The phrase "afforestation rates" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing the speed or frequency at which new forests are being planted or established in a particular area.
Example: "The afforestation rates in the region have significantly increased over the past decade, contributing to improved biodiversity."
Alternatives: "tree planting rates" or "forest establishment rates".
Again, these afforestation rates are partly counterbalanced by deforestation activities in India [30, 31].
The majority of the states (36 out of the 48) had lower afforestation rates in the protected areas than those in the unprotected areas except a dozen of states focused in the middle of the conterminous US (Figure 2b).
For example, Sathaye et al. [16] based their projections of C sinks on linear extrapolation of continuing deforestation and afforestation rates, whereas Sohngen & Sedjo [17] only considered an increase in forest product demand, discarding future food demand.
In general, the larger the difference the greater the reduction in forest area loss due to the adoption of protected areas; b) Difference in afforestation rates between protected and unprotected forestlands: calculated as AffRateprotected - AffRateunprotected for each state (data not shown).
The results indicated that the spatial extent of deforestation, unchanged forest cover and afforestation were 1.38, 2.39, and 1.15 million hectares, respectively, while the annual deforestation and afforestation rates were 0.95 and 0.75% which are high compared to other areas in the humid tropics.
Again, these afforestation rates are partly counterbalanced by deforestation activities in India [ 30, 31].
Nevertheless, Ravindranath & Somashekhar [30] reported an afforestation rate of India of 1.6 Mha yr-1, mainly for agroforestry purposes.
This has also been shown by others (e.g. [29]) by estimating an annual afforestation rate in the tropics of 2.6 Mha yr-1 throughout the 1980s, but at the same time a deforestation rate of 15.4 Ma yr-1.
Positive numbers indicate the afforestation rate in protected areas was greater than the corresponding rate in unprotected areas for a given state, and the negative numbers suggest the opposite; and c) Regional division used for summary.
No clear relationships were observed between afforestation rate and population growth in either protection status.
Nevertheless, Ravindranath & Somashekhar [ 30] reported an afforestation rate of India of 1.6 Mha yr-1, mainly for agroforestry purposes.
