Forest, an important aspect in our lives, produces oxygen and provides homes for people and the wildlife and offers wate

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Forest, an important aspect in our lives, produces oxygen and
provides homes for people and the wildlife and offers watershed
protection, prevent soil erosion, and mitigate climate change.
Thirty one percent of Earth's surface is covered by forest, and
they harbour over two-thirds of known terrestrial species, many of
which are threatened. In addition, forest provides jobs for 13
million people across the world and about 1.6 billion people depend
on the benefits of forest such as food, fresh water, clothing,
habitat, and traditional medicine (WWF, 2018). These benefits have
now been threatened by deforestation which comes in many forms;
clear cutting for agriculture, forest fires, development, logging,
and degradation due to climate change (WWF, 2016). Some 46-58
thousand square miles of forest are lost each year-equivalent to 48
football fields every minute (WWF, 2016). Malaysia's land surface
was once almost entirely covered with forest but now only 59.5% of
the total land area is covered by forest. Between 1990 and 2010,
Malaysia last 8.6% of its forest cover, or around 1,920,000
hectares (4,700,000 acres). However, deforestation is a major
concern as the country is still rapidly developing. Apart from
deforestation, the remaining forests face threats from
unsustainable logging, illegal removal of forest products and
encroachment. You and your group members are interested in learning
more about the determinants of deforestation. To understand better,
please do some reading on these topics before you start on the
assignment. To do this assignment, you and your group members must
select any two countries (one developed and one developing country)
and find the data for the variables listed below from the period
1990-2018. You will be able to obtain the data from the World Data
Bank. The variables that you need to acquire are: Forest area (sq
km) GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) Population density (people
per sq km of land area) Agricultural land (sq km) Urban population
Your task Print out the Excel sheet and attach it in the appendix
of your assignment. Failure to include this printout will result in
a penalty of 50% of your assignment marks. a) Graph the forest area
of the two countries on two separate graphs. Comments on the
significant features from the graphs. Explain three reasons why
there is difference in the forest area between these countries. 18
marks] b) Find the descriptive statistics for GDP per capita for
the developed country. The tables must include the first and third
quartile, and the interquartile range. Interpret any 5 items in the
descriptive statistics table, including the best measurements of
location and dispersion. (8 marks] c) Create frequency
distributions and draw appropriate diagrams for the agricultural
land and urban population for the developed country, separately.
[12 marks] d) The forest area depends on GDP per capita of a
country. Determine the correlation between these variables and
develop the estimated equation for the developing country that you
have chosen earlier. Your analysis should include a scatter plot of
the data (identifying any unusual points), trend line and
explanation on the plot. Obtain the summary output and interpret
all the coefficients. Determine whether the regression model and
the significance of correlation coefficient is significant at 1%
significance level. Write a short report on your analysis. (21
marks] e) You read a recent journal article and found out that the
determinants of forest area are GDP per capita, population density,
urban population, and agricultural land. You decided to use the
data of the developing country to see whether you could apply what
you read in the article. Do the necessary analysis using the
appropriate regression and hypothesis tests that you have learnt
and write a report on the findings. [21 marks] )Apply the knowledge
that you have learned in this assignment and link it to the
sustainable development goals (SDGs). You need to write a report of
at least 500 words. [10 marks]