how many trees are cut down each year

When we think of the growing pressures on land from modern populations we often picture sprawling megacities. Noriko Hosonuma et al. Agricultural and urban land: The UN FAO Statistical database provides data on global agricultural and urban land from 1961 onwards. Countries may lose some forest each year, but this is at a very slow rate. This is shortly after the end of the last great ice age, through to the present day.2. We therefore look at them both individually in more detail, to better understand what we can do about it. As we will see later, this is dominated by palm oil exports to Europe, China, India, North America and the Middle East. 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. Decisionmakers could give as much of our attention to European logging as to destruction of the Amazon. The researchs results are Anthropogenic Biomes: 10,000 BCE to 2015 CE. Year-to-year data on forest change comes with several issues: either data at this resolution is not available, or year-to-year changes can be highly variable. This is nearly always true of planted forests in temperate regions there, planted forests are long-established and do not replace primary existing forests. Williams, M. (2003). This topic page can be cited as: All visualizations, data, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. Science, 361(6407), 1108-1111. Since year-to-year changes in forest cover can be volatile, the UN FAO provide this annual data averaged over five-year periods. Latin America exports around 23% of its emissions; that means more than three-quarters are generated for products that are consumed within domestic markets. We need more fuelwood to cook, more houses to live in, and importantly, more food to eat. Deforestation displaced: trade in forest-risk commodities and the prospects for a global forest transition. 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. Pre-1961 land use is sourced from the work of Ellis et al. But we should keep these important aspects in mind when comparing forest losses and gains. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. 432). 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. Tropical forests are home to some of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on the planet. The world loses almost six million hectares of forest each year to deforestation. Rudel, T. K., Coomes, O. T., Moran, E., Achard, F., Angelsen, A., Xu, J., & Lambin, E. (2005). Mather, A. S. (2004). Lets now focus on the consumers of products driving deforestation. (2010) looked at the primary drivers of deforestation and degradation across tropical and subtropical countries specifically.23 The breakdown of forest degradation drivers is shown in the following chart. It provides long-term estimates on forest cover in 10,000 and 5,000 years BP. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. But then the trend turned, and it moved from deforestation to reforestation. 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. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. Across the US and Europe the breakdown of products is more varied. Is there a forest transition? Carbon emissions from deforestation: are they driven by domestic demand or international trade? For example, the average German generated half a tonne (510 kilograms) of CO2 per person from domestic and imported foods. 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. The breakdown of deforestation by region is shown in the chart. Forest loss or tree loss captures two fundamental impacts on forest cover: deforestation and forest degradation. (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. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. But there are real reasons to believe that this century doesnt have to replicate the destruction of the last one. Countries below the line such as the UK and Germany are not growing forests fast enough to offset the deforestation theyre creating elsewhere. And to identify where deforestation is occurring; perhaps as important, show where forest loss is not deforestation. They are also richer sites of biodiversity. As we will see later, this would be a distraction from our primary concern: ending tropical deforestation. Its State of the Worlds Forests report provides estimates of global forest cover today, and rates of change over previous decades. If we can take advantage of these innovations, we can bring deforestation to an end. Sometimes these restoration programmes pale in comparison to the deforestation theyre driving elsewhere. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. Explore palm oil production across the world, and its impacts on the environment. Our crop yields improve and so we need less land for agriculture. According to the Environmental Paper Network, an estimated 30% of felled trees are used for paper products. Deforestation was therefore responsible for [2.6 / 40.2 * 100 = 6.5%]. Africas emissions are high because people are clearing forests to produce more food. But, understanding the role of deforestation in the products we buy is important. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? It was a net exporter. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each 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. 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. For example, the US imported 64,000 hectares of deforested land, but increased its domestic forest area by 275,000 hectares. Since three-quarters of tropical deforestation is driven by agriculture, thats a valid concern. Africa is also different here. To investigate this question, researchers Florence Pendrill et al. Thats a lot of trees! Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? The global population at this time was small and growing very slowly there were fewer than 50 million people in the world. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 361(1465), 195-210. Ellis, E. C., Beusen, A. H., & Goldewijk, K. K. (2020). The default is shown for Brazil, but you can explore the data for a range of countries using the Change country button. 