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. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? They first lose lots of forest, but reach a turning point and begin to regain it again. Instead of using wood for fuel we switch to fossil fuels, or hopefully, more renewables and nuclear energy. We know where deforestation emissions are occurring, and where this demand is coming from. Tyukavina, A., Hansen, M. C., Potapov, P. V., Stehman, S. V., Smith-Rodriguez, K., Okpa, C., & Aguilar, R. (2017). Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. Countries below the line such as the UK and Germany are not growing forests fast enough to offset the deforestation theyre creating elsewhere. By the mid-18th century, only 4% of the country was forested. 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]. Forest cover falls quickly, and the annual loss of forest is high. Nearly all 95% of this deforestation occurs in the tropics. Pendrill, F., Persson, U. M., Godar, J., & Kastner, T. (2019). According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. Forestry production and wildfires usually result in forest degradation the forest experiences short-term disturbance but if left alone is likely to regrow. This often comes at the cost of forests. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. 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.) We will always indicate the original source of the data in our documentation, so you should always check the license of any such third-party data before use and redistribution. The world has lost one-third of its forests, but an end of deforestation is possible. Thats more than the countrys CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, which are around 2.2 tonnes per person. Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions. We can calculate this increase as [(7.63 billion 3.09 billion) / 3.09 billion * 100 = 147%]. 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. But it can bridge between deforestation and degradation depending on the timeframe and permanence of these agricultural practices. 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. There is little forest left. Around half of this deforestation is offset by regrowing forests, so overall we lose around five million hectares each year. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. This diagram is adapted from the work of Hosonuma et al. The researchs results are People cut down 15 billion trees each year and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization. The data used in this chart comes from several sources. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. These countries might have high levels of afforestation at home, but theyre still having a net negative impact on the size of the worlds forests. The default is shown for Brazil, but you can explore the data for a range of countries using the Change country button. 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. See the distribution of global forests and which countries have the most forest cover. 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. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, This is true for some problems, such as climate change. To do this, they quantified where deforestation was occurring due to the expansion of croplands, pasture and tree plantations (for logging), and what commodities were produced on this converted land. This is very close to our estimate of a one-third loss. According to the Environmental Paper Network, an estimated 30% of felled trees are used for paper products. The consumption choices of people in these countries cause deforestation elsewhere in the world. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. Thats a lot of trees! In a related article we look in much more detail at what agricultural products, and which countries are driving this. Environmental impacts of food consumption in Europe. are added every year. Stage 2 The Early Transition phase is when countries start to lose forests very rapidly. The Forest Transition therefore tends to follow a development pathway.16 As a country achieves economic growth it moves through each of the four stages. 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. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. This is nearly always true of planted forests in temperate regions there, planted forests are long-established and do not replace primary existing forests. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, 753-765. Science Advances, 3(4), e1601047. In a related post we have combined this FAO data with global deforestation rates from Williams (2003) to document forest change over the last 300 years this gives us data on forest change from 1700 onwards. Rome. Our crop yields improve and so we need less land for agriculture. Scheffers, B. R., Joppa, L. N., Pimm, S. L., & Laurance, W. F. (2012). Net importers of deforestation (shown in brown) are countries that contribute more to deforestation in other countries than they do in their home country. And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. A future with more people and more forest is possible. 432). The trees are not expected to regrow. High-income countries were the largest importers of deforestation, accounting for 40% of it. Humanitys biggest footprint is due to what we eat, not where we live. 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. Our World In Data is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1186433). An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. In their analysis of global forest loss, Philip Curtis and colleagues used satellite images to assess where and why the world lost forests between 2001 and 2015. Moving into the 20th century there was a stepwise change in demand for agricultural land and energy from wood. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used. The rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. It results in a permanent conversion of forest into an alternative land use. Over half of the worlds species reside in tropical forests.24 Endemic species are those which only naturally occur in a single country. theyre driving deforestation elsewhere; whilst many subtropical countries are partly cutting down trees to meet this demand from rich countries. We need to pass the transition point as soon as possible, while minimising the amount of forest we lose along the way. Deforestation tends to occur on forests that have been around for centuries, if not millennia. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. Science, 361(6407), 1108-1111. This is measured in hectares, which is equivalent to 10,000 m. Before we look at trends in deforestation across the world specifically, its useful to understand the net change in forest cover. Rather than looking at total figures by country [if youre interested, we have mapped them here] we have calculated the per capita footprint. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. To put this in perspective, that would be around one-sixth of the total carbon footprint of the average EU diet.36. See which countries are gaining forest though natural forest expansion and afforestation. 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. Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. In the chart we see historical reconstructions of country-level data on the share of land covered by forest (over decades, centuries or even millennia depending on the country). The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. Americans cut down 15,094,678 Christmas trees in 2017, according to the most recent year of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. Low agricultural productivity and a reliance on wood for fuel meant that large amounts of land had to be cleared for basic provisions. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? In the chart here we see the breakdown of deforestation emissions by product for each consumer country. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Forest Resources Assessment estimates global deforestation, averaged over the five-year period from 2015 to 2020 was 10 million hectares per year. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . This demand for resources and land is not always driven by domestic markets. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. Web42 million trees are cut down each day. From 1700 to 1850, 19 million hectares were being cleared every decade. We should not only look at where these foods are produced, but also where the consumer demand is coming from. Note that in this study, the category of subsistence agriculture was classified as a deforestation driver, and so is not included. But most emissions are driven by domestic markets this means policies in the major producer countries will be key to tackling this problem. Second, it makes clear how much deforestation accelerated over the last century. It would be good if there was data available that would capture these additional aspects. And to identify where deforestation is occurring; perhaps as important, show where forest loss is not deforestation. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. However, most align on the relative change in forests over this period. Globally we deforest around ten million hectares of forest every year.11 Thats an area the size of Portugal every year. As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. Across sub-tropical countries we have a mix: many upper-middle income countries are now in the late transition phase. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? But we should keep these important aspects in mind when comparing forest losses and gains. Carbon emissions from deforestation: are they driven by domestic demand or international trade? If we can take advantage of these innovations, we can bring deforestation to an end. Help us do this work by making a donation. People cut down 15 billion trees each year and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization. In 2012 the mid-year of this period global emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use change was 40.2 billion tonnes. Tropical forests are often more productive than temperate forests, meaning they store more carbon. Rudel, T. K. (1998). 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. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone. 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. Healthy communities: Tree-filled neighborhoods lower levels of domestic violence and are safer and more sociable. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8753en. But the magnitude of these impacts are often less than the complete conversion of forest. Maxwell, S. L., Fuller, R. A., Brooks, T. M., & Watson, J. E. (2016). From the 1920s through to the 1980s, decadal losses quadrupled to almost 120 million hectares. From the chart we see that this was driven by the continued expansion of land for agriculture. The amount of land used for agriculture land to grow crops as well as grazing land for livestock was expanding. Are they causing more deforestation elsewhere than they are regenerating in forests at home? But then the trend turned, and it moved from deforestation to reforestation. Thats equivalent to the area of South Africa. University of Chicago Press.FAO (2020). These are big numbers, and important ones to track: forest loss creates a number of negative impacts, ranging from carbon emissions to species extinctions and biodiversity loss. As we covered in a previous article, 60% of tropical deforestation is driven by beef, soybean and palm oil production. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. 2020. The rate of population growth tends to slow down. Explore palm oil production across the world, and its impacts on the environment. Across the US and Europe the breakdown of products is more varied. 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. 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. But distilling changes to this single metric tree or forest loss comes with its own issues. How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? An area the size of the United States. On balance, they add to the global forest stock. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Global deforestation peaked in the 1980s. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. Thats both an economic and environmental win. But, supply chains are international. They are also richer sites of biodiversity. 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.) 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. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. 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. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. As we saw previously, this deforestation accounts for around one-quarter of global forest loss. 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. (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. 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%. Its the foods and products we buy, not where we live, that has the biggest impact on global land use. 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. How many trees are cut down each year?. How much deforestation happens every day? This helps consumers understand what products they should be concerned about, but also allows us to target specific supply chains. 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