Farmers in Amazonas state, Brazil, start fires to clear land MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP via Getty Images
Despite pledges by world leaders to halt deforestation, around 6.6 million hectares of forest were lost globally in 2022 – an increase of 4 per cent compared with 2021, according to an assessment by a coalition of environmental organisations.
Alongside this assessment, one of the organisations, the WWF, released a report setting out what needs to be done to halt deforestation. It calls for countries to end harmful subsidies and change international trade systems to stop the sale of products linked to deforestation.
“Why is the world still barrelling in the wrong direction on forests every year? The answer becomes obvious if you look at what we invest in,” says Erin Matson at Climate Focus, an international advisory company, who co-authored the assessment. “We are investing in activities that are harmful for forests at far higher rates than we are investing in activities that are beneficial for forests.”
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At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, more than 100 countries – home to 85 per cent of the world’s forests – pledged to end deforestation by 2030. But with deforestation still increasing, many countries aren’t on track to meet their commitment, the assessment concludes.
“At current rates of deforestation, we could see the Amazon pass a tipping point in a matter of years, changing to become a dry, arid grassland,” says Mike Barrett at WWF-UK. “That will put efforts to avoid dangerous climate change out of reach.”
Of the 6.6 million hectares lost last year, 4.1 million hectares were primary forest, says Matson. “These are the irreplaceable old-growth forests, which are priceless.”
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But deforestation isn’t the only issue, she says. In places including North America and Europe, the forests that remain standing are being degraded by factors such as wildfires and partial logging.
“We hardly ever talk about the fact that forests in these regions, and in every world region, are not just being cleared, but where they are still standing, they’re losing carbon, losing their structural integrity, losing biodiversity year after year,” says Matson.
However, the assessment isn’t all bad news. More than 50 countries are on track to end deforestation within their borders by 2030. For instance, rates of deforestation continue to fall in Indonesia and Malaysia.
The WWF report calls for much more to be done. Governments need to stop investing in and subsidising activities that are causing deforestation, and encourage activities that help forests, it says. For example, there is abandoned farmland in Brazil that could be put back into production with some investment, says Matson, which would lessen the pressure to cut down more forest.
Trade reform is also needed. The report recommends that products such as beef, timber, palm oil and soya should only be allowed to be exported if they are from sustainable sources.
The European Union introduced some regulations this year aiming to reduce its imports of unsustainable goods, but more needs to be done to ensure that products banned from the EU aren’t simply exported elsewhere, says Darragh Conway at Climate Focus.
It shouldn’t be left to consumers to try to work out if the products they buy are forest friendly or not, says Barrett. Governments should ensure that products that drive deforestation can’t be sold. “We should be able to buy any products in the UK knowing that they are deforestation free. That’s not too much to ask. That needs to happen now.”
More also needs to be done to recognise the land rights of Indigenous peoples, as they are the best protectors of forests, says Mary Gagen at WWF-UK, who is one of the authors of the report.
It is the first comprehensive global blueprint on how to save our forests, she says. “It defines for the first time the pathways to stop destroying forests, to meet global commitments and bring our forests back to life.”
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