how many trees are cut down each year

There are other aspects to consider. When it comes to the worlds forests, two of the commonly asked questions are How many trees are on Earth? and How many trees are 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. See the distribution of global forests and which countries have the most forest cover. The problem is that it treats all forest loss as equal. But most emissions are driven by domestic markets this means policies in the major producer countries will be key to tackling this problem. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? The world lost 1.5 billion hectares of forest over that period. Science, 349(6250), 827-832.Williams, D. R., Clark, M., Buchanan, G. M., Ficetola, G. F., Rondinini, C., & Tilman, D. (2020). More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. Not all forest is equal. It was a net exporter. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. 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 should not only look at where these foods are produced, but also where the consumer demand is coming from. 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 There is a marked divide in the state of the worlds forests. For example, after we adjust for all the goods that the UK imports and exports, it caused more deforestation elsewhere than it did domestically. This gives us an indication of the impact of the average persons diet. 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. And to identify where deforestation is occurring; perhaps as important, show where forest loss is not deforestation. This often comes at the cost of forests. 95% of global deforestation occurs in the tropics. 71% of this is driven by demand in domestic markets, and the remaining 29% for the production of products that are traded. This helps consumers understand what products they should be concerned about, but also allows us to target specific supply chains. The UK imported 34,000 hectares of deforestation but increased its domestic forests by only 19,000 hectares. 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. 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. (2017). We know where deforestation emissions are occurring, and where this demand is coming from. 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. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. Forests: this data is primarily sourced from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). As we will see later, this is dominated by palm oil exports to Europe, China, India, North America and the Middle East. Brazil, for example, went through a period of very rapid deforestation in the 1980s and 90s (its early transition phase) but its losses have slowed, meaning it is now in the late transition. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. How much deforestation happens every day? Since 1961, the amount of land we use for agriculture increased by only 7%. 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. Instead of using wood for fuel we switch to fossil fuels, or hopefully, more renewables and nuclear energy. Rome. But urban land accounts for just 1% of global habitable land. Across the US and Europe the breakdown of products is more varied. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. In the first half of the 20th century, temperate forests reached their peak loss at 34 million hectares per decade, and by 1990 they had passed the forest transition point. How much do people in rich countries contribute to deforestation overseas? 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. Brazils emissions are high because Brazilians eat a lot of beef. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. It feeds into the popular idea that eating local is one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Science, 361(6407), 1108-1111. Carbon emissions from deforestation: are they driven by domestic demand or international trade? Deforesting the earth: from prehistory to global crisis. Deforestation rates accelerated. 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. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8753en. We manage to capture some of these differences in carbon in our related article on deforestation emissions embedded in trade. They should keep their domestic reforestation targets in perspective with their net impact on global forests. The breakdown of deforestation by region is shown in the chart. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Forest Resources Assessment estimates global deforestation, averaged over the five-year period from 2015 to 2020 was 10 million hectares per year. England is similar: in the late 11th century, 15% of the country was forested, and over the following centuries two-thirds were cut down. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. 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. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. 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. 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. The remaining 73% came from the three drivers of forest degradation: logging of forestry products from plantations (26%); shifting, local agriculture (24%); and wildfires (23%). Across temperate forests the world gained 6 million hectares in the last decade. Weve seen the five key drivers of forest loss. The world has lost one-third of its forest an area twice the size of the United States. We therefore look at them both individually in more detail, to better understand what we can do about it. You have permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. 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. For example, Ellis et al. When we think of the growing pressures on land from modern populations we often picture sprawling megacities. Luxembourg has the largest footprint at nearly three tonnes per person. The State of the Worlds Forests 2020. The annual change is now positive. Tropical forests are also large carbon sinks, and can store a lot of carbon per unit area.26. Across sub-tropical countries we have a mix: many upper-middle income countries are now in the late transition phase. Lewis, S. L. (2006). Nature Sustainability, 1-9. Improvements in crop yields mean the per capita demand for agricultural land continues to fall. 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. They also contribute to global deforestation through the foods they import from poorer countries. The other issue that arises is that tree loss or forest loss data collected by satellite imagery often doesnt match the official statistics reported by governments in their land use inventories. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R. S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., & Romijn, E. (2012). Forests are mainly cut and burned to make space for local, subsistence agriculture or for fuelwood for energy. As we covered in a previous article, 60% of tropical deforestation is driven by beef, soybean and palm oil production. As we saw previously, this deforestation accounts for around one-quarter of global forest loss. 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.) As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. What activities are driving this? It provides long-term estimates on forest cover in 10,000 and 5,000 years BP. 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. To put this in perspective, that would be around one-sixth of the total carbon footprint of the average EU diet.36. According to the Environmental Paper Network, an estimated 30% of felled trees are used for paper products. are added every year. The UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. Deforestation is the complete removal of trees for the conversion of forest to another land use such as agriculture, mining, or towns and cities. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. Countries which lie above the grey line such as the United States, Finland, China restore more forest each year domestically than they import from elsewhere. And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? The United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. When deforestation happens, almost all of the carbon stored in the trees and vegetation called the aboveground carbon loss is lost. Belhaven Press. Environmental Research Letters, 14(5), 055003. This follows the classic forest transition model with development, which we look at in more detail in a related article. 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. The amount of land used for agriculture land to grow crops as well as grazing land for livestock was expanding. But there are real reasons to believe that this century doesnt have to replicate the destruction of the last one. 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. Science Advances, 3(4), e1601047. Tropical forests are home to some of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on the planet. An area the size of the United States. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. Then things started to speed up. We see very clearly that the large Brazilian footprint is driven by its domestic demand for beef. The researchs results are We need to pass the transition point as soon as possible, while minimising the amount of forest we lose along the way. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. How many trees does IKEA cut down a If we can identify the producer countries, importing countries, and specific products responsible, we can direct our efforts towards interventions that will really make a difference. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? Please consult our full legal disclaimer. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. International trade is important for socioeconomic development. 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. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. 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. Urbanization, the other driver of deforestation accounts for just 0.6%. From this understanding we can define five reasons why we lose forests: Thanks to satellite imagery, we can get a birds-eye view of what these drivers look like from above. We lost 150 million hectares an area half the size of India during that decade. Around half of this deforestation is offset by regrowing forests, so overall we lose around five million hectares 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 total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. Noriko Hosonuma et al. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. After long periods of forest clearance in the past, most of todays richest countries are increasing tree cover through afforestation. Forest transition theory and the reforesting of Scotland. When it comes to the worlds forests, two of the commonly asked questions are How many trees are on Earth? and How many trees are cut down each year? 71% of deforestation is for domestic production. How many trees have been cut down? It assumes the impact of clearing primary rainforest in the Amazon to produce soybeans is the same as logging planted forests in the UK. On the x-axis we have imported deforestation. But we also see that some countries which import a lot of food have high emissions. Forest cover falls quickly, and the annual loss of forest is high. Bringing all of these elements together, we can focus on a few points that should help us prioritise our efforts to end deforestation. 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 largest footprint at nearly three tonnes per person deforestation: are they driven by beef soybean. The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st on a few points should... Are how many trees are cut down each year down each year down every year because of deforestation in estimates... Well as grazing land for livestock was expanding to tackling this problem three tonnes person... That period new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion.! Down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st extinct due deforestation! 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