Editing Deforestation (section)

== Current status by continent, region, country ==

[[File:Annual-deforestation.svg|thumb|Annual deforestation]]
[[File:Annual-change-forest-area.svg|thumb|Annual change in forest area]]

The FAO estimates that the global forest carbon stock has decreased 0.9%, and tree cover 4.2% between 1990 and 2020.<ref name="FAO-2020">{{cite web|author = FAO|title= Global Forest Resources Assessment|url = http://www.fao.org/3/ca9825en/CA9825EN.pdf|year = 2020}}</ref>{{rp|16, 52}}
{|class="wikitable"
|+Changes in forest carbon stock by region<br/>Figures in gigatons<ref name="FAO-2020" />{{rp|52, table 43}}

!Region!!1990!!2020
|-
|Europe (including Russia)||style="text-align:right;"|158.7||style="text-align:right;"|172.4
|-
|North America||style="text-align:right;"|136.6||style="text-align:right;"|140.0
|-
|Africa||style="text-align:right;"|94.3||style="text-align:right;"|80.9
|-
|South and Southeast Asia combined||style="text-align:right;"|45.8||style="text-align:right;"|41.5
|-
|Oceania||style="text-align:right;"|33.4||style="text-align:right;"|33.1
|-
|Central America||style="text-align:right;"|5.0||style="text-align:right;"|4.1
|-
|South America||style="text-align:right;"|161.8||style="text-align:right;"|144.8
|}
As of 2019 there is still disagreement about whether the global forest is shrinking or not: "While above-ground biomass carbon stocks are estimated to be declining in the tropics, they are increasing globally due to increasing stocks in temperate and boreal forest.<ref>{{cite web|title=Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. Chapter 4. Land Degradation.|author=IPCC|date=2019a|url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2019/11/07_Chapter-4.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220131010/https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2019/11/07_Chapter-4.pdf|archive-date=2019-12-20|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|385}}

[[Deforestation by region|Deforestation in many countries]]—both naturally occurring<ref>{{Cite web|title=The causes of deforestation|url=http://www.eniscuola.net/en/argomento/rain-forest/deforestation/the-causes-of-deforestation/|access-date=2020-08-06|website=Eniscuola}}</ref> and [[human impact on the environment|human-induced]]—is an ongoing issue.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-11-24|title=The five: areas of deforestation|url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/24/the-five-areas-of-deforestation-amazon-ethiopia-siberia-papua-south-sudan|access-date=2020-06-05|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> Between 2000 and 2012, {{convert|2.3|e6km2|mi2|abbr=off}} of forests around the world were cut down.<ref name="nature1">[http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainforests/rainforests-facts.xml "Facts About Rainforests"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022034531/http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainforests/rainforests-facts.xml|date=22 October 2015}}. [[The Nature Conservancy]]. Retrieved 19 October 2015.</ref> Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, which contributes significantly to the ongoing [[loss of biodiversity]].<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" />

[[File:Land-use-of-different-diets-Poore-Nemecek.png|thumb|right|The amount of globally needed agricultural land would be reduced by three quarters if the entire population adopted a [[Veganism|vegan]] diet.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Poore|first1=J.|last2=Nemecek|first2=T.|title=Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers|journal=Science|date=1 June 2018|volume=360|issue=6392|pages=987–992|doi=10.1126/science.aaq0216|pmid=29853680|bibcode=2018Sci...360..987P|doi-access=free|issn=0036-8075 }}</ref>]]

Deforestation is more extreme in tropical and subtropical forests in emerging economies. More than half of all plant and land animal species in the world live in [[tropical forest]]s.<ref name="Rainforest Facts">[http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainforests/rainforests-facts.xml Rainforest Facts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022034531/http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainforests/rainforests-facts.xml|date=22 October 2015}}. Nature.org (1 November 2016). Retrieved 13 November 2016.</ref> As a result of deforestation, only {{convert|6.2|e6km2|e6mi2|abbr=off}} remain of the original {{convert|16|e6km2|e6mi2|abbr=off|sigfig=1}} of tropical rainforest that formerly covered the Earth.<ref name="nature1" /> More than 3.6 million hectares of virgin tropical forest was lost in 2018.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life. Scientists reveal 1 million species at risk of extinction in damning UN report] 6 May 2019 Guardian [https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yd8l2v0u4jqptp3/AACpraYjOYWpTxAFv5H-2vrKa/1%20Global%20Assessment%20Summary%20for%20Policymakers?dl=0&preview=Summary+for+Policymakers+IPBES+Global+Assessment.pdf&subfolder_nav_tracking=1]</ref>

