Why? Environmental impacts of food consumption in Europe. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. How much forest has the world lost? 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. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. Thats equivalent to the area of South Africa. Science, 349(6250), 827-832. Web3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down per year. Why? But then the trend turned, and it moved from deforestation to reforestation. Scheffers, B. R., Joppa, L. N., Pimm, S. L., & Laurance, W. F. (2012). Why should we care most about tropical deforestation? 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.) Nature, 536(7615), 143. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. 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. Forest Transitions: why do we lose then regain forests? This is very close to our estimate of a one-third loss. Many consumers are concerned that their food choices are linked to deforestation in some of these hotspots. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. Deforestation in Africa is mainly driven by local populations and markets; only 9% of its emissions are exported. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. What we know and dont know about Earths missing biodiversity. Across sub-tropical countries we have a mix: many upper-middle income countries are now in the late transition phase. Most deforestation today occurs in low-to-middle income countries. As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. 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 Types and rates of forest disturbance in Brazilian Legal Amazon, 20002013. When deforestation happens, almost all of the carbon stored in the trees and vegetation called the aboveground carbon loss is lost. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. 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. According to the Environmental Paper Network, an estimated 30% of felled trees are used for paper products. The rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. 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. Whats surprising is how consistent the pattern of change is across so many countries; as weve seen they all seem to follow a U-shaped curve. Population growth meant that todays rich countries across Europe and North America needed more and more resources such as land for agriculture, wood for energy, and for construction.8. Countries below the line such as the UK and Germany are not growing forests fast enough to offset the deforestation theyre creating elsewhere. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. Thats an area the size of the United Kingdom. Thats around half the size of Germany. 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. 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. 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 The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, 753-765. The default is shown for Brazil, but you can explore the data for a range of countries using the Change country button. This is measured in hectares, which is equivalent to 10,000 m. Forest cover falls quickly, and the annual loss of forest is high. 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. Thats a lot of trees! 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. Americans cut down 15,094,678 Christmas trees in 2017, according to the most recent year of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. Many countries have followed this classic U-shaped pattern. This is probably less than many people would expect. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. Instead of using wood for fuel we switch to fossil fuels, or hopefully, more renewables and nuclear energy. 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. One option is to adopt stricter guidelines on what suppliers to source from, and implementing zero-deforestation policies that stop the trade of goods that have been produced on deforested land. Less than one-third (29%) is for the production of goods that are traded. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? The amount of land used for agriculture land to grow crops as well as grazing land for livestock was expanding. The world lost 1.5 billion hectares of forest over that period. But, as countries continue to get richer this demand slows. How many trees have been cut down? Since there is often year-to-year variability in deforestation or reforestation rates, this is shown as the five-year average. This gives us an indication of the impact of the average persons diet. How many trees are cut down each year?. How many trees does IKEA cut down a Increasing human dominance of tropical forests. We see very clearly that the large Brazilian footprint is driven by its domestic demand for beef. Forest loss or tree loss captures two fundamental impacts on forest cover: deforestation and forest degradation. (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. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. Africas emissions are high because people are clearing forests to produce more food. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. 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. 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. Nature Sustainability, 1-9. 40% of traded deforestation ends up in high-income countries, meaning they are responsible for 12% of deforestation.29. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. It would be good if there was data available that would capture these additional aspects. For this reason, data sources including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization tend to aggregate annual losses as the average over five-year or decadal periods. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. We see this in the chart. The carbon footprint of diets across the EU vary from country-to-country, and estimates vary depending on how much land use change is factored into these figures. Many farmers rely on international buyers to earn a living and improve their livelihoods. The researchs results are What activities are driving this? 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. 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. They are smaller, and more temporary. Geographical Journal, 166(1), 2-13. This often comes at the cost of forests. Rural Sociology, 63(4), 533-552. The world loses 5 million hectares of forest to deforestation each year. We then get high-income countries share of deforestation as: [40% of the 29% that is traded], which is equal to 12%. They should keep their domestic reforestation targets in perspective with their net impact on global forests. The data produced by third parties and made available by Our World in Data is subject to the license terms from the original third-party authors. 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. Global Environmental Change, 56, 1-10. Urbanization, the other driver of deforestation accounts for just 0.6%. 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. We manage to capture some of these differences in carbon in our related article on deforestation emissions embedded in trade. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. 71% of this is driven by demand in domestic markets, and the remaining 29% for the production of products that are traded. We can calculate this increase as [(7.63 billion 3.09 billion) / 3.09 billion * 100 = 147%]. Although there is some year-to-year variability [you can explore the data use the timeline on the bottom of the chart from 2005 to 2013] we see a reasonably consistent divide: most countries across Europe and North America are net importers of deforestation i.e. That is why we should be focusing on tropical deforestation. 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. How many trees does IKEA cut down a We see massive differences in how important each driver is across the world. Thats an area 1.5-times the size of the United States. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. 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. The consumption choices of people in these countries cause deforestation elsewhere in the world. The State of the Worlds Forests 2020. Maxwell, S. L., Fuller, R. A., Brooks, T. M., & Watson, J. E. (2016). In 2012 the mid-year of this period global emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use change was 40.2 billion tonnes. 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. Why? How many trees have been 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. Rather than looking at total figures by country [if youre interested, we have mapped them here] we have calculated the per capita footprint. When we think of the growing pressures on land from modern populations we often picture sprawling megacities. 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. