The team led by Shearman used pattern recognition software called eCognition to analyze satellite images from 2002 to 2007, and then compared them with vegetation maps from the 1970s, produced by the Australian Defence Forces. They also factored in population growth, logging rates and evidence of fire damage.

According to the new report, 46% of the area of forest that has been destroyed has been used by subsistence farmers – the population of PNG is growing at 3% per year. But the authors blamed loggers for most of the loss.

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