By Jake Spring
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Tropical forest loss slowed last year, but other indicators show the world’s forests remain under enormous pressure, according to an analysis released on Thursday by the monitoring project Global Forest Watch.
Forest destruction helps drive global climate change. Because trees absorb climate-warming carbon dioxide and store it as carbon in their wood, that greenhouse gas is released when the wood rots or burns. This destruction also endangers biodiversity due to the number of plant and animal species that call forests home.
Here are key takeaways from Global Forest Watch’s annual forest loss data.
TROPICAL FORESTS HAVE FACED BETTER
The loss of primary forests – those untouched by humans and sometimes known as old-growth forests – in the tropics fell 9% last year compared to 2022.
But researchers at Global Forest Watch say destruction remains stubbornly high. Last year the world lost about 37,000 square kilometers (14,000 square miles) of primary tropical forest, an area almost the size of Switzerland and larger than the US state of Maryland.
Global Forest Watch is a project of the Washington-based non-profit research organization World Resources Institute, which uses satellite imagery. Most of the data is compiled by researchers at the University of Maryland.
Declining forest loss in Brazil and Colombia has been largely offset by greater losses elsewhere, Global Forest Watch director Mikaela Weisse said in a news conference.
“The world has taken two steps forward and two steps back,” Weisse said.
Scientists consider tropical primary forests among the most valuable because their lush vegetation is the most densely carbon-rich. These forests are also treasures of biodiversity. The Amazon rainforest (NASDAQ:), for example, is home to at least 10% of the known species on Earth.
Last year’s loss of primary tropical forests caused greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to half the U.S. emissions caused annually by burning fossil fuels, Weisse said.
Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bolivia top the list of tropical countries with the greatest loss of primary forests. This is despite destruction in Brazil dropping 36%, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has pursued aggressive conservation policies, particularly regarding the Amazon, Weisse said.
Neighboring Colombia has seen a 49% drop in forest loss. President Gustavo Petro has made environmental preservation a key part of the peace process with armed groups that dominate jungle areas, Weisse noted.
Forest destruction in the Democratic Republic of Congo remained relatively stable but high, at approximately 5,000 square km (1,930 square miles).
In third place, Bolivia recorded a record loss of primary forests for the third consecutive year, with destruction increasing by 27%. Agricultural production and wildfires caused most of the losses.
DEFORESTATION INCREASED
According to the report, global deforestation increased by 3.2% in 2023.
Forest loss includes natural destruction, such as fires, pests and windstorms, of stands that could regrow. Deforestation refers to the permanent conversion of forests to other uses such as agriculture and is more difficult to measure.
More than 140 countries in 2021 committed to ending deforestation by the end of the decade, a goal that requires huge declines in destruction each year, said Rod Taylor, forest director at the World Resources Institute.
“We are way off track and going in the wrong direction when it comes to reducing global deforestation,” Taylor said.
Brazil, Indonesia and Bolivia are the leaders in deforestation, followed closely by the Democratic Republic of Congo.
FIRES IN CANADA OUT OF THE RANKINGS
Tree cover loss increased by 24% across all forests globally in 2022, primarily due to massive wildfires in Canada.
Canada’s forest loss of more than 80,000 square kilometers (30,900 square miles) was three times greater than any year on record, offsetting a decline in forest loss elsewhere in the world.
“This is one of the largest anomalies ever recorded,” said University of Maryland researcher Matt Hansen.
While deforestation in the tropics is a driver of human-caused climate change, the fires in Canada are more a symptom of global warming, leading to hotter, drier conditions that fuel larger fires.
“It’s a big deal, and it’s a warning for climate impacts,” Hansen said.