A new report states that Belize has been losing its forests at an alarming rate, as much as ten thousand hectares a year since 1980.
In 1980, forests covered 79.5% of the land surface of Belize but by February of this year 2010 that number had decreased to 62.7%.
That's the difference of about 1200 square miles - the equivalent of about 9 times the size of Barbados.
Experts used satellite imagery dating back to 1980 to compare changes in the amount of land covered by forests.
The study also shows that forests inside protected areas have not suffered much from deforestation in the past 30 years whilst a quarter of forests outside protected areas were cleared in that period.
The assessment is important because once Belize's current stock of forest carbon is determined, it can be sold for carbon credits.
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