The global annual net loss of trees is estimated to be approximately 10 billion.<ref>{{cite news|date=2 September 2015|title=Earth has 3 trillion trees but they're falling at alarming rate|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-science-trees-idUSKCN0R21Z620150902|access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Carrington|first1=Damian|date=4 July 2019|title=Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/04/planting-billions-trees-best-tackle-climate-crisis-scientists-canopy-emissions|access-date=26 May 2020|website=The Guardian}}</ref> According to the [[Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA)|Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020]] the global average annual deforested land in the 2015–2020 demi-decade was 10 million hectares and the average annual forest area net loss in the 2000–2010 decade was 4.7 million hectares.<ref name="GFRA2020" /> The world has lost 178 million ha of forest since 1990, which is an area about the size of Libya.<ref name="GFRA2020" />

An analysis of global deforestation patterns in 2021 showed that patterns of trade, production, and consumption drive deforestation rates in complex ways. While the location of deforestation can be mapped, it does not always match where the commodity is consumed. For example, consumption patterns in [[G7 countries]] are estimated to cause an average loss of 3.9 trees per person per year. In other words, deforestation can be directly related to imports—for example, coffee.<ref>{{cite news|date=29 March 2021|title=Average westerner's eating habits lead to loss of four trees every year|language=en|work=the Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/29/average-westerners-eating-habits-lead-to-loss-of-four-trees-every-year|access-date=19 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hoang|first1=Nguyen Tien|last2=Kanemoto|first2=Keiichiro|date=29 March 2021|title=Mapping the deforestation footprint of nations reveals growing threat to tropical forests|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01417-z|journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution|language=en|volume=5|issue=6|pages=845–853|doi=10.1038/s41559-021-01417-z|issn=2397-334X|pmid=33782576|bibcode=2021NatEE...5..845H|s2cid=232420306|access-date=19 April 2021}}</ref>

In 2023, the [[Global Forest Watch]] reported a 9% decline in tropical primary forest loss compared to the previous year, with significant regional reductions in [[Brazil]] and [[Colombia]] overshadowed by increases elsewhere, leading to a 3.2% rise in global deforestation. Massive wildfires in [[Canada]], exacerbated by [[climate change]], contributed to a 24% increase in global tree cover loss, highlighting the ongoing threats to forests essential for [[carbon storage]] and [[biodiversity]]. Despite some progress, the overall trends in forest destruction and climate impacts remain off track.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Spring|first=Jake|date=April 4, 2024|editor-last=Dunham|editor-first=Will|title=Tropical forest loss eased in 2023 but threats remain, analysis shows|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/tropical-forest-loss-eased-2023-threats-remain-analysis-shows-2024-04-04/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&utm_term=040424&user_email=6bc715b3fd56b766900ace1f93bf9c8b38d3b44d9557f041acbc54ed318c154f|access-date=4 April 2024|website=www.reuters.com}}</ref>

The [[IPCC Sixth Assessment Report]] stated in 2022: “Over 420 million ha of forest were lost to deforestation from 1990 to 2020; more than 90% of that loss took place in tropical areas (high confidence), threatening biodiversity, environmental services, livelihoods of forest communities and resilience to climate shocks (high confidence).”<ref>Ometto, J.P., K. Kalaba, G.Z. Anshari, N. Chacón, A. Farrell, S.A. Halim, H. Neufeldt, and R. Sukumar, 2022: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_CCP7.pdf CrossChapter Paper 7: Tropical Forests]. In: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/chapter/ccp7/ Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability]. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 2369–2410, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.024.</ref>

