how many trees are cut down each year

Mather, A. S. (2004). 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. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. Countries with a positive change (shown in green) are regrowing forest faster than theyre losing it. 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. Licenses: All visualizations, data, and articles produced by Our World in Data are open access under the Creative Commons BY license. According to the Environmental Paper Network, an estimated 30% of felled trees are used for paper products. 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.) The history of deforestation is a tragic one, in which we not only lost these wild and beautiful landscapes but also the wildlife within them. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. For example, the average German generated half a tonne (510 kilograms) of CO2 per person from domestic and imported foods. Science, 349(6250), 827-832.Williams, D. R., Clark, M., Buchanan, G. M., Ficetola, G. F., Rondinini, C., & Tilman, D. (2020). 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). Africa is also different here. Nearly half (47%) of France was forested 1000 years ago; today thats just under one-third (31.4%). 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. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. Forests are mainly cut and burned to make space for local, subsistence agriculture or for fuelwood for energy. Since there is often year-to-year variability in deforestation or reforestation rates, this is shown as the five-year average. Stage 1 The Pre-Transition phase is defined by having high levels of forest cover and no or only very slow losses over time. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). Since 1961, the amount of land we use for agriculture increased by only 7%. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. Lets start at the top. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. We need more fuelwood to cook, more houses to live in, and importantly, more food to eat. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. 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. Forest loss measures the net change in forest cover: the loss in forests due to deforestation plus any expansion of forest through afforestation.6. Agricultural and urban land: The UN FAO Statistical database provides data on global agricultural and urban land from 1961 onwards. This was first coined by Alexander Mather in the 1990s.Mather, A. S. (1990). A future with more people and more forest is possible. Improvements in crop yields mean the per capita demand for agricultural land continues to fall. In the chart we see how emissions from tropical deforestation are distributed through international supply chains. Firstly, international trade does play a role in deforestation its responsible for almost one-third of emissions. 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. As we covered in a previous article, 60% of tropical deforestation is driven by beef, soybean and palm oil production. Why? By the mid-18th century, only 4% of the country was forested. Most traded emissions are embedded in soy and palm oil exports to China and India; and beef, soy and palm oil exports to Europe. 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. Today, most deforestation occurs in the tropics. A note on UN FAO forestry data Data on net forest change, afforestation and deforestation is sourced from the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations Forest Resources Assessment. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. This explains historical trends we see for countries across the world today. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? 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. 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. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. 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.) Environmental Research Letters, 14(5), 055003. 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. Thats equivalent to the area of South Africa. Forest transitions: towards a global understanding of land use change. They cut down their forests and replaced it with agricultural land long ago. Deforesting the earth: from prehistory to global crisis. At their Global Forest Watch platform they were already presenting maps of forest loss across the world. Countries may lose some forest each year, but this is at a very slow rate. It was a net importer. 2020. In 2012 the mid-year of this period global emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use change was 40.2 billion tonnes. Geographical Journal, 166(1), 2-13. FAO. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. The consumption choices of people in these countries cause deforestation elsewhere in the world. Without reliable metrics that capture all of these differences, we will have to stick with total changes in forest area for now. To quote them, they wanted to prevent a common misperception that any tree cover loss shown on the map represents deforestation. This demand for resources and land is not always driven by domestic markets. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. For example, Ellis et al. Why should we care most about tropical deforestation? 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. estimate a 35% loss of global forest cover since 10,000. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. When we cut down primary rainforest we are transforming this ecosystem forever. 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? 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. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Year-to-year data on forest change comes with several issues: either data at this resolution is not available, or year-to-year changes can be highly variable. are added every year. 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. 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 to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. Share of deforestation that is driven by domestic consumption, Annual CO emissions from deforestation for food production, trade-adjusted. Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers. Forests, biodiversity and people. But, as countries continue to get richer this demand slows. But we also see that some countries which import a lot of food have high emissions. Note that this only measures the emissions from tropical deforestation it doesnt include any other emissions from agricultural production, such as methane from livestock, or rice, or the use of fertilizers. This is calculated by taking each countrys imported deforestation and subtracting its exported deforestation. Since year-to-year changes in forest cover can be volatile, the UN FAO provide this annual data averaged over five-year periods. It was a net exporter. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. And, we might place more value on preserving primary, native forests that havent yet been deforested over regrowing forests that have lost their previous ecosystems. Across Africa, fuelwood and charcoal played a much larger role it accounted for more than half (52%). More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. Urbanization, the other driver of deforestation accounts for just 0.6%. Not all forest loss is equal: what is the difference between deforestation and forest degradation? As we saw previously, this deforestation accounts for around one-quarter of global forest loss. Stage 4 The Post-Transition phase is when countries have passed the transition point and are now gaining forest again. Imagine some temperate country was responsible for the deforestation of 25,000 hectares in tropical countries but was restoring its own forests at a rate of 50,000 hectares per year. But international markets alone cannot fix this problem. 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. But it can bridge between deforestation and degradation depending on the timeframe and permanence of these agricultural practices. The story of both soy and palm oil are complex and its not obvious that eliminating these products will fix the problem. This means they were responsible for 12% of global deforestation.31 It is therefore true that rich countries are causing deforestation in poorer countries. Absolute estimates of forest cover from other sources may differ for this reason. 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. Thats an area 1.5-times the size of the United States. We then get high-income countries share of deforestation as: [40% of the 29% that is traded], which is equal to 12%. Most emissions 71% came from foods consumed in the country that they were produced. Agriculture increased by only 7 % but international markets alone can not fix this.! 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