North Korea destroyed forests about 18 times the size of Manhattan

North Korea has destroyed forests about 18 times the size of Manhattan for more than 10 years, data showed Tuesday, in the latest sign of deforestation in the communist country. Global Forest Watch, which is run by the Washington-based World Resources Institute, said on its website that a total of 160,515 hectares of forest were destroyed between 2000 and 2013. It also said North Korea created 13,680 hectares of forest between 2000 and 2012. The development illustrates the rapid deforestation in North Korea as people cut down trees for fuel and turn forests into farmland to grow more food. Experts have said severe deforestation is one of the reasons behind devastating floods that hit North Korea in recent years. North Korea's total forest area stood at 5.2 million hectares, with its output estimated at US$300 million as of 2006, or 2.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product. In February, the institute launched Global Forest Watch, an online forest monitoring and alert system meant to empower people around the world to better manage forests by using satellite data and crowd-sourced information.