Cutting them down disrupts or destroys established, species-rich ecosystems. But there is good reason to make this our primary concern. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. Hence, we should keep in mind that forest area is not the only aspect that matters where that forest is and how rich in life it is matters too. How much forest has the world lost? Science, 349(6250), 827-832.Williams, D. R., Clark, M., Buchanan, G. M., Ficetola, G. F., Rondinini, C., & Tilman, D. (2020). 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. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. Forest Transitions: why do we lose then regain forests? Since three-quarters of tropical deforestation is driven by agriculture, thats a valid concern. 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. Explore palm oil production across the world, and its impacts on the environment. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. They first lose lots of forest, but reach a turning point and begin to regain it again. Historical data pre-1990 is sourced from Michael Williams book, Deforesting the Earth: from prehistory to global crisis. We see this in the chart. 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. There is a geographical argument (why the tropics?) Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. 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. And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. 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. See the distribution of global forests and which countries have the most forest cover. Centuries ago it was mainly temperate regions that were driving global deforestation [we take a look at this longer history of deforestation in a related article]. 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. Humans have been cutting down trees for millennia. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of Forests are mainly cut and burned to make space for local, subsistence agriculture or for fuelwood for energy. The change is permanent. But distilling changes to this single metric tree or forest loss comes with its own issues. The latter will experience short-term environmental impacts, but will ultimately regrow. Since year-to-year changes in forest cover can be volatile, the UN FAO provide this annual data averaged over five-year periods. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. Hosonuma et al. 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. 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. Africa is also an outlier as a result of how many people still rely on wood as their primary energy source. But, understanding the role of deforestation in the products we buy is important. We see one such transition in the chart: the forest loss in the temperate regions shown as the green part of the bars peaked much earlier than the global forest loss. Rudel, T. K., Coomes, O. T., Moran, E., Achard, F., Angelsen, A., Xu, J., & Lambin, E. (2005). It might seem odd to argue that we should focus our efforts on tackling this quarter of forest loss (rather than the other 73%). If we fast-forward to 1700 when the global population had increased more than ten-fold, to 603 million. Increasing human dominance of tropical forests. Habitat loss is the leading driver of global biodiversity loss.25 When we cut down rainforests we are destroying the habitats of many unique species, and reshaping these ecosystems permanently. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. After long periods of forest clearance in the past, most of todays richest countries are increasing tree cover through afforestation. 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. 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. Science, 349(6250), 827-832. Tyukavina, A., Hansen, M. C., Potapov, P. V., Stehman, S. V., Smith-Rodriguez, K., Okpa, C., & Aguilar, R. (2017). In the chart we see deforestation emissions per person, measured in tonnes of CO2 per year. As we will see later, this is dominated by palm oil exports to Europe, China, India, North America and the Middle East. Brazils emissions are high because Brazilians eat a lot of beef. Many people think of environmental concerns as a modern issue: humanitys destruction of nature and ecosystems as a result of very recent population growth and increasing consumption. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. 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. How many trees does IKEA cut down a Maxwell, S. L., Fuller, R. A., Brooks, T. M., & Watson, J. E. (2016). The changes to the forest are often temporary and its expected that they will regrow. 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. In the map we see the net deforestation embedded in trade for each country. Carbon emissions from deforestation: are they driven by domestic demand or international trade? 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. It results in a permanent conversion of forest into an alternative land use. If you struggle to increase crop yields but want to produce more food, then expanding your agricultural land is the only option. Instead of using wood for fuel we switch to fossil fuels, or hopefully, more renewables and nuclear energy. 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 United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. Explore long-term changes in deforestation, and deforestation rates across the world today. Rather than looking at total figures by country [if youre interested, we have mapped them here] we have calculated the per capita footprint. Nature, 525(7568), 201-205. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. Since the end of the last great ice age 10,000 years ago the world has lost one-third of its forests.5 Two billion hectares of forest an area twice the size of the United States has been cleared to grow crops, raise livestock, and use for fuelwood. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. 38. The breakdown of deforestation by region is shown in the chart. For example, the average German generated half a tonne (510 kilograms) of CO2 per person from domestic and imported foods. 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. University of Chicago Press.FAO (2020). Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. 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. 432). That is why we should be focusing on tropical deforestation. The researchs results are It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. Then things started to speed up. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? Our crop yields improve and so we need less land for agriculture. International trade is important for socioeconomic development. Why? This demand for resources and land is not always driven by domestic markets. What activities are driving this? The researchs results are Nature, 536(7615), 143. Loss of Biodiversity: Forests are the only liveable habitat for a variety of species around the globe many of which have not even have been discovered. 