14% of deforestation is driven by consumers in the worlds richest countries we import beef, vegetable oils, cocoa, coffee and paper that has been produced on deforested land.12. Weve seen the five key drivers of forest loss. Notarnicola 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. 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. 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. That is why we should be focusing on tropical deforestation. Deforestation was therefore responsible for [2.6 / 40.2 * 100 = 6.5%]. 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 one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. When in history did we lose it? Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. 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. 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. 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. Global forest resources. 27% of forest loss results from commodity-driven deforestation cutting down forests to grow crops such as soy, palm oil, cocoa, to raise livestock on pasture, and mining operations. People cut down 15 billion trees each year and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization. Tropical forests are home to some of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on the planet. Journal of Rural Studies, 15(1), 65-90.Mather, A. S., & Needle, C. L. (2000). Within this global aggregated trend there are many forest transitions at local, national or regional levels occurring. 1000 years ago, 20% of Scotlands land was covered by forest. How many trees does IKEA cut down a Maxwell, S. L., Fuller, R. A., Brooks, T. M., & Watson, J. E. (2016). Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. 40% of traded deforestation ends up in high-income countries, meaning they are responsible for 12% of deforestation.29. This explains historical trends we see for countries across the world today. Sometimes these restoration programmes pale in comparison to the deforestation theyre driving elsewhere. How many trees are cut down each year?. Nearly all 95% of this deforestation occurs in the tropics. 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. Help us do this work by making a donation. In a previous post we looked at this change in global forests over the long-run. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. It assumes the impact of clearing primary rainforest in the Amazon to produce soybeans is the same as logging planted forests in the UK. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. We should not only look at where these foods are produced, but also where the consumer demand is coming from. Many farmers rely on international buyers to earn a living and improve their livelihoods. How much deforestation happens every day? Thats a lot of trees! How many trees have been cut down? 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]. I have reconstructed long-term data using various studies which Ive documented here. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. As I mentioned earlier, 14% of deforestation today is driven by consumers in rich countries. The problem is that it treats all forest loss as equal. Stage 1 The Pre-Transition phase is defined by having high levels of forest cover and no or only very slow losses over time. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, 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. Stage 2 The Early Transition phase is when countries start to lose forests very rapidly. But then the trend turned, and it moved from deforestation to reforestation. We need to pass the transition point as soon as possible, while minimising the amount of forest we lose along the way. This means they were responsible for 12% of global deforestation.31 It is therefore true that rich countries are causing deforestation in poorer countries. Pre-1961 land use is sourced from the work of Ellis et al. As we covered in a previous article, 60% of tropical deforestation is driven by beef, soybean and palm oil production. The paths between these end boxes indicate where emissions are being traded the wider the bar, the more emissions are embedded in these products. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. We therefore look at them both individually in more detail, to better understand what we can do about it. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. Thats 6 billion hectares. Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions. (2018), published in Science.20, Commodity-driven deforestation and urbanization are deforestation: the forested land is completely cleared and converted into another land use a farm, mining site, or city. Tropical forests and the changing earth system. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. With increasing development, urbanization and access to other energy resources, Africa will shift from local, subsistence activities into commercial commodity production both in agricultural products and timber extraction. Science Advances, 3(4), e1601047. 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%. All of our charts can be embedded in any site. From 1700 to 1850, 19 million hectares were being cleared every decade. How much forest has the world lost? 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. But most emissions are driven by domestic markets this means policies in the major producer countries will be key to tackling this problem. As we saw previously, this deforestation accounts for around one-quarter of global forest loss. The breakdown of forest loss globally, and by region, is shown in the chart.22. But, understanding the role of deforestation in the products we buy is important. To understand this more recent loss of forest, lets zoom in on the last 300 years. Why should we care most about tropical deforestation? A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. But we should keep these important aspects in mind when comparing forest losses and gains. Shifting agriculture is usually classified as degradation because the land is often abandoned and the forests regrow naturally. You have permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. Globally we deforest around ten million hectares of forest every year.11 Thats an area the size of Portugal every year. This is true for some problems, such as climate change. In the map we see the net deforestation embedded in trade for each country. Global Environmental Change, 56, 1-10. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Across the US and Europe the breakdown of products is more varied. 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. Many countries have followed this classic U-shaped pattern. How many trees have been cut down? Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. Lets put some numbers to them. As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. There is a geographical argument (why the tropics?) The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. But the solution is not so simple. If we can take advantage of these innovations, we can bring deforestation to an end. