Give Two Reasons For Large-scale Deforestation In Recent Years

[Rachelle Kun]

Forests cover 31 percent of the global land area. Approximately half the forest area is relatively intact, and more than one-third is primary forest (i.e. naturally regenerated forests of native species, where there are no visible indications of human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed).

Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year, down from 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s. The area of primary forest worldwide has decreased by over 80 million hectares since 1990.

Agricultural expansion continues to be the main driver of deforestation and forest degradation and the associated loss of forest biodiversity. Large-scale commercial agriculture (primarily cattle ranching and cultivation of soya bean and oil palm) accounted for 40 percent of tropical deforestation between 2000 and 2010, and local subsistence agriculture for another 33 percent.

It is not only the trees that make a forest, but the many different species of plants and animals that reside in the soil, understorey and canopy. Estimates of the total number of species on Earth range from 3 million to 100 million (May, 2010).

Although it is widely reported that forests harbour 80 percent of terrestrial plants and animals, such a precise estimate is unlikely to be accurate given the changing state of knowledge of planetary biodiversity.

About 391 000 species of vascular plants are known to science of which about 94 percent are flowering plants. Of these, 21 percent are likely threatened by extinction (Willis, 2017). Some 60 percent of the total are found in tropical forests (Burley, 2002).

Some 144 000 species of fungi have been named and classified so far. However, it is estimated that the vast majority (over 93 percent) of fungal species are currently unknown to science, indicating that the total number of fungal species on Earth is somewhere between 2.2 and 3.8 million (Willis, 2018).

Some 1.3 million species of invertebrates have been described. However, many more exist, with some estimates ranging from 5 million to 10 million species (degaard, 2000). Most are insects, and the vast majority live in forests.

Soil microbes, forest-dependent pollinators (insects, bats, birds and some mammals), and saproxylic beetles play very important parts in maintaining the biodiversity and ecosystem functions of forests.

Similarly, mammals, birds and other organisms can play major roles in forest ecosystem structure including on the distribution patterns of trees through their direct roles in seed dispersal, seed predation and herbivory, and indirectly through predation on such ecological architects (Beck, 2008).

Much of human society today has at least some interaction with forests and the biodiversity they contain and all people benefit from the functions provided by components of this biodiversity in the carbon, water and nutrient cycles and through the links with food production.

In both low- and high-income countries and in all climatic zones, communities that live within forests rely the most directly on forest biodiversity for their lives and livelihoods, using products derived from forest resources for food, fodder, shelter, energy, medicine and income generation.

Rural people often participate in the value chains of forest biodiversity, for example by collecting wood and non-wood products from nearby forests for personal use or sale, or engaging in forest-product industries or value addition.

Non-consumptive uses of forest biodiversity, such as recreation and tourism, are also a growing part of rural cash economies. Each year an estimated 8 billion visits are made to protected areas, many of which are forest covered.

Creation of protected areas has historically been the forest governance instrument most often adopted to pursue biodiversity objectives. This approach has achieved positive results in terms of conserving species and establishing barriers to the progress of deforestation.

Natural reserves alone are not sufficient to conserve biodiversity. They are usually too small, create barriers to species migration and are vulnerable to factors such as climate change. Additionally, protected areas contain only a fraction of existing forest biodiversity.

Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 (to protect at least 17 percent of terrestrial area by 2020) has thus been exceeded for forest ecosystems as a whole. However, these areas are not yet fully representative of the diversity of forest ecosystems.

A study conducted for SOFO 2020 by the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre on trends in protected forest area by global ecological zones between 1992 and 2015 found that more than 30 percent of tropical rainforests, subtropical dry forests and temperate oceanic forests were within legally protected areas (IUCN categories I-VI) in 2015.

Subtropical humid forest, temperate steppe and boreal coniferous forest should be given priority in future decisions to establish new protected areas since less than 10 percent of these forests are currently protected.