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. Its domestic demand, not international trade, that is the main driver of deforestation. Then things started to speed up. WebHealthy trees mean: Healthy people: 100 trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year. At the top of the list we see some of the major producer countries Brazil and Indonesia. The course and drivers of the forest transition: the case of France. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? Stage 2 The Early Transition phase is when countries start to lose forests very rapidly. Today, only 4 billion hectares are left. From 1850 to 1920, losses were around 50% higher at 30 million hectares per decade thats like losing a forested area the size of Italy every 10 years. We should not only look at where these foods are produced, but also where the consumer demand is coming from. Forest transition theory and the reforesting of Scotland. The world loses 5 million hectares of forest to deforestation each year. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. Americans cut down 15,094,678 Christmas trees in 2017, according to the most recent year of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. The diet of the average Brazilian creates 2.7 tonnes of CO2 from deforestation alone. Deforestation rates accelerated. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. We can illustrate this through the so-called Forest Transition Model.14 This is shown in the chart. 79% of exported deforestation ended up in those countries that had stopped losing domestic forests. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. For example, the US imported 64,000 hectares of deforested land, but increased its domestic forest area by 275,000 hectares. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . The average across the EU was 0.3 tonnes CO2 per person. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9825en. Global deforestation peaked in the 1980s. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. Web42 million trees are cut down each day. However, most align on the relative change in forests over this period. That these countries have recently regained forests is also visible in the long-term forest trends above. International trade was responsible for around one-third (29%) of these emissions. If we can take advantage of these innovations, we can bring deforestation to an end. Rudel, T. K. (1998). WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. Mather, A. S., Fairbairn, J., & Needle, C. L. (1999). Latin America exports around 23% of its emissions; that means more than three-quarters are generated for products that are consumed within domestic markets. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020: Main report. This is because the latter only captures deforestation the replacement of forest with another land use (such as cropland). As we explore in more detail in our related article, countries tend to follow a predictable development in forest cover, a U-shaped curve.9 They lose forests as populations grow and demand for agricultural land and fuel increases, but eventually they reach the so-called forest transition point where they begin to regrow more forests than they lose. To investigate this question, researchers Florence Pendrill et al. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. Why? The net change in forest cover measures any gains in forest cover either through natural forest expansion or afforestation through tree-planting minus deforestation. Deforestation in Africa is mainly driven by local populations and markets; only 9% of its emissions are exported. But then the trend turned, and it moved from deforestation to reforestation. In just over 100 years the world lost as much forest as it had in the previous 9,000 years. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. One of the reasons poorer countries clear forest to make room for farmland is that they achieve low crop yields. 71% of deforestation is for domestic production. And with the growth of technological innovations such as lab-grown meat and substitute products, there is the real possibility that we can continue to enjoy meat or meat-like foods while freeing up the massive amounts of land we use to raise livestock. Many consumers are concerned that their food choices are linked to deforestation in some of these hotspots. There is little forest left. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. Deforestation tends to occur on forests that have been around for centuries, if not millennia. Lets take a look at which countries are causing deforestation overseas and the size of this impact. How many trees are cut down each year?. But forest cover increases through reforestation. Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R. S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., & Romijn, E. (2012). From this understanding we can define five reasons why we lose forests: Thanks to satellite imagery, we can get a birds-eye view of what these drivers look like from above. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. Environmental impacts of food consumption in Europe. Thats both an economic and environmental win. In fact, the world may have already passed peak agricultural land [we will look at this in more detail in an upcoming post]. Classifying drivers of global forest loss. 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. As we covered in a previous article, 60% of tropical deforestation is driven by beef, soybean and palm oil production. Scottish Geographical Journal, 120(1-2), 83-98. Absolute estimates of forest cover from other sources may differ for this reason. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. Today thats just 34%. Decisionmakers could give as much of our attention to European logging as to destruction of the Amazon. theyre driving deforestation elsewhere; whilst many subtropical countries are partly cutting down trees to meet this demand from rich countries. If we want to end deforestation we need to understand where and why its happening; where countries are within their transition; and what can be done to accelerate their progress through it. In the chart we see the decadal losses and gains in global forest cover. Rome. How many trees are cut down each year? 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. Available here. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). 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. 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. The rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. Noriko Hosonuma et al. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. We need more fuelwood to cook, more houses to live in, and importantly, more food to eat. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. 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. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. 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. Forestry production and wildfires usually result in forest degradation the forest experiences short-term disturbance but if left alone is likely to regrow. We need to pass the transition point as soon as possible, while minimising the amount of forest we lose along the way. