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. Forest loss or tree loss captures two fundamental impacts on forest cover: deforestation and forest degradation. FAO. Imported emissions are also high for Taiwan, Belgium and the Netherlands at around one tonne. 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 one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. Latin America exports around 23% of its emissions; that means more than three-quarters are generated for products that are consumed within domestic markets. Africa is also an outlier as a result of how many people still rely on wood as their primary energy source. That was 6.5% of global CO2 emissions.35. How much do people in rich countries contribute to deforestation overseas? The definition of forest can vary depending on aspects such as tree density and height. The first step in doing this is for rich countries to monitor their deforestation impacts overseas more closely. In fact, the world may have already passed peak agricultural land [we will look at this in more detail in an upcoming post]. Web3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down per year. 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. Not only would this be bad for people, it might also be bad for forests. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. But its not the case for deforestation. We need more fuelwood to cook, more houses to live in, and importantly, more food to eat. Lets take a look at which countries are causing deforestation overseas and the size of this impact. Data on the annual change in domestic forests is sourced from the UN FAOs Forest Resources Assessment. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . From 1850 to 1920, losses were around 50% higher at 30 million hectares per decade thats like losing a forested area the size of Italy every 10 years. It results in a permanent conversion of forest into an alternative land use. The story of both soy and palm oil are complex and its not obvious that eliminating these products will fix the problem. Web42 million trees are cut down each day. As we covered in a previous article, 60% of tropical deforestation is driven by beef, soybean and palm oil production. 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. Environmental Research Letters, 14(5), 055003. Deforestation also results in larger losses of biodiversity and carbon relative to degradation. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. 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. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? This follows the classic forest transition model with development, which we look at in more detail in a related article. (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. (2020).References:FAO and UNEP. They cut down their forests and replaced it with agricultural land long ago. 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 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. 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. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. People cut down 15 billion trees each year and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. 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. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, The United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. Hosonuma et al. 2020. After we adjust for imports and exports, how much CO2 from deforestation is each country responsible for? According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. 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. They first lose lots of forest, but reach a turning point and begin to regain it again. Web42 million trees are cut down each day. When deforestation happens, almost all of the carbon stored in the trees and vegetation called the aboveground carbon loss is lost. 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. In the chart we see how the cover of the earths surface has changed over the past 10,000 years. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries. Across temperate forests the world gained 6 million hectares in the last decade. Centuries ago it was mainly temperate regions that were driving global deforestation [we take a look at this longer history of deforestation in a related article]. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. But the magnitude of these impacts are often less than the complete conversion of forest. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. But by studying how forests have changed over time, theres good reason to think that a way forward is possible. 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. Many countries have not only ended deforestation, but actually achieved substantial reforestation. When in history did we lose it? Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. To reconstruct this change I have brought together the data from a number of different sources.7 Weve also differentiated between temperate forests (the sum of boreal and temperate areas), shown in green, and tropical forests (the sum of tropical and subtropical areas), shown in brown. Stage 1 The Pre-Transition phase is defined by having high levels of forest cover and no or only very slow losses over time. But the solution is not so simple. How many trees are cut down each year?. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. This highlights an important point: less than 20% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to clean fuels for cooking, meaning they still rely on wood and charcoal. The trees are not expected to regrow. Many countries have much less forest today than they did in the past. Healthy communities: Tree-filled neighborhoods lower levels of domestic violence and are safer and more sociable. This demand for resources and land is not always driven by domestic markets. Not all forest loss is equal: what is the difference between deforestation and forest degradation? 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. Noriko Hosonuma et al. Science, 361(6407), 1108-1111. Forestry Commission. Most of todays richest countries all of Europe, North America, Japan, South Korea have passed the turning point and are now regaining forest. In the chart we see deforestation emissions per person, measured in tonnes of CO2 per year. 95% of this occurs in the tropics. 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. (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. But distilling changes to this single metric tree or forest loss comes with its own issues. Most deforestation today occurs in low-to-middle income countries. Thats both an economic and environmental win. But we also need to know what products are driving this. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. This is very close to our estimate of a one-third loss. Lets take an example. theyre driving deforestation elsewhere; whilst many subtropical countries are partly cutting down trees to meet this demand from rich countries. 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. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. Forest transition theory and the reforesting of Scotland. The default is shown for Brazil, but you can explore the data for a range of countries using the Change country button. But, it would be wrong to think that the only impact rich countries have on global forests is through changes in their domestic forests. How many trees are cut down each year?. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers. The researchs results are See which countries are gaining forest though natural forest expansion and afforestation. By the 19th century the forest area was reduced to a third of what it once was. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. Deforestation tends to occur on forests that have been around for centuries, if not millennia. Science, 349(6250), 827-832. 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. 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. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. How many trees are cut down each year? 40% of traded deforestation ends up in high-income countries, meaning they are responsible for 12% of deforestation.29. They are smaller, and more temporary. Thats a lot of trees! When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. The grey line marks where the area of domestic regrowth of forests is exactly equal to imported deforestation. Why? For example, the average German generated half a tonne (510 kilograms) of CO2 per person from domestic and imported foods. Nearly all 95% of this deforestation occurs in the tropics. Africa is also different here. The global population at this time was small and growing very slowly there were fewer than 50 million people in the world. 