Approximately 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are being cut each year according to a report referenced on the Rainforest Action Networks website (RAN) and other publications. 2020. In the chart we see the decadal losses and gains in global forest cover. Since then, deforestation rates have steadily declined, to 78 million hectares in the 1990s; 52 million in the early 2000s; and 47 million in the last decade. Belhaven Press. What activities are driving this? The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. How many trees are cut down each year? After seeing this data, people might argue that we should cut back on trade. How many trees does IKEA cut down a Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. This increase was mostly driven by tropical deforestation as countries across Asia and Latin America followed the path of Europe and North America. How many trees does IKEA cut down a The rate of forest loss changed a lot. They are also richer sites of biodiversity. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. Humanitys biggest footprint is due to what we eat, not where we live. Notarnicola et al. 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. How do these two measures compare? In the map we see the net deforestation embedded in trade for each country. As I mentioned earlier, 14% of deforestation today is driven by consumers in rich countries. Most traded emissions are embedded in soy and palm oil exports to China and India; and beef, soy and palm oil exports to Europe. The researchs results are Countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are in the early transition phase and are losing forests quickly. 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). Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. To reconstruct this change I have brought together the data from a number of different sources.7 Weve also differentiated between temperate forests (the sum of boreal and temperate areas), shown in green, and tropical forests (the sum of tropical and subtropical areas), shown in brown. This emphasises two important points. From the 1920s through to the 1980s, decadal losses quadrupled to almost 120 million hectares. As of 2020, the UN estimates the planet is losing over 7,000,000 hectares per year to deforestation.27Between 1990 and 2015, the world lost 129 million hectares of forest an area about the size of South Africa.11 Natural forests lost by continent9include: Africa 3.2 million hectares Then things started to speed up. Imported emissions are also high for Taiwan, Belgium and the Netherlands at around one tonne. You see that of the 14.9 billion hectares of land on the planet, only 71% of it is habitable the other 29% is either covered by ice and glaciers, or is barren land such as deserts, salt flats, or dunes. 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. The researchs results are What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? But distilling changes to this single metric tree or forest loss comes with its own issues. Rudel, T. K. (1998). But forest cover increases through reforestation. 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. Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. This is measured in hectares, which is equivalent to 10,000 m. The change is temporary. Cutting them down disrupts or destroys established, species-rich ecosystems. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. How many trees are cut down each year?. Web3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down per year. Most tropical deforestation is driven by demand for products in domestic markets. If we can take advantage of these innovations, we can bring deforestation to an end. (2020).References:FAO and UNEP. Tyukavina, A., Hansen, M. C., Potapov, P. V., Stehman, S. V., Smith-Rodriguez, K., Okpa, C., & Aguilar, R. (2017). That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. You have permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. Its State of the Worlds Forests report provides estimates of global forest cover today, and rates of change over previous decades. Philipp Curtis and colleagues make this point clear. But, supply chains are international. According to the Environmental Paper Network, an estimated 30% of felled trees are used for paper products. Whether we look at the distribution of endemic mammal species, bird species, or amphibian species, the map is the same: subtropical countries are packed with unique wildlife. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. Deforesting the earth: from prehistory to global crisis. Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions. In contrast, most forest degradation two-thirds of it occurs in temperate countries. 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. Nearly half (47%) of France was forested 1000 years ago; today thats just under one-third (31.4%). 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. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? Mather refers to an annual loss of less than 0.25% as a small loss. The biodiversity of managed tree plantations which are periodically cut, regrown, cut again, then regrown is not the same. 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. The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. In the chart we see the comparison between the change in domestic forest area, and deforestation driven by imported goods.33 On the vertical axis we have the domestic change in forest area: this is shown only for countries where the forest area is increasing. Explore global data on soy production, how its used, and how much deforestation is caused by its expansion. If you struggle to increase crop yields but want to produce more food, then expanding your agricultural land is the only option. Are they causing more deforestation elsewhere than they are regenerating in forests at home? But its not the case for deforestation. It might seem odd to argue that we should focus our efforts on tackling this quarter of forest loss (rather than the other 73%). Lets now focus on the consumers of products driving deforestation. Several studies have assessed the stage of countries across the world.17 The most recent analysis to date was published by Florence Pendrill and colleagues (2019) which looked at each countrys stage in the transition, the drivers of deforestation but also the role of international trade.18 To do this, they used the standard metrics discussed in our theory of forest transitions earlier: the share of land that is forested, and the annual change in forest cover. By Georgina Rannard. From the chart we see that this was driven by the continued expansion of land for agriculture. Tropical forests are home to some of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on the planet. In the figure we see visual examples from the study of forest loss classification by Philip Curtis et al. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? Since there is often year-to-year variability in deforestation or reforestation rates, this is shown as the five-year average. The breakdown of deforestation by region is shown in the chart. The United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. This map shows the net change in forest cover across the world. Land, 9(5), 129. Not all forest loss is equal: what is the difference between deforestation and forest degradation? To investigate this question, researchers Florence Pendrill et al. Rudel, T. K., Coomes, O. T., Moran, E., Achard, F., Angelsen, A., Xu, J., & Lambin, E. (2005). As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. The number of trees cut down in the Brazilian Amazon in January far exceeded deforestation for the same month last year, according to government satellite data. Americans cut down 15,094,678 Christmas trees in 2017, according to the most recent year of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. From 1700 to 1850, 19 million hectares were being cleared every decade. At their Global Forest Watch platform they were already presenting maps of forest loss across the world. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. Most deforestation today occurs in low-to-middle income countries. Brazils emissions are high because Brazilians eat a lot of beef. Note that in this study, the category of subsistence agriculture was classified as a deforestation driver, and so is not included. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. Before we look at trends in deforestation across the world specifically, its useful to understand the net change in forest cover. Approximately 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are being cut each year according to a report referenced on the Rainforest Action Networks website (RAN) and other publications. Most of todays richest countries all of Europe, North America, Japan, South Korea have passed the turning point and are now regaining forest. The world has lost one-third of its forests, but an end of deforestation is possible. After we adjust for imports and exports, how much CO2 from deforestation is each country responsible for? 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.34, They found that tropical deforestation given as the annual average between 2010 and 2014 was responsible for 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. 15 billion trees are cut down every year.19 The Global Forest Watch project using satellite imagery estimates that global tree loss in 2019 was 24 million hectares. It doesnt capture trees that are cut down in planted forests; the land is still forested, its now just regrowing forest. On balance, they add to the global forest stock. 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%. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, (2017) estimate that the average EU diet, excluding deforestation, is responsible for 0.5 tonnes CO2 per person. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. The problem is that it treats all forest loss as equal. Rome. Across the US and Europe the breakdown of products is more varied. 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. theyre driving deforestation elsewhere; whilst many subtropical countries are partly cutting down trees to meet this demand from rich countries. In a related post we have combined this FAO data with global deforestation rates from Williams (2003) to document forest change over the last 300 years this gives us data on forest change from 1700 onwards. Even with the most basic of lifestyles compared to todays standards, the per capita footprint of our ancestors would have been large. Forests: this data is primarily sourced from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? Thats like losing an area the size of Portugal every two years. In Latin America and Southeast Asia in particular, commodity-driven deforestation mainly the clearance of forests to grow crops such as palm oil and soy, and pasture for beef production accounts for almost two-thirds of forest loss. Geographical Journal, 166(1), 2-13. Curtis, P. G., Slay, C. M., Harris, N. L., Tyukavina, A., & Hansen, M. C. (2018). Global Environmental Change, 15(1), 23-31. We see this in the chart. This is true for some problems, such as climate change. 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. Web42 million trees are cut down each day. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. The Asia-Pacific region predominantly Indonesia and Malaysia export a higher share: 44%. Available here. In the article we will look at the reasons we lose forest; how these can be differentiated in a useful way; and what this means for understanding our priorities in tackling forest loss. 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. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. But, it would be wrong to think that the only impact rich countries have on global forests is through changes in their domestic forests. They cut down their forests and replaced it with agricultural land long ago. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. Nature Sustainability, 1-9. (2019) quantified the deforestation embedded in traded goods between countries.30 They did this by calculating the amount of deforestation associated with specific food and forestry products, and combining it with a trade model. Agriculture Department that it treats all forest loss across the world has one-third... 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