Vietnam, one of Asia's least-forested countries, if not the least-forested, is racing against time to stop the decline of its forests and restore its tree cover. And the task is not easy. The country is losing its forest cover at the rate of 110,000 to 200,000 ha every year from such factors as high population growth (above 2 per cent per year). high population density (235 per sq km) , excessive reliance on forest resources, and harnessing new areas to rains export crops, especially coffee and rubber. Some say no more than 10 per cent of the country is still forested, against 43 per cent back in 1943.