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.) Thats a lot of trees! How much deforestation happens every day? We need to pass the transition point as soon as possible, while minimising the amount of forest we lose along the way. The Asia-Pacific region predominantly Indonesia and Malaysia export a higher share: 44%. Less than one-third (29%) is for the production of goods that are traded. By 1900, there were 1.65 billion people in the world (five times fewer than we have today) but for most of the previous period, humans were deforesting the world with only tens or hundreds of millions. This is true for some problems, such as climate change. We should not only look at where these foods are produced, but also where the consumer demand is coming from. Its State of the Worlds Forests report provides estimates of global forest cover today, and rates of change over previous decades. We lost 150 million hectares an area half the size of India during that decade. 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. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . When we cut down primary rainforest we are transforming this ecosystem forever. This is shortly after the end of the last great ice age, through to the present day.2. Improvements in crop yields mean the per capita demand for agricultural land continues to fall. This gives us an indication of the impact of the average persons diet. 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. Why should we care most about tropical deforestation? In a study published in Global Environmental Change, Florence Pendrill and colleagues investigated where tropical deforestation was occurring; what products were driving this; and, using global trade models, they traced where these products were going in international supply chains.34, They found that tropical deforestation given as the annual average between 2010 and 2014 was responsible for 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. For the last two centuries forests have been growing and are almost back to where they were 1000 years ago.13. How much deforestation happens every day? Humans have been cutting down trees for millennia. We then get high-income countries share of deforestation as: [40% of the 29% that is traded], which is equal to 12%. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. But, supply chains are international. Please consult our full legal disclaimer. The changes to the forest are often temporary and its expected that they will regrow. As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. Most emissions 71% came from foods consumed in the country that they were produced. 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. Forest degradation measures a thinning of the canopy a reduction in the density of trees in the area but without a change in land use. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used. 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. What we know and dont know about Earths missing biodiversity. and an argument for why deforestation is worse than degradation. But then the trend turned, and it moved from deforestation to reforestation. This diagram is adapted from the work of Hosonuma et al. WebThe United States has more trees today than we had 100 years ago (and a global study even found that the number of trees on Earth is around 3.04 trillion, a much higher number than previously believed.) 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. For example, after we adjust for all the goods that the UK imports and exports, it caused more deforestation elsewhere than it did domestically. We know where deforestation emissions are occurring, and where this demand is coming from. Countries may lose some forest each year, but this is at a very slow rate. Over half of the worlds species reside in tropical forests.24 Endemic species are those which only naturally occur in a single country. Net importers of deforestation (shown in brown) are countries that contribute more to deforestation in other countries than they do in their home country. This is measured in hectares, which is equivalent to 10,000 m. Deforestation was therefore responsible for [2.6 / 40.2 * 100 = 6.5%]. 71% of this is driven by demand in domestic markets, and the remaining 29% for the production of products that are traded. You have permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. are added every year. Across sub-tropical countries we have a mix: many upper-middle income countries are now in the late transition phase. 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. Meanwhile, the global population increased by 147% from 3.1 to 7.6 billion.4 This means that agricultural land per person more than halved, from 1.45 to 0.63 hectares. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. In the figure we see visual examples from the study of forest loss classification by Philip Curtis et al. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. They are also richer sites of biodiversity. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. 59% occurs in Latin America, with a further 28% from Southeast Asia. Available here. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. The researchs results are Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R. S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., & Romijn, E. (2012). Forest transitions: towards a global understanding of land use change. Rome. The amount of land used for agriculture land to grow crops as well as grazing land for livestock was expanding. 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. Around half of this deforestation is offset by regrowing forests, so overall we lose around five million hectares each year. There are other aspects to consider. Thats an area 1.5-times the size of the United States. 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. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. Why? Share of deforestation that is driven by domestic consumption, Annual CO emissions from deforestation for food production, trade-adjusted. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. How much forest has the world lost? But not all of it is to produce products for local markets. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. The latter will experience short-term environmental impacts, but will ultimately regrow. At their Global Forest Watch platform they were already presenting maps of forest loss across the world. How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? 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. Global deforestation peaked in the 1980s. 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. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. 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. 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. 27% of forest loss results from commodity-driven deforestation cutting down forests to grow crops such as soy, palm oil, cocoa, to raise livestock on pasture, and mining operations. Then, using a physical trade model across 191 countries and around 400 food and forestry products, they could trace them through to where they are physically consumed, either as food or in industrial processes.Pendrill, F., Persson, U. M., Godar, J., Kastner, T., Moran, D., Schmidt, S., & Wood, R. (2019). 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. The world passed peaked deforestation in the 1980s and it has been on the decline since then we take a look at rates of forest loss since 1700 in our follow-up post. 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 change is permanent. Another way that richer countries can contribute is by investing in technologies such as improved seed varieties, fertilizers and agricultural practices that allow farmers to increase yields. From 1700 to 1850, 19 million hectares were being cleared every decade. Pendrill, F., Persson, U. M., Godar, J., & Kastner, T. (2019). This explains historical trends we see for countries across the world today. We therefore look at them both individually in more detail, to better understand what we can do about it. 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. The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. Thats around half the size of Germany. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. Instead of using wood for fuel we switch to fossil fuels, or hopefully, more renewables and nuclear energy. Not all forest is equal. How many trees does IKEA cut down a 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. Urbanization, the other driver of deforestation accounts for just 0.6%. How many trees does IKEA cut down a Proactive conservation to prevent habitat losses to agricultural expansion. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . Thats 6 billion hectares. How many trees have been cut down? 1000 years ago, 20% of Scotlands land was covered by forest. (2020). 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. In 2012 the mid-year of this period global emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use change was 40.2 billion tonnes. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. 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. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. But they wanted to contribute to a more informed discussion about where to focus forest conservation efforts by understanding why forests were being lost. The world lost 1.5 billion hectares of forest over that period. 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