World losing tropical forests at fast pace: Report

A forest monitoring project report issued today has highlighted that more than a year after countries pledged to end deforestation by 2030, the world is continuing to lose its tropical forests at a fast pace. The annual survey by the World Resources Institute, a research organization, found that the world lost 10.2 million acres of primary rainforest last year, a 10 percent increase from the year before. 

It is the first assessment to cover a full year since November 2021, when 145 countries pledged at a global climate summit in Glasgow to halt forest loss by the end of this decade.

 

The report, done in collaboration with the University of Maryland, documented tree loss in the tropics from deforestation, fires, and other causes. Last year’s destruction of trees resulted in 2.7 giga tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which is a significant amount.

 

According to an analysis of the World Resources Institute data by Amazon Conservation, a research organization, the Amazon rainforest, the largest in the world,



has not faced such enormous destruction in almost two decades. Brazil, the country with the largest portion of tropical rainforest, had the highest rates of deforestation globally accounting for more than 40 per cent of tree loss globally, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bolivia. The expansion of agriculture appeared to be hurting forests in Africa. Forest clearing is strongly linked to a lack of economic opportunities and basic infrastructure in the Congo River Basin region.

 

One of the few bright spots in the report came from Southeast Asia, where efforts to curb deforestation in Malaysia and Indonesia continued to yield results. A logging moratorium, efforts to restore peatlands, and corporate commitments to exclude palm oil suppliers linked to deforestation appear to be effective.

 

However, there are signs the trajectory of global deforestation may change for the better in the near future, with several countries re-committing to limiting or curb deforestation.