The carbon storage service provided by the world’s forests is vital for climate stabilization. The amount of carbon stored in different forests varies: Tropical forests store the most carbon. Almost half of this above-ground carbon is in the forests of Latin America, with 26 percent in Asia, and 25 percent in Africa. The vast northern boreal conifer and broadleaved forests are also important carbon stores. Temperate forests have been decimated over the centuries, but are now expanding in Europe and the United States, and so are building carbon stores. Europe and the United States aside, however, the world’s forests are being cleared and degraded through human activities, releasing greenhouse gases, especially CO2, into the atmosphere. Globally, around 13 million ha of forest were lost each year between 2000 and 2010.