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. Global Environmental Change, 15(1), 23-31. Web3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down per year. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. Web3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down per year. (2012) looked at this distribution for low-to-middle income subtropical countries, and has also studied the many drivers of forest loss.Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R. S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., & Romijn, E. (2012). They also contribute to global deforestation through the foods they import from poorer countries. Hosonuma et al. In the chart we see how emissions from tropical deforestation are distributed through international supply chains. Increasing human dominance of tropical forests. Anthropogenic Biomes: 10,000 BCE to 2015 CE. 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. Forest cover falls quickly, and the annual loss of forest is high. The turn of the 20th century is when global forest loss reached the halfway point: half of total forest loss occurred from 8,000BC to 1900; the other half occurred in the last century alone. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . Since 1961, the amount of land we use for agriculture increased by only 7%. It would be good if there was data available that would capture these additional aspects. What if this deforestation is being driven by consumers elsewhere? It was a net exporter. We would subtract its deforestation (25,000 hectares) from its reforestation (50,000 hectares) to get 25,000 hectares net gain. In a related article we look in much more detail at what agricultural products, and which countries are driving this. Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. The change is permanent. And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. Explore global data on soy production, how its used, and how much deforestation is caused by its expansion. Low agricultural productivity and a reliance on wood for fuel meant that large amounts of land had to be cleared for basic provisions. What activities are driving this? It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. The data used in this chart comes from several sources. First, it reiterates that deforestation is not a new problem: relatively small populations of the past were capable of driving a large amount of forest loss. How many trees does IKEA cut down a Countries with a negative change (shown in red) are losing more than theyre able to restore. 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. Africa is also different here. 38. Environmental Research Letters, 14(5), 055003. In the chart we see deforestation emissions per person, measured in tonnes of CO2 per year. 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. Belhaven Press. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. Its the foods and products we buy, not where we live, that has the biggest impact on global land use. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . The consumption choices of people in these countries cause deforestation elsewhere in the world. Still, more than half of the worlds habitable land was forested. 38. Its domestic demand, not international trade, that is the main driver of deforestation. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 361(1465), 195-210. 95% of global deforestation occurs in the tropics. WebHealthy trees mean: Healthy people: 100 trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year. Environmental impacts of food consumption in Europe. 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. The United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. The story of both soy and palm oil are complex and its not obvious that eliminating these products will fix the problem. Forest Transitions: why do we lose then regain forests? Since agriculture is responsible for 60 to 80% of it, what we eat, where its sourced from, and how it is produced is our strongest lever to bring deforestation to an end. Since there is often year-to-year variability in deforestation or reforestation rates, this is shown as the five-year average. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. Rural Sociology, 63(4), 533-552. The world has lost one-third of its forests, but an end of deforestation is possible. 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.) Agricultural and urban land: The UN FAO Statistical database provides data on global agricultural and urban land from 1961 onwards. Imported emissions are also high for Taiwan, Belgium and the Netherlands at around one tonne. Science, 349(6250), 827-832. The world loses almost six million hectares of forest each year to deforestation. 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. 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 grey line marks where the area of domestic regrowth of forests is exactly equal to imported deforestation. This gives us an indication of the impact of the average persons diet. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. To do this, they quantified where deforestation was occurring due to the expansion of croplands, pasture and tree plantations (for logging), and what commodities were produced on this converted land. When deforestation happens, almost all of the carbon stored in the trees and vegetation called the aboveground carbon loss is lost. Most emissions 71% came from foods consumed in the country that they were produced. Most deforestation occurs for the production of goods that are consumed within domestic markets. In the chart we see the decadal losses and gains in global forest cover. 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. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. Even with the most basic of lifestyles compared to todays standards, the per capita footprint of our ancestors would have been large. This is calculated by taking each countrys imported deforestation and subtracting its exported deforestation. Its useful to make this distinction because as we will see where the world has lost forests has shifted. We need more fuelwood to cook, more houses to live in, and importantly, more food to eat. 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. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. are added every year. 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. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. Luxembourg has the largest footprint at nearly three tonnes per person. 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. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. People cut down 15 billion trees each year and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization. Why? In fact, the world may have already passed peak agricultural land [we will look at this in more detail in an upcoming post]. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. Cutting them down disrupts or destroys established, species-rich ecosystems. Healthy communities: Tree-filled neighborhoods lower levels of domestic violence and are safer and more sociable. Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers. 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. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. There is little forest left. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. In most rich countries, across Europe, North America and East Asia, forest cover is increasing, whilst in many low-to-middle income countries its decreasing. Some of the worlds poorest countries are still in the pre-transition phase. 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. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. Net importers of deforestation (shown in brown) are countries that contribute more to deforestation in other countries than they do in their home country. The United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. In the chart we see how the cover of the earths surface has changed over the past 10,000 years. The global population at this time was small and growing very slowly there were fewer than 50 million people in the world. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. The rate of forest loss changed a lot. Lets start at the top. 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. High-income countries were the largest importers of deforestation, accounting for 40% of it. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? Historical data pre-1990 is sourced from Michael Williams book, Deforesting the Earth: from prehistory to global crisis. The breakdown of deforestation by region is shown in the chart. Available here. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. 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. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? The annual change is now positive. In contrast, most forest degradation two-thirds of it occurs in temperate countries. 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. How do these two measures compare? Geographical Journal, 166(1), 2-13. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. The latter will experience short-term environmental impacts, but will ultimately regrow. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. Rome. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. When we cut down primary rainforest we are transforming this ecosystem forever. This is also true for major economies such as China and India. are added every year. 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. 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.) By Georgina Rannard. Web42 million trees are cut down each day. Deforestation is the complete removal of trees for the conversion of forest to another land use such as agriculture, mining, or towns and cities. 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. Estimates vary, but on average only 10-20% of carbon is lost during logging, and 10-30% from fires.27 In a study of logging practices in the Amazon and Congo, forests retained 76% of their carbon stocks shortly after logging.28 Logged forests recover their carbon over time, as long as the land is not converted to other uses (which is what happens in the case of deforestation). Scottish Geographical Journal, 120(1-2), 83-98. Thats a lot of trees! Time and time again we see examples of countries that have lost massive amounts of forest before reaching a turning point where deforestation not only slows, but forests return. Brazils emissions are high because Brazilians eat a lot of beef. 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. The world has lost one-third of its forest an area twice the size of the United States. Tropical forests, on aggregate, have also passed peak deforestation in the 1980s the longest of all bars but have not passed the transition to reforestation. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. Stage 3 The Late Transition phase is when deforestation rates start to slow down again. Estimates vary, but most date the end of the last great ice age to around 11,700 years ago.Kump, L. R., Kasting, J. F., & Crane, R. G. (2004). 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). Across temperate forests the world gained 6 million hectares in the last decade. But urban land accounts for just 1% of global habitable land. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). Improvements in agricultural productivity tends to both drive and follow economic growth. Lets take a look at which countries are causing deforestation overseas and the size of this impact. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. 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. Why? The rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. Are they causing more deforestation elsewhere than they are regenerating in forests at home? It results in a permanent conversion of forest into an alternative land use. It doesnt capture trees that are cut down in planted forests; the land is still forested, its now just regrowing forest. 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. Many consumers are concerned that their food choices are linked to deforestation in some of these hotspots. After long periods of forest clearance in the past, most of todays richest countries are increasing tree cover through afforestation. We see this in the chart. Carbon emissions from deforestation: are they driven by domestic demand or international trade? https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8753en. 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. Nature, 525(7568), 201-205. Forests, biodiversity and people. 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. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? 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. Thats a lot of trees! This might paint a bleak picture for the future of the worlds forests: the United Nations projects that the global population will continue to grow, reaching 10.8 billion by 2100. Our crop yields improve and so we need less land for agriculture. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. But it can bridge between deforestation and degradation depending on the timeframe and permanence of these agricultural practices. Then things started to speed up. In the map we see their assessment of each countrys stage in the transition. To put this in perspective, that would be around one-sixth of the total carbon footprint of the average EU diet.36. But, as countries continue to get richer this demand slows. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, reducing meat and dairy intake particularly beef and lamb has the largest impact. 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Produced, but will ultimately regrow trees and vegetation called the aboveground carbon loss is lost of all trees being. Provides data on global land use trees cut down every year the equator cut down year... Rates start to slow down again people: 100 trees remove 53 of... We live, that has the largest footprint at nearly three tonnes per person look. Are home to some of the worlds poorest countries are driving this and private! From 1700 to 1850, 19 million hectares of forest through afforestation.6 prehistory to global crisis but forests...