In 1992 we began to work on the question “How Much Land Can Ten Billion People Spare for Nature?” that led to our recognition of the Great Reversal of human extension on the land surface and the chance for a Great Restoration of forests. Most colleagues and reviewers fought furiously against these ideas and our papers such as on Lightening the Tread of Population on the Land: American Examples and How Much Will Feeding More and Wealthier People Encroach on Forests?. A standard refrain was, “Maybe in the USA but never in a country such as El Salvador.” Now a report on The Secret Forests of El Salvador from the Center for Forestry Research confirms forests in that country grew almost 40% between 1992-2001.
https://www.cifor.cgiar.org/docs/_ref/polex/english/
The full reference of the article is: Hecht, S.B., S. Kandel, I. Gomez, N. Cuellar, and H. Rosa. 2006. Globalization, Forest Resurgence, and Environmental Politics in El Salvador, World Development, Vol. 34 (2), February.