(Credit: Unsplash)
- Over half the world’s forests are located in Russia, Brazil, Canada, the US and China.
- The world has lost an area the size of Libya in woodland since 1990, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- The new data shows that net losses of forest have slowed since the 1990s.
- Reforestation could reduce carbon emissions by a quarter, according to research.
Trees are the lungs of our planet, the popular saying goes.
They extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, store it to build branches and trunks, and release oxygen in the process.
As scientists and engineers work on technological solutions to capture and store carbon from human activity, our forests store as much as 45% of all carbon on land.
Yet, just when we need more trees to cut greenhouse gas emissions, a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN FAO) finds that the world has lost 178 million hectares of forest since 1990. That is an area equivalent to the size of Libya.
Annual rate of forest expansion and deforestation, 1990–2020.
Image: UN FAO
Global annual forest area net change, by decade, 1990–2020.
Image: UN FAO
Net losses of woodland slowing
The good news is that, while still high, the data reflects a decrease in the net loss of forest – the balance between deforestation and the natural expansion or planting of woodlands.
While the UN FAO was recording annual net losses of 7.8 million hectares per year in the 1990s, the rate of woodland lost dropped to 4.7 million hectares over the past decade.
The biggest losses were recorded in Africa and South America, with the latter improving substantially in the past 10 years. Asia was the region to realize the biggest net gains, followed by Europe.
Annual forest area net change, by decade and region, 1990–2020.
Image: UN FAO
The world’s woodlands in five countries
More than half (54%) of all global forests are located in just five countries: Russia, Brazil, Canada, the US and China.
Balancing climate and health benefits with economic needs can be a challenge. Illegal logging and forest clearances for other types of agriculture have seen woodlands suffer in Russia and Brazil, for example. In 2018 alone, Russia lost 5.6 million hectares of tree cover, followed by Brazil with nearly three million. Canada and the US lost around 2.1 million each, and China over half a million.
Top five countries for forest area, 2020 (million ha).
Image: UN FAO
With naturally regenerating forests decreasing since 1990 and planted woodlands expanding, initiatives to plant trees – such as the World Economic Forum’s 1t.org – are one way to put the breaks on deforestation.
What’s the World Economic Forum doing about deforestation?
Halting deforestation is essential to avoiding the worst effects of global climate change.
The destruction of forests creates almost as much greenhouse gas emissions as global road travel, and yet it continues at an alarming rate.
In 2012, we brought together more than 150 partners working in Latin America, West Africa, Central Africa and South-East Asia – to establish the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020: a global public-private partnership to facilitate investment in systemic change.
The Alliance, made up of businesses, governments, civil society, indigenous people, communities and international organizations, helps producers, traders and buyers of commodities often blamed for causing deforestation to achieve deforestation-free supply chains.
The Commodities and Forests Agenda 2020, summarizes the areas in which the most urgent action is needed to eliminate deforestation from global agricultural supply chains.
The Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 is gaining ground on tackling deforestation linked to the production of four commodities: palm oil, beef, soy, and pulp and paper.
Get in touch to join our mission to halt to deforestation.
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