When is deforestation happening

The forest canopy is important to the forest's ecosystem because it houses and protects plant, animal and insect populations. It also protects the forest floor, which slows down soil erosion. Agriculture also drives deforestaton. Farmers clear the land for crops or for cattle and often will clear acres of land using slash and burn techniques -- cutting down trees and then burning them. Migratory farmers clear a forest area and use it until the soil becomes too degraded for crops.

Then they move on and clear a new patch of forest. The abandoned land, if left untouched, will eventually reforest, but it will take many, many years to return to its original state.

Hydroelectric dams are quite controversial because while they help to power communities, they also contribute to deforestation. Damming opponents believe that the building of such structures not only has a negative environmental impact, but it also opens up the area to loggers and more roads [source: Colitt ]. To build a hydroelectric dam , acres of land must be flooded, which causes decomposition and release of greenhouse gases.

Local people can also be displaced by dam projects, causing further deforestation when these people resettle elsewhere. Fires , both accidental and intended, destroy acres of forest very quickly. Areas affected by logging are more susceptible to fires due to the number of dried, dead trees. Milder winters and extended warm seasons due to global warming also fuel fires. For example, certain species of beetle that usually die off each winter are now able to survive and continue feeding on trees.

This feeding causes the trees to die and dry out, making them into kindling [source: Environmental Defense Fund ]. Mining also results in deforestation. Digging a coal, diamond or gold mine requires the removal of all forest cover, not just for the mines but also for trucks and equipment. Recently, Venezuela denied a corporation called Crystallex permission to dig a mine because of environmental concerns [source: Walter and Bailey ]. Palm oil has been receiving attention lately for its potential as a biofuel and is used in many packaged foods and beauty products.

But palm oil is another cause of deforestation. Its rising prices make it more valuable, and, in response, Indonesian and Malaysian farmers destroy acres of trees to harvest it. For this reason, several countries are currently debating a ban on palm oil as a biofuel.

As cities grow larger to accommodate more people, trees are cut down to make more room for houses and roads. This urban sprawl deforestation is occurring worldwide, now that 50 percent of the world's population lives in cities [source: CNN ]. As miners needed to go deeper and deeper to retrieve coal, the inefficient steam engine needed to become more efficient.

Soon it evolved into the modern steam engine and was the foundation of the Industrial Revolution. Scientists are finding more and more links between deforestation and global warming.

The carbon footprint created by four years of deforestation is equal to the carbon footprint of every single air flight in the history of aviation up to the year [source: Kristof ]. Let's break that down into simple logic: Trees absorb carbon dioxide.

So fewer trees means more carbon dioxide is loose in the air. More carbon dioxide means an increased greenhouse effect, which leads to global warming. You can read more about the greenhouse effect in What is the greenhouse effect? Reduced biodiversity is another deforestation concern.

Rainforests , arguably the biggest victims of deforestation, cover only about 7 percent of the world's surface. However, within this 7 percent live almost half of all plant and animal species on earth.

Some of these species only live in small specific areas, which makes them especially vulnerable to extinction. In the chart we see the comparison between the change in domestic forest area, and deforestation driven by imported goods.

Since there is often year-to-year variability in deforestation or reforestation rates, this is shown as the five-year average. On the x-axis we have imported deforestation.

The grey line marks where the area of domestic regrowth of forests is exactly equal to imported deforestation. Countries that lie along this line would have a net-neutral impact on global forests: the area they are causing to deforestation overseas is exactly as large as the area they are regrowing at home. Countries which lie above the grey line — such as the United States, Finland, China — restore more forest each year domestically than they import from elsewhere.

More than four times as much. On balance, they add to the global forest stock. After seeing this data, people might argue that we should cut back on trade. If poorer countries are cutting down forests to make food for rich consumers, then we should just stop trading these goods. But the solution is not so simple. There are other aspects to consider. International trade is important for socioeconomic development. Many farmers rely on international buyers to earn a living and improve their livelihoods.

Not only would this be bad for people, it might also be bad for forests. One of the reasons poorer countries clear forest to make room for farmland is that they achieve low crop yields.

If you struggle to increase crop yields but want to produce more food, then expanding your agricultural land is the only option. This often comes at the cost of forests. Improvements in agricultural productivity tends to both drive and follow economic growth. International trade plays an important role in this growth, and may allow farmers to see the yield gains they need to produce more food using less land.

One option is to adopt stricter guidelines on what suppliers to source from, and implementing zero-deforestation policies that stop the trade of goods that have been produced on deforested land. Another way that richer countries can contribute is by investing in technologies — such as improved seed varieties, fertilizers and agricultural practices — that allow farmers to increase yields. The first step in doing this is for rich countries to monitor their deforestation impacts overseas more closely.

They should keep their domestic reforestation targets in perspective with their net impact on global forests. Brazil and Indonesia alone account for almost half.

This might put the responsibility for ending deforestation solely on tropical countries. But, supply chains are international. What if this deforestation is being driven by consumers elsewhere? Many consumers are concerned that their food choices are linked to deforestation in some of these hotspots.

If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, reducing meat and dairy intake — particularly beef and lamb — has the largest impact. But, understanding the role of deforestation in the products we buy is important. 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.

In a study published in Global Environmental Change , Florence Pendrill and colleagues investigated where tropical deforestation was occurring; what products were driving this; and, using global trade models, they traced where these products were going in international supply chains.

They found that tropical deforestation — given as the annual average between and — was responsible for 2. That was 6. This is probably less than many people would expect. In the chart we see how emissions from tropical deforestation are distributed through international supply chains.