See also:
*[[Deforestation by continent]]
** {{in title|deforestation in}}
** {{in title|deforestation of}}
** {{in title|land clearing in}}

===Rates of deforestation===
{{multiple image
|total_width = 450
|image1 = 1700- Tropical rainforest and woodland loss - Int'l Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).svg
|caption1 = The period since 1950 has brought "the most rapid transformation of the human relationship with the natural world in the history of humankind".<ref name=IGBP_Steffen_2004>{{cite web|last1=Steffen|first1=Will|last2=Sanderson|first2=Angelina|last3=Tyson|first3=Peter|last4=Jäger|first4=Jill|last5=Matson|first5=Pamela|last6=Moore III|first6=Berrien|last7=Oldfield|first7=Frank|last8=Richardson|first8=Katherine|last9=Schellnhuber|first9=H. John|last10=Turner II|first10=B. L.|last11=Wasson|first11=Robert J.|display-authors=4|title=Global Change and the Climate System / A Planet Under Pressure|url=http://www.igbp.net/download/18.56b5e28e137d8d8c09380001694/1376383141875/SpringerIGBPSynthesisSteffenetal2004_web.pdf|publisher=International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319052247/http://www.igbp.net/download/18.56b5e28e137d8d8c09380001694/1376383141875/SpringerIGBPSynthesisSteffenetal2004_web.pdf|archive-date=19 March 2017|pages=131, 133|date=2004|quote=Fig. 3.67(j): loss of tropical rainforest and woodland, as estimated for tropical Africa, Latin America and South and Southeast Asia.|url-status=live}}</ref>
|image2= 8000 BCE+ Loss of forest and grassland to grazing and crops.svg|caption2= Through 2018, humans have reduced forest area by ~30% and grasslands/shrubs by ~68%, to make way for livestock grazing and crops for humans.<ref name=LandUseChange_8000BCE>{{cite web|title=Deforestation and Forest Loss / Humanity destroyed one third of the world's forests by expanding agricultural land|work=Our World in Data |date=4 February 2021 |url=https://ourworldindata.org/deforestation|publisher=Our World in Data (OWID)|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221107180838/https://ourworldindata.org/deforestation|archive-date=7 November 2022|quote=Data: Historical data on forests from Williams (2003) – Deforesting the Earth. Historical data on agriculture from The History Database of Global Environment (HYDE). Modern data from the FAO|url-status=live |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah }}</ref>
}}
Global deforestation<ref>Duke Press policy studies / Global deforestation and the nineteenth-century world economy / edited by Richard P. Tucker and J. F. Richards</ref> sharply accelerated around 1852.<ref name="Wilson">[[E. O. Wilson]], 2002, ''The Future of Life'', Vintage {{ISBN|0-679-76811-4}}.</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/jul/01/forests.conservation Map reveals extent of deforestation in tropical countries], guardian.co.uk, 1 July 2008.</ref> As of 1947, the planet had {{convert|15|to|16|e6km2|e6mi2|abbr=unit}} of mature [[tropical forest]]s,<ref name="worldbook">Maycock, Paul F. ''[http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/article?id=ar704660 Deforestation]{{Dead link|date=November 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}''. WorldBookOnline.</ref> but by 2015, it was estimated that about half of these had been destroyed.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nunez|first=Christina|date=7 February 2019|title=Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117004102/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 January 2017|access-date=2020-06-02|website=National Geographic|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Rainforest Facts" /><ref name="Nielsen">Ron Nielsen, ''The Little Green Handbook: Seven Trends Shaping the Future of Our Planet'', Picador, New York (2006) {{ISBN|978-0-312-42581-4}}.</ref> Total land coverage by tropical rainforests decreased from 14% to 6%. Much of this loss happened between 1960 and 1990, when 20% of all tropical rainforests were destroyed. At this rate, extinction of such forests is projected to occur by the mid-21st century.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