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. Tropical forests are also large carbon sinks, and can store a lot of carbon per unit area.26. In a previous article I showed that the types of food you eat matter much more for your carbon footprint than where it comes from this is because transport usually makes up a small percentage of your foods emissions, even if it comes from the other side of the world. The story of both soy and palm oil are complex and its not obvious that eliminating these products will fix the problem. Globally we deforest around ten million hectares of forest every year.11 Thats an area the size of Portugal every year. An area the size of the United States. Improvements in crop yields mean the per capita demand for agricultural land continues to fall. Land, 9(5), 129. Types and rates of forest disturbance in Brazilian Legal Amazon, 20002013. 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. Not all forest is equal. When we treat these impacts equally we make it difficult to prioritize our efforts in the fight against deforestation. Tropical forests and the changing earth system. This might put the responsibility for ending deforestation solely on tropical countries. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, reducing meat and dairy intake particularly beef and lamb has the largest impact. Over half of the worlds species reside in tropical forests.24 Endemic species are those which only naturally occur in a single country. On the x-axis we have imported deforestation. Less than one-third (29%) is for the production of goods that are traded. 2020. We know where deforestation emissions are occurring, and where this demand is coming from. But not all of it is to produce products for local markets. They also contribute to global deforestation through the foods they import from poorer countries. Deforestation, reforestation, and development. The world has lost one-third of its forests, but an end of deforestation is possible. Still, more than half of the worlds habitable land was forested. Many farmers rely on international buyers to earn a living and improve their livelihoods. The Earth System (Vol. But by studying how forests have changed over time, theres good reason to think that a way forward is possible. Deforestation displaced: trade in forest-risk commodities and the prospects for a global forest transition. Do rich countries import deforestation from overseas? The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. This means they were responsible for 12% of global deforestation.31 It is therefore true that rich countries are causing deforestation in poorer countries. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. By the mid-18th century, only 4% of the country was forested. The taller the bar, the larger the change in forest area. Stage 4 The Post-Transition phase is when countries have passed the transition point and are now gaining forest again. 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. In contrast, most forest degradation two-thirds of it occurs in temperate countries. If we sum countries imported deforestation by World Bank income group, we find that high-income countries were responsible for 14% of imported deforestation; upper-middle income for 52%; lower-middle income for 23%; and low income for 11%. 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 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. Licenses: All visualizations, data, and articles produced by Our World in Data are open access under the Creative Commons BY license. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. Geographical Journal, 166(1), 2-13. It assumes the impact of clearing primary rainforest in the Amazon to produce soybeans is the same as logging planted forests in the UK. Its the foods and products we buy, not where we live, that has the biggest impact on global land use. 95% of global deforestation occurs in the tropics. Forest loss or tree loss captures two fundamental impacts on forest cover: deforestation and forest degradation. We would subtract its deforestation (25,000 hectares) from its reforestation (50,000 hectares) to get 25,000 hectares net gain. Many countries have followed this classic U-shaped pattern. People cut down 15 billion trees each year and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization. How many trees does IKEA cut down a 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. In the coming decades this is where we might expect to see the most rapid loss of forests unless these countries take action to prevent it, and the world supports them in the goal. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. 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. Data from 1990 onwards is sourced from the UNs 2020 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020.References:Williams, M. (2003). More than four times as much. In China, the biggest driver is demand for oilseeds which is the combination of soy imported from Latin America and palm oil, imported from Indonesia and Malaysia. 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. This is nearly always true of planted forests in temperate regions there, planted forests are long-established and do not replace primary existing forests. How many trees are cut down each year?. 95% of this occurs in the tropics. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. Before we look at trends in deforestation across the world specifically, its useful to understand the net change in forest cover. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. 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. Deforesting the earth: from prehistory to global crisis. Today, most deforestation occurs in the tropics. In the chart we see how the cover of the earths surface has changed over the past 10,000 years. But a small global population overall meant there was little pressure on forests to make space for land to grow food, and as wood for energy. The rate of forest loss changed a lot. Then things started to speed up. For the past 30 years, temperate regions have seen a continued increase in forest cover through afforestation: you see this as the bars are now positive (pointing upwards). Not only would this be bad for people, it might also be bad for forests. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? Rural Sociology, 63(4), 533-552. The Forest Transition therefore tends to follow a development pathway.16 As a country achieves economic growth it moves through each of the four stages. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings. 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. Many countries have much less forest today than they did in the past. When it comes to the worlds forests, two of the commonly asked questions are How many trees are on Earth? and How many trees are cut down each year? 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. Americans cut down 15,094,678 Christmas trees in 2017, according to the most recent year of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department.

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