This is an excellent public resource, the likes of which individual governments <i>should</i> be releasing.<p>Three areas of personal interest.<p>(1) Northern New Zealand is also a forestry culture, and shows the appearance and culling of dense pine forests.<p>(2) The areas around southwestern China, just across the border in to Burma, show clearly the impact of China's demand for timber. While rubber plantations can account for the small amount of replanting visible, the recent denuding of the Kachin states of northern Myanmar (an armed Christian minority that eschews membership of Myanmar entirely) is here very visible... particularly areas around Myitkina (the Kachin capital), Hpakant (slightly west) and the southerly adjacent Shwegu. An unending stream of trucks carries these forests in to China for consumption as wood carvings and luxury furniture, often processed by western-supplied high volume industrial sawmill equipment (one supplier is a New Zealand company). Much like illegally logged timber from West Africa, this furniture may then be trans-shipped to western nations (eg. Europe) where distributors feign ignorance of its unsustainable origin, citing the vacuous claims of Chinese factories. In exchange, the theory is that the Kachin receive weapons and covert medical assistance for their leadership (similar to other groups, such as the Shan and Wa armies to the southeast).<p>(3) The deforestation of North Korea in exchange for pitiful trade volumes from China and unsustainable timber/charcoal driven winter heating (due to inadequate clothing and uninsulated housing conditions) is also very clear. The area near Changbaishan (Baekdusan), Korean culture's most sacred mountain (now 50% owned by China) is particularly bad.