Ecuador
- Amazon surface area: 117,300 km²
- Estimated deforestation per year: 2,964 km²
- Population: 13.3 million (UN, 2007)
- Forest cover: 45.7%
Traditionally a farming country, Ecuador's economy was transformed in the 1960s by the growth of industry and the discovery of oil that saw rapid growth and progress in health, education and housing.
This has led to large losses of the Ecuadorian Amazon. It is estimated that Ecuador has lost more than 56% of its total forest, and the country has the highest rate of deforestation per year after Brazil.
Deforestation is mainly due to agricultural expansion, oil exploration, logging and road building.
(Sources: Conservation International, FAO, mongabay.com, Oxford University Environmental Change Institute, UN, WWF)
Ecuador's oil exploitation
Camilo Huamone on the impact of contamination
Trees versus oil in Ecuador