In the early 2000s, some scientists predicted that unless significant measures (such as seeking out and protecting old growth forests that have not been disturbed)<ref name="worldbook" /> are taken on a worldwide basis, by 2030 there will only be 10% remaining,<ref name="Wilson" /><ref name="Nielsen" /> with another 10% [[degraded forest|in a degraded condition]].<ref name="Wilson" /> 80% will have been lost, and with them hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable species.<ref name="Wilson" />

Estimates vary widely as to the extent of deforestation in the tropics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f-LfXBOL_7sC&pg=PA270|title=Tropical Rainforests and Agroforests Under Global Change|publisher=Springer|year=2010|isbn=978-3-642-00492-6|editor=Teja Tscharntke|pages=270–271|editor2=Christoph Leuschner|editor3=Edzo Veldkamp|editor4=Heiko Faust|editor5=Edi Guhardja}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite report|url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/land-use-land-use-change-and-forestry/|title=Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry|last1=Watson|first1=Robert T.|last2=Noble|first2=Ian R.|date=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|last3=Bolin|first3=Bert|last4=Ravindranath|first4=N. H.|last5=Verardo|first5=David J.|last6=Dokken|first6=David J.}}</ref> In 2019, the world lost nearly 12 million hectares of tree cover. Nearly a third of that loss, 3.8 million hectares, occurred within humid tropical primary forests, areas of mature rainforest that are especially important for biodiversity and carbon storage. This is equivalent to losing an area of primary forest the size of a football pitch every six seconds.<ref name="Guy-2020">{{Cite web|last1=Guy|first1=Jack|last2=Ehlinger|first2=Maija|date=2 June 2020|title=The world lost a football pitch-sized area of tropical forest every six seconds in 2019|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/world/tropical-forest-six-seconds-scli-intl/index.html|access-date=2020-06-02|website=CNN}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Weisse|first1=Mikaela|last2=Goldman|first2=Elizabeth Dow|date=2020-06-02|title=We Lost a Football Pitch of Primary Rainforest Every 6 Seconds in 2019|url=https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/06/global-tree-cover-loss-data-2019|language=en|access-date=2020-06-04|website=World Resources Institute}}</ref>

==== Rates of change ====
[[File:1990- Average annual forest area net change, globally, and by region and decade.svg|thumb|In decades since 1990, South America and Africa have shown the greatest loss of forest area, with global net loss in the 2010s still about 60% of the 1990s value.<ref name=FAO_2020>{{cite book |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment / 2020 / Key findings|url=https://www.fao.org/3/ca8753en/ca8753en.pdf |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |pages=2, 3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922053533/https://www.fao.org/3/ca8753en/ca8753en.pdf |archive-date=22 September 2023 |doi=10.4060/ca8753en |date=2020 |isbn=978-92-5-132581-0 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
{{multiple image
|align = right
|direction = horizontal
|total_width = 450
|image1 = 20210331 Global tree cover loss - World Resources Institute.svg
|caption1 = The rate of global tree cover loss has approximately doubled since 2001, to an annual loss approaching an area the size of Italy.<ref name=Mongabay_WRI>{{cite news|last1=Butler|first1=Rhett A.|title=Global forest loss increases in 2020|url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/global-forest-loss-increases-in-2020-but-pandemics-impact-unclear/|work=Mongabay|date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401022404/https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/global-forest-loss-increases-in-2020-but-pandemics-impact-unclear/|archive-date=1 April 2021|url-status=live}} ● Data from {{cite web |title=Indicators of Forest Extent / Forest Loss |url=https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-extent-indicators/forest-loss |publisher=World Resources Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527180607/https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-extent-indicators/forest-loss |archive-date=27 May 2024  |date=4 April 2024 |url-status=live }} Chart in section titled "Annual rates of global tree cover loss have risen since 2000".</ref>
|image2 = 2002- Tropical primary forest loss - annual - World Resources Institute.svg
|caption2 = Loss of [[Old-growth forest|primary (old-growth)]] forest in the tropics has continued its upward trend, with fire-related losses contributing an increasing portion.<ref name=WRI_20220428>{{cite web|title=Forest Pulse: The Latest on the World's Forests|url=https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends|website=WRI.org|publisher=World Resources Institute|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627150528/https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends|archive-date=27 June 2023|date=June 2023|url-status=live}} ● 2022 Global Forest Watch data quoted by {{cite news|last1=McGrath|first1=Matt|last2=Poynting|first2=Mark|title=Climate change: Deforestation surges despite pledges|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66013854|agency=BBC|date=27 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629065610/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66013854|archive-date=29 June 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