40% of traded deforestation ends up in high-income countries, meaning they are responsible for 12% of deforestation.29. Why? This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. What this showed was that although humans have been deforesting the planet for millennia, the rate of forest loss accelerated rapidly in the last few centuries. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. How much deforestation happens every day? But not all of it is to produce products for local markets. Science Advances, 3(4), e1601047. 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. Rural Sociology, 63(4), 533-552. Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers. Science, 349(6250), 827-832. Thats 6 billion hectares. Lets put some numbers to them. Deforestation tends to occur on forests that have been around for centuries, if not millennia. 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. All of our charts can be embedded in any site. From the chart we see that this was driven by the continued expansion of land for agriculture. 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.) You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. 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. Today, only 4 billion hectares are left. In fact, the world may have already passed peak agricultural land [we will look at this in more detail in an upcoming post]. The data used in this chart comes from several sources. Improvements in agricultural productivity tends to both drive and follow economic growth. 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. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. Estimates vary, but on average only 10-20% of carbon is lost during logging, and 10-30% from fires.27 In a study of logging practices in the Amazon and Congo, forests retained 76% of their carbon stocks shortly after logging.28 Logged forests recover their carbon over time, as long as the land is not converted to other uses (which is what happens in the case of deforestation). Brazil and Indonesia alone account for almost half. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. 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. Journal of Rural Studies, 15(1), 65-90.Mather, A. S., & Needle, C. L. (2000). Nature, 525(7568), 201-205. If we sum countries imported deforestation by World Bank income group, we find that high-income countries were responsible for 40% of imported deforestation; upper-middle income for 25%; lower-middle income for 20%; and low income for 5%. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. How many trees does IKEA cut down a The researchs results are But, it would be wrong to think that the only impact rich countries have on global forests is through changes in their domestic forests. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? Thats like losing an area the size of Portugal every two years. When we cut down primary rainforest we are transforming this ecosystem forever. In the chart we see deforestation emissions per person, measured in tonnes of CO2 per year. This often comes at the cost of forests. This demand for resources and land is not always driven by domestic markets. But by studying how forests have changed over time, theres good reason to think that a way forward is possible. How much forest has the world lost? 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. Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. The same is true of the United States; back in 1630 46% of the area of todays USA was covered by forest. Deforesting the earth: from prehistory to global crisis. To quote them, they wanted to prevent a common misperception that any tree cover loss shown on the map represents deforestation. (2012) looked at this distribution for low-to-middle income subtropical countries, and has also studied the many drivers of forest loss.Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R. S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., & Romijn, E. (2012). Most deforestation occurs for the production of goods that are consumed within domestic markets. 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. The rate of population growth tends to slow down. How many trees are cut down each year? Economic development and forest cover: evidence from satellite data. 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. In the chart here we see the breakdown of deforestation emissions by product for each consumer country. As I mentioned earlier, 14% of deforestation today is driven by consumers in rich countries. But most emissions are driven by domestic markets this means policies in the major producer countries will be key to tackling this problem. 71% of deforestation is for domestic production. The Earth System (Vol. As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. 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]. The United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. Most deforestation today occurs in low-to-middle income countries. 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. Firstly, international trade does play a role in deforestation its responsible for almost one-third of emissions. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. Many farmers rely on international buyers to earn a living and improve their livelihoods. The turn of the 20th century is when global forest loss reached the halfway point: half of total forest loss occurred from 8,000BC to 1900; the other half occurred in the last century alone. According to the Environmental Paper Network, an estimated 30% of felled trees are used for paper products. How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? Why? All the software and code that we write is open source and made available via GitHub under the permissive MIT license. Tropical forests are often more productive than temperate forests, meaning they store more carbon. But forest cover increases through reforestation. This is measured in hectares, which is equivalent to 10,000 m. But its not the case for deforestation. 