Forests in countries like Brazil and the Congo get a lot of attention from environmentalists, and it is easy to see why. South America and sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing deforestation on an enormous scale: every year almost 5 million hectares are lost. But forests are also changing in rich Western countries. They are growing larger, both in the sense that they occupy more land and that the trees in them are bigger. What is going on?

        Forests are spreading in almost all Western countries, with the fastest growth in places that historically had rather few trees. In 1990 28% of Spain was forested; now the proportion is 37%. In both Greece and Italy, the growth was from 26% to 32% over the same period. Forests are gradually taking more land in America and Australia. Perhaps most astonishing is the trend in Ireland. Roughly 1% of that country was forested when it became independent in 1922. Now forests cover 11% of the land, and the government wants to push the proportion to 18% by the 2040s.

        Two things are fertilising this growth. The first is the abandonment of farmland, especially in high, dry places where nothing grows terribly well. When farmers give up trying to earn a living from farming or herding, trees simply move in. The second is government policy and subsidy. Throughout history, governments have protected and promoted forests for diverse reasons, ranging from the need for wooden warships to a desire to promote suburban house-building. Nowadays forests are increasingly welcome because they suck in carbon pollution from the air. The justifications change; the desire for more trees remains constant.

        The greening of the West does not delight everyone. Farmers complain that land is being taken out of use by generously subsidised tree plantations. Parts of Spain and Portugal suffer from terrible forest fires. Others simply dislike the appearance of forests planted in neat rows. They will have to get used to the trees, however. The growth of Western forests seems almost as unstoppable as deforestation elsewhere.

解析：D。本题问的是作者的结论，结合题文同序原则可定位到最后一段。该段最后一句指出，西方国家的森林增长似乎就像其他地方的森林流失一样无法阻挡。结合第一段中提到的巴西和刚果等发展中国家森林流失的例子，可知D项中的developing countries对应的就是定位句中的elsewhere，moving in opposite directions是对该句中的The growth of Western forests和deforestation elsewhere的概括总结，故D项为正确答案。

错项排除：A项利用第一段第二句中提到的sub-Saharan Africa设置干扰，但只是说撒哈拉以南非洲的森林在迅速消失，没有提到沙漠将逐渐消失，故A项错误。原文没有提到植树造林在人们生活中的地位，故B项排除。原文中说的是西方国家的森林增长似乎和发展中国家的的森林流失一样无法阻挡，即发展中国家的森林流失趋势依然严峻，C项与此内容相悖，故排除。