Areas with high values for both biodiversity significance and intactness, for example the northern Andes and Central America, southeastern Brazil, parts of the Congo Basin, southern Japan, the Himalayas and various parts of Southeast Asia and New Guinea, should likewise be given high priority.

Limited progress has been made to date on classifying specific forest areas as other effective area-based conservation measures, but guidance on this category is being developed and it has significant potential for forests.

Current negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystems will undermine progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal. Transformational change is needed in the way we manage our forests and their biodiversity, produce and consume our food and interact with nature.

This requires effective governance; integrated policies for interrelated issues; land-tenure security; respect for the rights and knowledge of local communities and indigenous peoples; and enhanced capacity for monitoring of biodiversity outcomes. It also requires innovative financing modalities.

The biggest transformational change is needed in the way in which we produce and consume food. We must move away from the current situation where the demand for food is resulting inappropriate agricultural practices that drive large-scale conversion of forests to agricultural production and the loss of forest-related biodiversity.

Adopting agroforestry and agroecological production practices, restoring the productivity of degraded agricultural lands, adopting healthier diets and reducing food loss and waste are all actions that urgently need to be scaled up.

Agri-businesses should meet their commitments to deforestation-free commodity chains and companies that have not made zero deforestation commitments should do so. Commodity investors should adopt business models that are environmentally and socially responsible. These actions will, in many cases, require a revision of current policies and financial incentives.

Critical to the transformations outlined above are effective governance, policy alignment between sectors and administrative levels, land-tenure security, respect for the rights and knowledge of local communities and indigenous peoples, enhanced capacity for monitoring of biodiversity outcomes, and innovative financing modalities.

Amazonia - The area around the River Amazon in South America, principally in Brazil, but also extending into Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia. The region comprises approximately one third of the world's remaining tropical rainforest.2

Amazonia Legal (Legal Amazon) - An area of 5.2 million km, constituting all of the Brazilian Amazon. The Brazilian government created the Amazonia Legal designation in 1953 as a way to plan and promote the social and economic development of states in the Amazon region, which historically share the same economic, political, and social challenges.3

Land Surface Albedo - The ratio of the solar radiation reflected from Earth's surface to the solar radiation incident upon it, which is critical to the regulation of Earth's surface energy budget. In essence, land surface albedo is a measurement of the "whiteness" or reflectivity of the surface of the land.

Slash-and-burn - Relating to or denoting a method of agriculture in which existing vegetation is cut down and burned off before new seeds are sown, typically used as a method for clearing forest land for farming,9 also called fire-fallow cultivation.

The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world as well as the largest river basin, spanning 670 million hectares16 across 9 South American countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.17 The Amazon contains more species of plants and animals than anywhere else on the planet, and is believed to be the home of 10% of all species on Earth.18 Of the many plant species in the Amazon, 75% are unique to the Amazon. There are 3,000 different species of fish, which is the largest number of freshwater fish species in the world.19 Additionally, the Amazon rainforest is home to 34 million people who depend on its resources.20

One factor that influences Amazonian deforestation, as well as its other contributing factors, is government involvement. This takes the form of legislation, or lack thereof, that directly protects the forest, but also includes the policies surrounding logging permits, the process of designating protected lands, and the rules around businesses involved in the Amazon rainforest. These policies include penalties, fines, warnings, and seizures of equipment, or lack thereof, when legislation is violated. As the Amazon rainforest includes territory of 9 different countries, multiple governments are involved in its protection. However, the most influential government by far is the Brazilian government as 64% of the Amazon falls within its borders.26 27

Deforestation caused by cattle ranching is supported by an international demand for cattle-related products, including leather, meat, dairy, and cosmetics, which flow into companies in multiple industries worth billions of dollars.35 Deforestation through cattle-ranching is further driven by low costs for inputs, such as breeding bulls or cows, fencing, artificial feed, medicine, and labor, as well as ease of transportation and inexpensive land.36 At the onset of these deforestation problems, the government of Brazil had incentives for many years to increase land usage and ownership through cattle and clearing land.37

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