Deforestation

Unique identifier / Notation

EN0009

Synonyms

None.

Deforestation is the conversion of forest to other land use independently of whether human-induced or not (FAO, 2020).

Primary reference(s)

FAO, 2020. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020. Terms and Definitions FRA 2020. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Forest Resources Assessment Working Paper No. 188. Accessed 19 October 2020.

Additional scientific description

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has monitored the world’s forests at 5 to 10 year intervals since 1946. The recent Global Forest Resources Assessments have been produced every five years in an attempt to provide a consistent approach to describing the world’s forests and how they are changing (FAO, 2020a).

Deforestation includes the permanent reduction of the tree canopy cover below the minimum 10% threshold. It also includes areas of forest converted to agriculture, pasture, water reservoirs, mining and urban areas. The term specifically excludes areas where the trees have been removed as a result of harvesting or logging, and where the forest is expected to regenerate naturally or with the aid of silvicultural measures. The term also includes areas where, for example, the impact of disturbance, over-utilisation or changing environmental conditions affects the forest to an extent that it cannot sustain a canopy cover above the 10% threshold (FAO, 2020b).

Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates and contribute significantly to the ongoing loss of biodiversity (FAO and UNEP, 2020). Since 1990, it is estimated that 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses, although the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past three decades (FAO, 2020a).

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 (FAO, 2020a).

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% of tropical deforestation between 2000 and 2010, and local subsistence agriculture for another 33% (FAO and UNEP, 2020).

Metrics and numeric limits

Deforestation area expressed in thousand hectares per year for the following periods: 1990–2000, 2000–2010, 2010–2015 and 2015–2020 (FAO, 2020a).

The data for the Global Forest Resources assessment are collected using an online tool that also serves as a data dissemination platform. All data countries and territories reported to Forest Resources Assessment 2020 are available (FAO, no date).

Key relevant UN convention / multilateral treaty

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): Established in 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993, the convention has three main objectives: the conservation of biological diversity; the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity; and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources (CBD, 1992).

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Negotiated from February 1991 to May 1992, the Convention entered into force on 21 March 1994. It seeks to reduce atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, with the aim of preventing dangerous anthropogenic interference with the Earth’s climate system. At the Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris, on 12 December 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future (UNFCCC, 2015).

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Established in 1994, this Convention is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found (UNCDD, 2017).

Examples of drivers, outcomes and risk management

Agricultural expansion is the main driver of deforestation and forest fragmentation and the associated loss of forest biodiversity. In the tropical domain, net annual loss of forest area from 2000 to 2010 was about 7 million hectares, and net annual increase in agricultural land area was more than 6 million hectares. There were significant regional variations: Central and South America, sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia all had net losses of forest and net gains in agricultural land. In tropical and subtropical countries, large-scale commercial agriculture and subsistence agriculture accounted for 73% of deforestation, with significant regional variations. For example, commercial agriculture accounted for almost 70% of deforestation in Latin America but for only one-third in Africa, where small-scale agriculture is a more significant driver (FAO and UNEP, 2020).

In economic terms, the tropical forests destroyed each year represent a loss in forest capital valued at USD 45 billion. By destroying the forests, all potential future revenues and future employment that could be derived from their sustainable management for timber and non-timber products disappear (FAO, 2007).

Creation of protected areas has historically been the forest governance instrument most often adopted to pursue biodiversity protection objectives. This approach has achieved positive results in terms of conserving species and establishing barriers to the progress of deforestation (FAO and UNEP, 2020).

It is considered that agri-businesses should meet their commitments to deforestation-free commodity chains and those 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 (FAO and UNEP, 2020).