The analysis which focuses on some of the world’s so-called hotspots for deforestation found that 166,000 square miles of forest and habitat had been destroyed between 2004 and 2017 and that Australia was on the list of 29 major culprits. Australia is the only developed nation to appear on the list, which includes countries such as Columbia, Peru and Mozambique, with a ‘medium’ rate of deforestation. It will come as no surprise to find that Brazil is rated as a ‘high’ rate of deforestation, with Bolivia also falling foul, mainly due to clearing large swathes of the Amazon rainforest. The WWF is putting pressure on the UK Government to include more focus on products which originate from these hotspot areas, and include sanctions within an Environment Bill which is currently passing through parliament. Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF, said: “Nature is in freefall and our climate is changing dangerously – protecting precious forests like the Amazon is a vital part of the solution to this global crisis. “We have an opportunity to stop the things we buy and the food we eat here in the UK from causing the destruction of nature overseas. “That’s why we need urgent action from the Government to implement ambitious new laws to get deforestation out of our supply chains.”