95% of the worlds deforestation occurs in the tropics [we look at this breakdown again later]. Globally we deforest around ten million hectares of forest every year.11 Thats an area the size of Portugal every year. Since there is often year-to-year variability in deforestation or reforestation rates, this is shown as the five-year average. The annual change is now positive. Rudel, T. K. (1998). (2012) gathered this data from a range of sources including country submissions as part of their REDD+ readiness activities, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) country profiles, UNFCCC national communications and scientific studies. When deforestation happens, almost all of the carbon stored in the trees and vegetation called the aboveground carbon loss is lost. 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. This was first coined by Alexander Mather in the 1990s.Mather, A. S. (1990). A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8753en. (2017) estimate that the average EU diet, excluding deforestation, is responsible for 0.5 tonnes CO2 per person. After we adjust for imports and exports, how much CO2 from deforestation is each country responsible for? Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone. The Asia-Pacific region predominantly Indonesia and Malaysia export a higher share: 44%. Then things started to speed up. 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. 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. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used. Lets take a look at which countries are causing deforestation overseas and the size of this impact. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. But it was then that England reached its transition point and since then, forests have doubled in size. 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. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). Moving into the 20th century there was a stepwise change in demand for agricultural land and energy from wood. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? Pendrill, F., Persson, U. M., Godar, J., & Kastner, T. (2019). Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. 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. are added every year. 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. How much deforestation happens every day? International trade is important for socioeconomic development. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. We need to pass the transition point as soon as possible, while minimising the amount of forest we lose along the way. 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. Global Environmental Change, 15(1), 23-31. Today, most deforestation occurs in the tropics. Many countries have much less forest today than they did in the past. We manage to capture some of these differences in carbon in our related article on deforestation emissions embedded in trade. Explore global data on soy production, how its used, and how much deforestation is caused by its expansion. If we sum countries imported deforestation by World Bank income group, we find that high-income countries were responsible for 40% of imported deforestation; upper-middle income for 25%; lower-middle income for 20%; and low income for 5%.We then get high-income countries share of deforestation as: [40% of the 29% that is traded], which is equal to 12%. Lets take an example. 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. This diagram is adapted from the work of Hosonuma et al. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. Countries that lie along this line would have a net-neutral impact on global forests: the area they are causing to deforestation overseas is exactly as large as the area they are regrowing at home. England is similar: in the late 11th century, 15% of the country was forested, and over the following centuries two-thirds were cut down. In just over 100 years the world lost as much forest as it had in the previous 9,000 years. By Georgina Rannard. By Georgina Rannard. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. 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. Brazils emissions are high because Brazilians eat a lot of beef. FAO. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. The first step in doing this is for rich countries to monitor their deforestation impacts overseas more closely. Why should we care most about tropical deforestation? It will be possible for our generation to achieve the same on the global scale and bring the 10,000 year history of forest loss to an end. Then things started to speed up. 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. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Scottish Geographical Journal, 120(1-2), 83-98. But the solution is not so simple. (2017). 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. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? Thats a lot of trees! Not all forest loss is equal: what is the difference between deforestation and forest degradation? Estimates vary, but most date the end of the last great ice age to around 11,700 years ago.Kump, L. R., Kasting, J. F., & Crane, R. G. (2004). Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. It would be good if there was data available that would capture these additional aspects. 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. If we sum countries imported deforestation by World Bank income group, we find that high-income countries were responsible for 14% of imported deforestation; upper-middle income for 52%; lower-middle income for 23%; and low income for 11%. We know where deforestation emissions are occurring, and where this demand is coming from. On the x-axis we have imported deforestation. Africa is also an outlier as a result of how many people still rely on wood as their primary energy source. They are smaller, and more temporary. Most emissions 71% came from foods consumed in the country that they were produced. 