute most to global warming, so when they are cut down and converted into another use, carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere.

"A lower deforestation rate and the establishment of new forests have helped bring down the high level of carbon emissions from forests caused by deforestation and forest degradation," said Mette L?yche Wilkie, the assessment coordinator, in the press release.

The world’s total forest area is just more than 4 billion hectares, which corresponds to an average of 0.6 ha per capita. The five most forest-rich countries (Russia, Brazil, Canada, the U.S. and China) account for more than half of the world’s total forest area. [FAO]