On the left-hand side we have the countries grouped by region where deforestation occurs, and on the right we have the countries and regions where these products are consumed. The paths between these end boxes indicate where emissions are being traded — the wider the bar, the more emissions are embedded in these products. Since international demand is driving one-third of deforestation emissions, we have some opportunity to reduce emissions through global consumers and supply chains.

But most emissions are driven by domestic markets — this means policies in the major producer countries will be key to tackling this problem. After we adjust for imports and exports, how much CO 2 from deforestation is each country responsible for? In the chart we see deforestation emissions per person, measured in tonnes of CO 2 per year.

For example, the average German generated half a tonne kilograms of CO 2 per person from domestic and imported foods. At the top of the list we see some of the major producer countries — Brazil and Indonesia. The fact that the per capita emissions after trade are very high means that a lot of their food products are consumed by people in Brazil and Indonesia. The diet of the average Brazilian creates 2. But we also see that some countries which import a lot of food have high emissions.

Luxembourg has the largest footprint at nearly three tonnes per person. Imported emissions are also high for Taiwan, Belgium and the Netherlands at around one tonne. The average across the EU was 0. To put this in perspective, that would be around one-sixth of the total carbon footprint of the average EU diet. We know where deforestation emissions are occurring, and where this demand is coming from. But we also need to know what products are driving this.

This helps consumers understand what products they should be concerned about, but also allows us to target specific supply chains. We should not only look at where these foods are produced, but also where the consumer demand is coming from. In the chart here we see the breakdown of deforestation emissions by product for each consumer country. We see very clearly that the large Brazilian footprint is driven by its domestic demand for beef.

Across the US and Europe the breakdown of products is more varied. But, overall, oilseeds and beef tend to top the list for most countries. Bringing all of these elements together, we can focus on a few points that should help us prioritise our efforts to end deforestation.

By combining our earlier Sankey diagram, and breakdown of emissions by product, we can see that we can tackle a large share of these emissions through only a few key trade flows. Most traded emissions are embedded in soy and palm oil exports to China and India; and beef, soy and palm oil exports to Europe.

We therefore look at them both individually in more detail, to better understand what we can do about it. But international markets alone cannot fix this problem. Most tropical deforestation is driven by demand for products in domestic markets. The world loses 5 million hectares of forest to deforestation each year.

What activities are driving this? Which countries are gaining, and which are losing forest? Click to open interactive version. Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area. How much deforestation occurs each year? This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. Share of global deforestation. The world has lost one-third of its forests, but an end of deforestation is possible. How much forest has the world lost? When in history did we lose it? How can we put an end to our long history of deforestation?

Global deforestation peaked in the s. Natural factors include natural forest fires or parasite-caused diseases which can result in deforestation. Nevertheless, human activities are among the main causes of global deforestation. Why is deforestation happening? And how does agriculture cause so much deforestation? The main reasons why have to do with the large areas require both to raise livestock but also to grow its soy-based food.

The construction of human infrastructures has also been driving deforestation. On one hand, roads, rails, ports or airports have been built to move all sorts of goods — from cereals and fruits to spices, minerals or fossil fuels — either directly to trade centers or to transformation sites. So while at first there were only fruit trees, roads soon arrived to allow transporting fruit to other regions.

And as cities become larger so they can host more people, they challenge the natural boundaries surrounding them, often leading to deforestation. This is one of the reasons why deforestation is happening. Deforestation has many consequences for natural ecosystems and it poses serious problems to the resilience of the planet.

The most known consequence of deforestation is its threat to biodiversity. In fact, forests represent some of the most veritable hubs of biodiversity. From mammals to birds, insects, amphibians or plants, the forest is home to many rare and fragile species. By destroying the forests, human activities are putting entire ecosystems in danger, creating natural imbalances, and putting Life at threat.

The natural world is complex, interconnected, and made of thousands of inter-dependencies and among other functions, trees provide shade and colder temperatures for animals and smaller trees or vegetation which may not survive with the heat of direct sunlight.

Besides, trees also feeding animals with their fruits while providing them with food and shelter they need to survive. Then you should find out some examples of how Life is interconnected:. Healthy forests support the livelihoods of 1. This means there are many people depending on forests for survival and using them to hunt and gather raw products for their small-scale agriculture processes.

But in developing countries such as Borneo, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, or Mexico, land tenure systems are weak. Locals then have to make one of two choices. Or they can stay and work for the companies exploring it in remote plantations — often getting unfair wages and working under inhumane conditions. Related: Is Avocado Production Sustainable? In the long term, the lack of healthy, nutritious soil can lead to low yields and food insecurity.

Deforestation weakens and degrades the soi l. Forested soils are usually not only richer on organic matter, but also more resistant to erosion, bad weather, and extreme weather events. This happens mainly because roots help fix trees in the ground and the sun-blocking tree cover helps the soil to slowly dry out.

As a result, deforestation will probably mean the soil will become increasingly fragile, leaving the area more vulnerable to natural disasters such as landslides and floods. Deforestation also has a very strong contribution to climate change. If we speak about tropical forests, they hold more than gigatons of carbon, according to WWF.

Both these effects negatively contribute to the greenhouse effect and to climate change. To understand the challenges of deforestation, check this National Geographic video. Around the world, deforestation occurs mostly in the tropics where there are different types of forests are: from wet and hot rainforests to others that lose their leaves in the dry season and become woodlands. Some parts of the world have managed to protect their forests from deforestation while others have seen their forestal area decline.

The consumer society chews up forests. We use a lot of trees Almost 5. Your weight in trees many times over We produce almost kilos of wood for everyone on the planet every year. See more. Good wood Sustainable products for all uses of wood exist - furniture, flooring, building materials, paper etc. UN: Sustainable consumption and production of forest products1.

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