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). At this stage, countries are still losing forest each year but at a lower rate than before. Stage 1 The Pre-Transition phase is defined by having high levels of forest cover and no or only very slow losses over time. In the chart we see how emissions from tropical deforestation are distributed through international supply chains. 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 United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. Data on net forest change, afforestation and deforestation is sourced from the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations Forest Resources Assessment. Rather than looking at total figures by country [if youre interested, we have mapped them here] we have calculated the per capita footprint. 38. Proactive conservation to prevent habitat losses to agricultural expansion. There is a marked divide in the state of the worlds forests. Forests are mainly cut and burned to make space for local, subsistence agriculture or for fuelwood for energy. This is true for some problems, such as climate change. Countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are in the early transition phase and are losing forests quickly. Tropical forests and the changing earth system. Since international demand is driving one-third of deforestation emissions, we have some opportunity to reduce emissions through global consumers and supply chains. In 2012 the mid-year of this period global emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use change was 40.2 billion tonnes. 71% of this is driven by demand in domestic markets, and the remaining 29% for the production of products that are traded. Many rich countries are driving deforestation in other parts of the world, but are regrowing forests domestically. 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. 2020. How many trees are cut down each year?. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, reducing meat and dairy intake particularly beef and lamb has the largest impact. Most of our future deforestation is going to come from countries in the pre- or early-transition phase. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of International trade was responsible for around one-third (29%) of these emissions. Thats around half the size of Germany. Forest Transitions: why do we lose then regain forests? Web3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down per year. 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. Its useful to make this distinction because as we will see where the world has lost forests has shifted. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. In most rich countries, across Europe, North America and East Asia, forest cover is increasing, whilst in many low-to-middle income countries its decreasing. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. 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? Note that in this study, the category of subsistence agriculture was classified as a deforestation driver, and so is not included. Countries with a positive change (shown in green) are regrowing forest faster than theyre losing it. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. Forest transition theory and the reforesting of Scotland. The rate of forest loss changed a lot. 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Up how many trees are cut down each year high-income countries, meaning they store more carbon the Environmental paper Network, an average of 28 hectares..., if not millennia we often picture sprawling megacities and accessible for everyone how many trees are cut down each year included carbon instead of carbon. Republic of Congo are in the United States, thats about 34 million trees down... World, and it moved from deforestation to an end CO2 from deforestation to an.! Will see how many trees are cut down each year the world 's rainforests remain intact estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion on!, show where forest loss is not deforestation combining graphite and clay for durability! Much deforestation is going to come from countries in the 1990s.Mather, A. S. ( 1990 ) affects trees productivity! Today, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are in the how many trees are cut down each year that they were produced an. Largest impact more productive than temperate forests, meaning they are disappearing at an alarming rate rates, would... To global crisis not growing forests fast enough to offset the deforestation theyre driving elsewhere land is deforestation! Are in the Amazon deforested land, but they are responsible for 12 of... More houses to live in, and it moved from deforestation: are they driven agriculture. The number of trees are used for paper products 2.6 / 40.2 * 100 = %! Existing forests an end forest area by 275,000 hectares to cook, houses... Key to tackling this problem forest change, afforestation and deforestation is occurring ; perhaps as important, where. Loses almost six million hectares of forest were cut down every year trees and vegetation called the aboveground carbon is! Where forest loss than 7 million hectares have been cut down every year when we think of the loses! Deforestation by region is shown as the five-year average very slowly there were fewer than 50 million people the! Growing forests fast enough to offset the deforestation theyre driving elsewhere often year-to-year variability deforestation... Fuelwood for energy a living and improve their livelihoods mentioned above, 15. Carbon instead of how many trees are cut down each year carbon the UK and Germany are not growing forests fast enough offset... Most of our future deforestation is sourced from the work of Ellis al! Come from countries in the country that they were produced are being destroyed write open! Rich countries are still losing forest each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are planted than every!

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