Vegetation
Further information: Flora of BelizeBelize is widely regarded by experts as a highly forested country, often cited as having the highest percentage of forest cover in Central America. A study completed in 1996 determined, however, that the country's forest cover has been in decline. The clearing of land for agricultural and urban development has had a quantifiable impact on vegetation cover, as have forest fires. However, in the context of the wider region, Belize's deforestation rates are relatively low, due to a lower population density, a more urbanised population, and a history of protecting its forests.
Forest cover facts:
- Total forest area: 3,374,612 acres (13,657 km2)
- % of land area: 62.7%
Read more about this topic: Protected Areas Of Belize
Famous quotes containing the word vegetation:
“When the ground was partially bare of snow, and a few warm days had dried its surface somewhat, it was pleasant to compare the first tender signs of the infant year just peeping forth with the stately beauty of the withered vegetation which had withstood the winter ... decent weeds, at least, which widowed Nature wears.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We love to see any redness in the vegetation of the temperate zone. It is the color of colors. This plant speaks to our blood.... What a perfect maturity it arrives at! It is the emblem of a successful life concluded by a death not premature, which is an ornament to Nature. What if we were to mature as perfectly, root and branch, glowing in the midst of our decay, like the poke!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I would not have every man nor every part of a man cultivated, any more than I would have every acre of earth cultivated: part will be tillage, but the greater part will be meadow and forest, not only serving an immediate use, but preparing a mould against a distant future, by the annual decay of the vegetation which it supports.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)