Tropical forests are also large carbon sinks, and can store a lot of carbon per unit area.26. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. This diagram is adapted from the work of Hosonuma et al. 2020. Across Africa, fuelwood and charcoal played a much larger role it accounted for more than half (52%). This emphasises two important points. 38. In the map we see the net deforestation embedded in trade for each country. Then, using a physical trade model across 191 countries and around 400 food and forestry products, they could trace them through to where they are physically consumed, either as food or in industrial processes.Pendrill, F., Persson, U. M., Godar, J., Kastner, T., Moran, D., Schmidt, S., & Wood, R. (2019). These countries might have high levels of afforestation at home, but theyre still having a net negative impact on the size of the worlds forests. Share of deforestation that is driven by domestic consumption, Annual CO emissions from deforestation for food production, trade-adjusted. We will always indicate the original source of the data in our documentation, so you should always check the license of any such third-party data before use and redistribution. Philipp Curtis and colleagues make this point clear. This rapid swapping of green for gray is harmful to the people living in these spaces, and it sets cities up for long-term environmental decline, according to the scientists. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. The world passed peaked deforestation in the 1980s and it has been on the decline since then we take a look at rates of forest loss since 1700 in our follow-up post. Thats a lot of trees! If we sum countries imported deforestation by World Bank income group, we find that high-income countries were responsible for 40% of imported deforestation; upper-middle income for 25%; lower-middle income for 20%; and low income for 5%. Since three-quarters of tropical deforestation is driven by agriculture, thats a valid concern. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. National Inventory of Woodland and Trees, England (2001). WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. In the chart we see how the cover of the earths surface has changed over the past 10,000 years. This is because the latter only captures deforestation the replacement of forest with another land use (such as cropland). You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. You will notice in the chart that this was not only expanding into previously forested land, but also other land uses such as wild grasslands and shrubbery. Degradation drivers, including logging and especially wildfires can definitely have major impacts on forest health: animal populations decline, trees can die, and CO2 is emitted. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of In their analysis of global forest loss, Philip Curtis and colleagues used satellite images to assess where and why the world lost forests between 2001 and 2015. On balance, they add to the global forest stock. (2020).References:FAO and UNEP. There is little forest left. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. By Georgina Rannard. It assumes the impact of clearing primary rainforest in the Amazon to produce soybeans is the same as logging planted forests in the UK. Many countries have much less forest today than they did in the past. We see massive differences in how important each driver is across the world. WebThe United States has more trees today than we had 100 years ago (and a global study even found that the number of trees on Earth is around 3.04 trillion, a much higher number than previously believed.) Rich countries such as the USA, France and the United Kingdom have had a long history of deforestation but are now passed the transition point. Thats an area the size of the United Kingdom. Thats a lot of trees! As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. From 1700 to 1850, 19 million hectares were being cleared every decade. This is true for some problems, such as climate change. Countries below the line such as the UK and Germany are not growing forests fast enough to offset the deforestation theyre creating elsewhere. Tree density in primary forests varies from 50,000-100,000 trees per square km, so the math would put this number at 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees cut down each year. Thats like losing an area the size of Portugal every two years. Lewis, S. L. (2006). The course and drivers of the forest transition: the case of France. Imagine some temperate country was responsible for the deforestation of 25,000 hectares in tropical countries but was restoring its own forests at a rate of 50,000 hectares per year. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. The annual change is now positive. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. Deforestation, reforestation, and development, Forest transitions: towards a global understanding of land use change, Economic development and forest cover: evidence from satellite data, Deforestation displaced: trade in forest-risk commodities and the prospects for a global forest transition, Classifying drivers of global forest loss, What we know and dont know about Earths missing biodiversity, Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers, Tropical forests and the changing earth system, Types and rates of forest disturbance in Brazilian Legal Amazon, 20002013, Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions, Environmental impacts of food consumption in Europe. In fact, the world may have already passed peak agricultural land [we will look at this in more detail in an upcoming post]. We see very clearly that the large Brazilian footprint is driven by its domestic demand for beef. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. According to the Environmental Paper Network, an estimated 30% of felled trees are used for paper products. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. Science, 349(6250), 827-832.Williams, D. R., Clark, M., Buchanan, G. M., Ficetola, G. F., Rondinini, C., & Tilman, D. (2020). Note that in this study, the category of subsistence agriculture was classified as a deforestation driver, and so is not included. It was predominantly temperate forests that were being lost at this time. Journal of Rural Studies, 15(1), 65-90.Mather, A. S., & Needle, C. L. (2000). Healthy environment: One hundred mature trees catch about 139,000 gallons of rainwater per year. How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? The breakdown of forest loss globally, and by region, is shown in the chart.22. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, 753-765. Data on the annual change in domestic forests is sourced from the UN FAOs Forest Resources Assessment. As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. Weve seen the five key drivers of forest loss. Lets take a look at which countries are causing deforestation overseas and the size of this impact. As we will see later, this is dominated by palm oil exports to Europe, China, India, North America and the Middle East. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. Rome. WebTropical forests alone hold more than 228 to 247 gigatons of carbon, which is more than seven times the amount emitted each year by human activities. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. Only 10% of this was lost in the first half of this period, until 5,000 years ago. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, In the tropics, some forestry production can be classified as deforestation when primary rainforests are cut down to make room for managed tree plantations.21. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. Today, most deforestation occurs in the tropics. The researchers found that 36 million trees are cut down in urban areas each year, and 167,000 acres of impervious areas (concrete, asphalt, etc.) Given the current estimate of the total tree cover on the planet, that could equate to about 0.11% of trees being cut each year. But this is no longer the case: forest loss across North America and Europe is now the result of harvesting forestry products from tree plantations, or tree loss in wildfires. But we also need to know what products are driving this. It feeds into the popular idea that eating local is one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Please consult our full legal disclaimer. The United Nations, as well as experts at the World Wildlife Fund and Global Forest Watch, found that one million animals are in danger of extinction as a result of how much deforestation has occurred. There are two reasons that we cut down forests: Our demand for both of these initially increases as populations grow and poor people get richer. But international markets alone cannot fix this problem. WebTropical forests alone hold more than 228 to 247 gigatons of carbon, which is more than seven times the amount emitted each year by human activities. For example, the average German generated half a tonne (510 kilograms) of CO2 per person from domestic and imported foods. Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions. If we can identify the producer countries, importing countries, and specific products responsible, we can direct our efforts towards interventions that will really make a difference. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. Tropical forests and the changing earth system. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. Nearly all 95% of this deforestation occurs in the tropics. Mapping tree density at a global scale. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. The problem is that it treats all forest loss as equal. Today thats just 34%. But, it would be wrong to think that the only impact rich countries have on global forests is through changes in their domestic forests. The bar chart just below shows the earths surface cover just after the end of the last ice age.3 10,000 years ago 57% of the worlds habitable land was covered by forest. The change is temporary. Deforestation also results in larger losses of biodiversity and carbon relative to degradation. And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. What activities are driving this? The 11-month balance shows that 1,539,970 trees were cut down each day, which means 1,059 trees per minute or almost 18 trees per second. On balance, it would still have a positive impact on the size of global forests; its net contribution would be increasing forest area by 25,000 hectares.32 However, this country might still be causing more damage than this for a couple of reasons. This explains historical trends we see for countries across the world today. By 1900, there were 1.65 billion people in the world (five times fewer than we have today) but for most of the previous period, humans were deforesting the world with only tens or hundreds of millions.
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