Define deforestation

Deforestation is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss and climate change across the world and is one of the biggest challenges we face in the 21st century. Forests are essential for life on the planet. In this article, we look at why is deforestation happening, what we can do to protect our forests and how we can achieve the goal of zero deforestation. Sommaire : • Definition: What is deforestation? • Facts about deforestation around the world • How to stop deforestation? • Plant a tree but also consume more responsibly Definition: What is deforestation? The deforestation definition, put in its simplest form, is the reduction in forest areas across the world. It is caused by both natural and human activities, although it is undeniably accelerated by humans via actions such as urbanisation, mining and agricultural farming. Causes of deforestation There are some natural causes of deforestation, including: • Forest fires that, in addition to destroying forests and biodiversity, release huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. • Diseases that affect trees. • Parasites. • Extreme weather such as hurricanes or floods. However, it is not surprising that human activities (agriculture, infrastructure construction, mining activities, urbanisation) are the main causes responsible for deforestation worldwide with uncontrolled felling of trees. The development of agricultural land is the main cause of deforestation. The world's population continues to grow, and humans need more ...

Recent Examples on the Web Palm oil has been a large driver of deforestation, especially in Southeast Asia. — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 June 2023 This is a problem since cocoa is known to be a primary driver of deforestation in the region. — Diana Gitig, Ars Technica, 26 May 2023 But the World Wildlife Fund, or WWF, has labeled nickel from the Southeast Asian country a concern because of the high levels of deforestation needed to extract the minerals. — Yusuf Khan, WSJ, 11 May 2023 On the North American mainland, levels of deforestation that had taken centuries to achieve in Europe occurred in decades. — Ben Ehrenreich, The New Republic, 10 May 2023 Then there is the issue of leakage: without a shift in demand, protecting one forest can simply lead to deforestation happening elsewhere. — Marcello Rossi, Discover Magazine, 10 May 2023 As far as sustainability, Reformation’s new carryalls are sourced and made entirely in Bulgaria from farms with a zero deforestation policy and at factories approved by the Leather Working Group. — Danielle Directo-meston, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Apr. 2023 Conversely, Brazil is the biggest recipient of Chinese foreign investment in South America—including a subway line in Sao Paolo and a satellite that will monitor deforestation in the Amazon—evidence of how closely the two countries are intertwined. — Diego Lasarte, Quartz, 13 Apr. 2023 Agricultural expansion, deforestation, and infrastructure have fragmented tiger habitats...

Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica. The country won an Earthshot prize this year for its work in stopping and reversing deforestation. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi/The Guardian Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica. The country won an Earthshot prize this year for its work in stopping and reversing deforestation. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi/The Guardian F orests and nature are centre stage at Cop26. On the second day of the Glasgow summit, world leaders are announcing a commitment to halting and reversing deforestation. As the second largest source of greenhouse gases after energy, the land sector accounts for But why do forests matter to the climate, and how can we halt deforestation? What is a forest? There are an estimated Scientists cannot decide on a single definition of a forest due to disagreements over tree density, height and canopy cover. But the Temperate, tropical and boreal are the three main types of forest that include a great diversity of ecosystems: cloud forest, rainforest, mangrove swamps, and tropical dry forest, among many others. But they are being cleared at a relentless pace. About 10% of tree cover has been lost since 2000, “There are two main points on forests and carbon,” says Yadvinder Malhi, a professor of ecosystem science at the University of Oxford. “Forests are a carbon store, meaning that when you deforest, you’re releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. The other thing is that intact forests have been shown to be a carbon sink, absorb...

Before we look at trends in deforestation across the world specifically, it’s useful to understand the net change in forest cover. The net change in forest cover measures any gains in forest cover – either through natural forest expansion or afforestation through tree-planting – minus deforestation. This map shows the net change in forest cover across the world. Countries with a positive change (shown in green) are regrowing forest faster than they’re losing it. Countries with a negative change (shown in red) are losing more than they’re able to restore. Net forest loss is not the same as deforestation – it measures deforestation plus any gains in forest over a given period. Over the decade since 2010, the net loss in forests globally was 4.7 million hectares per year. 1 However, deforestation rates were much significantly higher. The UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. Many people think of environmental concerns as a modern issue: humanity’s destruction of nature and ecosystems as a result of very recent How much forest has the world lost? When in history did we lose it? In the chart we see how the cover of the earth’s surface has changed over the past 10,000 years. This is shortly after the end of the last great ice age, through to the present day. 2 Let’s start at the top. You see that of the 14.9 billion hectares of land on the planet, only 71% of it is habitable – ...

