From 2004 To 2017, Global Tropical Forests The Size Of California Destroyed For Industrial Farming

[hatrack]

An area of forest roughly the size of California was cleared across the tropics and subtropics between 2004 and 2017 largely for commercial agriculture, finds a new assessment published by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The report, titled Deforestation Fronts: Drivers and Responses in a Changing World, looks at the state of forests and causes of deforestation in 24 “active deforestation fronts” (MAP), which account for over half of all tropical and subtropical deforestation that occurred over the 14-year period. WWF identified these deforestation fronts based on the likelihood that these areas would experience high rates of forest loss between 2010 and 2030. These include nine forest areas in Latin America, eight in Africa, and seven in Asia and Oceania.

Using five satellite-based datasets, the report finds 43 million hectares (166,000 square miles) of deforestation during the period. Nearly two-thirds of that loss — 26.9 million hectares — occurred in Latin America, of which the majority was concentrated in the Brazilian Amazon (15.5 million ha). The Borneo deforestation front ranked second in terms of the extent of forest loss at 5.8 million ha, followed by the Gran Chaco (5.2 million ha), the Brazilian Cerrado (3 million ha), Sumatra (2.5 million ha), the Bolivian lowlands (1.5 million ha), the island of New Guinea (1.3 million ha), and then Myanmar (1 million ha).

EDIT

WWF also assessed drivers of deforestation, including both direct drivers like forest conversion for industrial agriculture, plantations, infrastructure, and urban expansion, as well as indirect drivers like policy and macroeconomic factors. Like other research, it found that drivers of deforestation vary from region to region, but large-scale agriculture is the largest direct driver of deforestation worldwide. Forest clearing for cattle ranching is the single biggest cause of deforestation in the tropics.

EDIT

https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/california-sized-area-of-forest-lost-in-just-14-years/

[NNadir]

1. Don't worry, be happy.

The Myamar, Borneo and Sumatran forests were probably replaced by palm oil plantations.

They produce "renewable" biodiesel for German cars and trucks. Thus, they're green!!!!