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. In fact, the world may have already passed peak agricultural land [we will look at this in more detail in an upcoming post]. Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions. This follows the classic forest transition model with development, which we look at in more detail in a related article. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? (2012).Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R. S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., & Romijn, E. (2012). Anthropogenic Biomes: 10,000 BCE to 2015 CE. In the chart we see deforestation emissions per person, measured in tonnes of CO2 per year. The scale of deforestation today might give us little hope for protecting our diverse forests. The change is permanent. Increasing human dominance of tropical forests. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. If we fast-forward to 1700 when the global population had increased more than ten-fold, to 603 million. Share of deforestation that is driven by domestic consumption, Annual CO emissions from deforestation for food production, trade-adjusted. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? Deforesting the earth: from prehistory to global crisis. Forests are mainly cut and burned to make space for local, subsistence agriculture or for fuelwood for energy. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? But by studying how forests have changed over time, theres good reason to think that a way forward is possible. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. More than four times as much. Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. Global forest resources. 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. The problem is that it treats all forest loss as equal. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. Mapping tree density at a global scale. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used. Rome. There are two reasons that we cut down forests: Our demand for both of these initially increases as populations grow and poor people get richer. 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. 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, supply chains are international. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. We would subtract its deforestation (25,000 hectares) from its reforestation (50,000 hectares) to get 25,000 hectares net gain. 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. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. 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 citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. Since 1961, the amount of land we use for agriculture increased by only 7%. The researchs results are This demand for resources and land is not always driven by domestic markets. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. One of the reasons poorer countries clear forest to make room for farmland is that they achieve low crop yields. The annual change is now positive. By the mid-18th century, only 4% of the country was forested. 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. As we will see later, this would be a distraction from our primary concern: ending tropical deforestation. 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. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. As we saw previously, this deforestation accounts for around one-quarter of global forest loss. We need more fuelwood to cook, more houses to live in, and importantly, more food to eat. By Georgina Rannard. Pre-1961 land use is sourced from the work of Ellis et al. 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. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. All other material, including data produced by third parties and made available by Our World in Data, is subject to the license terms from the original third-party authors. The definition of forest can vary depending on aspects such as tree density and height. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. Data on net forest change, afforestation and deforestation is sourced from the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations Forest Resources Assessment. The taller the bar, the larger the change in forest area. 2020. How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? By Georgina Rannard. Williams, M. (2003). Lets take a look at which countries are causing deforestation overseas and the size of this impact. Tyukavina, A., Hansen, M. C., Potapov, P. V., Stehman, S. V., Smith-Rodriguez, K., Okpa, C., & Aguilar, R. (2017). Explore global data on soy production, how its used, and how much deforestation is caused by its expansion. It breaks the change in forests into four stages, explained by two variables: the amount of forest cover a region has, and the annual change in cover (how quickly it is losing or gaining forest).15. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, Only 10% of this was lost in the first half of this period, until 5,000 years ago. From 1700 to 1850, 19 million hectares were being cleared every decade. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. 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. Global deforestation reached its peak in the 1980s. Are they causing more deforestation elsewhere than they are regenerating in forests at home? Nearly all 95% of this deforestation occurs in the tropics. Many countries have not only ended deforestation, but actually achieved substantial reforestation. Imported emissions are also high for Taiwan, Belgium and the Netherlands at around one tonne. But we also see that some countries which import a lot of food have high emissions. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. There is little forest left. 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. It feeds into the popular idea that eating local is one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. See the distribution of global forests and which countries have the most forest cover. Can we bring it to an end? As we covered in a previous article, 60% of tropical deforestation is driven by beef, soybean and palm oil production. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. When we cut down primary rainforest we are transforming this ecosystem forever. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . (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. University of Chicago Press.FAO (2020). 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. Absolute estimates of forest cover from other sources may differ for this reason. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Some of the worlds poorest countries are still in the pre-transition phase. 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. Forest transition theory and the reforesting of Scotland. This is true for some problems, such as climate change. The United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. In contrast, most forest degradation two-thirds of it occurs in temperate countries. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, reducing meat and dairy intake particularly beef and lamb has the largest impact. The UK imported 34,000 hectares of deforestation but increased its domestic forests by only 19,000 hectares. That these countries have recently regained forests is also visible in the long-term forest trends above. Web42 million trees are cut down each day. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. Most of our future deforestation is going to come from countries in the pre- or early-transition phase. Within this global aggregated trend there are many forest transitions at local, national or regional levels occurring. Americans cut down 15,094,678 Christmas trees in 2017, according to the most recent year of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. Explore more of our work on Forests and Deforestation, Anthropogenic Biomes: 10,000 BCE to 2015 CE, The course and drivers of the forest transition: the case of France, The relationships of population and forest trends, An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries, Increasing human dominance of tropical forests, Proactive conservation to prevent habitat losses to agricultural expansion, Forest transition theory and the reforesting of Scotland, Is there a forest transition? 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. 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 the tropics, some forestry production can be classified as deforestation when primary rainforests are cut down to make room for managed tree plantations.21. This is nearly always true of planted forests in temperate regions there, planted forests are long-established and do not replace primary existing forests. And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. 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. 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. 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. 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