Deforestation is the elimination of forests and treed areas. Deforestation can be due to natural events like parasitic infections of trees and forest fires or human activities. The effects of deforestation are varied and important and include a loss of biodiversity, soil impairment, and greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation is defined as the elimination of trees and forest areas. This includes the clearing of trees intentionally by people, and via natural events. Various commercial reasons lead people to desire land free from trees: people remove trees to raise livestock, to create agricultural farms, or to create timber. Natural Environments Imagine that you are out on a camping trip deep within the forest. During the day, you enjoy watching the animals and birds as they play among the trees and plants. Then, at night, you climb into your tent and fall asleep listening to the crickets, bullfrogs and other creatures of the night. But, as morning breaks, you step out of your tent to find that all of the plants and animals have disappeared and, in their place, is dry and barren land. Okay, this is a bit extreme, and this drastic of an environmental shift could not happen overnight. However, with mismanagement of woodland and natural disasters, lush forests can be negatively impacted and can even turn into deserts over time. In this lesson, we will take a look at how these changes take place and how they impact the biological diversity of the ecosystems. What are the effect...

Trees and natural vegetation help to hold soil in place. When they are removed, the nutrient-rich topsoil erodes, and is easily washed away in heavy rains or blown away by wind. Rough, sandy particles that can’t retain water are left behind, making the land unsuitable for growing crops as it eventually turns into a desert. As forests also regulate the water cycle, clearing them leads to drier local climates, further Fires are a naturally occurring event in some forest ecosystems and controlled fires have also been used sustainably by Indigenous communities for centuries to clear small pockets of land for agriculture. But forest fires are becoming more frequent and ferocious, breaking out in new regions as In 2021, Russia had its It was once hoped that urbanization, the process by which a population moves to urban areas, would decrease pressure on forests by slowing down the clearing of land for agriculture. But instead, the key drivers of deforestation have shifted too, with more populous urban areas driving up demand for products like beef, as found in a Deforestation rates vary greatly between African countries. Agricultural expansion is a major driver, with cocoa playing a significant role, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Producing nearly 3 million tons of cocoa every year requires huge amounts of land. Protected areas and their wildlife have been ravaged by cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire, and 10 percent of Ghana’s forests were cleared fo...

• Deforestation and forest degradation are the biggest threats to forests worldwide. • Over half of the tropical forests worldwide have been destroyed since the 1960s, and every second, more than one hectare of tropical forests is destroyed or drastically degraded. • The degradation and loss of forests threatens the survival of many species, and reduces the ability of forests to provide essential services. • Deforestation and forest degradation impact the lives of 1.6 billion people whose livelihoods depend on forests. One billion of them are among the world’s poorest. • Nature-based Solutions such as forest landscape restoration (FLR) can reverse the effects of deforestation and degradation and regain the ecological, social, climatic and economic benefits of forests. What is the issue ? Deforestation and forest degradation are the biggest threats to forests worldwide. Deforestation occurs when forests are converted to non-forest uses, such as agriculture and road construction. Forest degradation occurs when forest ecosystems lose their capacity to provide important goods and services to people and nature. Over half of the tropical forests worldwide have been destroyed since the 1960s, and every second, more than one hectare of tropical forests is destroyed or drastically degraded. This intense and devastating pressure on forests is not limited to the tropics – an estimated 3.7 million hectares of Europe’s forests are damaged by livestock, insects, diseases, forest fires, ...

Forests cover about 31% of the earth’s total land surface and provide many environmental benefits including the preservation of biodiversity, conservation of soil, and mitigation of climate change. Over half of the world’s population relies on forested watersheds for their drinking water and agricultural and industrial purposes. According to the World Bank, more than 1.6 billion people are dependent on forests for their livelihoods and about 300 million people live in the forests, which also serves as a home for more than half of the global terrestrial species. However, forests around the world are facing severe threats due to several anthropogenic activities. It has been estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization that about 7.4 million hectares of the world’s forest are being lost due to deforestation every year. Content: • • • • What Is Deforestation? The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines deforestation as the permanent conversion of the world’s forest areas to other non-forested land uses such as agriculture, animal grazing, urbanization, as well as to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing, and construction activities. Tropical rainforests deforestation in Borneo in Southeast Asia. The greatest amount of deforestation has been occurring in the tropical rainforests, where the forests are being cut down at a rate of 30 soccer pitches (approximately 1.32 acres) every minute. Tropical rainforests harbor much of the world’s biodiversity and hence deforesta...