Deforestation Continues To Soar Despite Global Promise To Halt It

The global pledge made by various countries to end deforestation has been far from reach, a recent study has shown.

According to a research conducted by Global Forest Review, the tropics had lost 10% more primary rainforest in 2022 compared in 2021, with just over four million hectares or nearly 16,000 sq miles felled or burned in total.

A report from BBC said this significant loss could was critical for global warming and biodiversity.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66013854?fbclid=IwAR2_v5Vh0BmZcsi2gg970TFXHOXO-WAQxT3jBO-F8fPOArS9duOrmmUc3Dg

The study said the latest figures showed a rise in global deforestation of about 3.6% in 2022 compared with 2021.

The report found that Brazil cut down the most tropical primary forest, which amounted to 43% of the global total. It added that Brazil's rate of forest loss rose 15% from 2021 to 2022.

Failed promises?

Researchers of the latest study indicated that world leaders have not been on track to keeping the commitment signed during COP26 global climate conference in Glasgow in November 2021.

Rod Taylor, one of those who conducted the study, said "globally, we are far off track and trending in the wrong direction."

"Our analysis shows that global deforestation in 2022 was over 1 million hectares above the level needed to be on track to zero deforestation by 2030," Taylor said in the BBC report.

Taylor stressed the urgency to get a peak and decline when it comes to deforestation, noting that once forests are lost, they are difficult to recover since they are "irrecoverable assets."

To recall, more than 100 heads of states inked have pledged to stop deforestation by the end of the decade as well as to slash emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane, which will help address the impacts of climate change.

Read Also: Main Threats Of Deforestation

Consequences for climate change

A CNN report said this continued deforestation has notable consequences when it comes to climate change because tropical forests are significant stores of carbon dioxide.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/27/world/rainforest-deforestation-brazil-climate-intl/index.html

It further said the amount of carbon pollution produced last year due to deforestation was equivalent to India's annual fossil fuel emissions.

Meanwhile, citing the same study, the report mentioned that the Democratic Republic of Congo lost more than half a million hectares in 2022, mainly because of land clearing for farming.

On the other hand, Ghana had the biggest relative increase in rainforest destruction when compared to 2021 while Bolivia had a record-high level of primary forest loss in 2022, having a 32% increase compared to 2021.

A Reuters report said the Global Forest Watch has said "primary forests" includes mature forests that have not been cleared or regrown in recent history.

An official from the World Resources Institute, Francis Seymour, branded the 2022 figures as "particularly disheartening."

Despite the high figures on deforestation, the report discovered that Indonesia and Malaysia managed to keep their forest losses near a record low as they focus on oil palm plantations.

Experts said deforestation, which is usually human-caused or permanent removal of natural forest cover, is more complicated to measure as not all tree-cover loss counts as deforestation.

They said losses from fire, disease or storms, as well as losses within sustainable production forests, will not usually count as deforestation.

Related Article: Rainfall Reduction In The Tropics Due To Deforestation, Study Finds

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