A 2002 analysis of satellite imagery suggested that the rate of deforestation in the humid tropics (approximately 5.8 million hectares per year) was roughly 23% lower than the most commonly quoted rates.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Achard|first1=F|last2=Eva|first2=H. D.|last3=Stibig|first3=H. J.|last4=Mayaux|first4=P|last5=Gallego|first5=J|last6=Richards|first6=T|last7=Malingreau|first7=J. P.|year=2002|title=Determination of deforestation rates of the world's humid tropical forests|url=http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC23428|journal=Science|volume=297|issue=5583|pages=999–1003|bibcode=2002Sci...297..999A|doi=10.1126/science.1070656|pmid=12169731|s2cid=46315941}}</ref> A 2005 report by the United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO) estimated that although the Earth's total forest area continued to decrease at about 13 million hectares per year, the global rate of deforestation had been slowing.<ref name="pantropical">{{cite web|title=Pan-tropical Survey of Forest Cover Changes 1980–2000|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y1997e/y1997e1f.htm|work=Forest Resources Assessment|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)|location=Rome, Italy}}</ref><ref>[http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/MEETING/003/X9591E.HTM Committee On Forestry]. FAO (16 March 2001). Retrieved 29 August 2010.</ref> On the other hand, a 2005 analysis of satellite images reveals that [[deforestation of the Amazon rainforest]] is twice as fast as scientists previously estimated.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jha|first=Alok|date=21 October 2005|title=Amazon rainforest vanishing at twice rate of previous estimates|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2005/oct/21/brazil.conservationandendangeredspecies}}</ref><ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1021/p04s01-sten.html Satellite images reveal Amazon forest shrinking faster], csmonitor.com, 21 October 2005.</ref>

From 2010 to 2015, worldwide forest area decreased by 3.3 million ha per year, according to [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]]. During this five-year period, the biggest forest area loss occurred in the tropics, particularly in South America and Africa. Per capita forest area decline was also greatest in the tropics and subtropics but is occurring in every climatic domain (except in the temperate) as populations increase.<ref>FAO. 2016. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015. How are the world’s forests changing?</ref>

An estimated 420 million ha of forest has been lost worldwide through deforestation since 1990, but the rate of forest loss has declined substantially. In the most recent five-year period (2015–2020), the annual rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million ha, down from 12 million ha in 2010–2015.<ref name="GFRA2020" />

{{multiple image
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|direction = horizontal
|total_width = 450
|image3 = 2021 Top ten countries for tropical primary forest loss - World Resources Institute.svg
|caption3 = Home to much of the [[Amazon rainforest]], Brazil's tropical [[Old-growth forest|primary (old-growth)]] forest loss greatly exceeds that of other countries.<ref name=WRI_20240404>● 2021 data: {{cite web|title=Forest Pulse: The Latest on the World's Forests|url=https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends |website=WRI.org |publisher=World Resources Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627150528/https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends|archive-date=27 June 2023 |date=June 2023 |url-status=live}}<br>● 2022 and 2023 data: {{cite web |title=Forest Pulse: The Latest on the World's Forests |url=https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends |publisher=World Resources Institute / Global Forest Review |website=WRI.org |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240404205336/https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends |archive-date=4 April 2024 |date=4 April 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|image4 = 20220910 Amazon deforestation and degradation, by country - Amazon Watch.svg
|caption4 = Overall, 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been "transformed" (deforested) and another 6% has been "highly degraded", causing Amazon Watch to warn that the Amazonia is in the midst of a tipping point crisis.<ref name=AmazonWatch_202209>{{cite web|title=Amazon Against the Clock: A Regional Assessment on Where and How to Protect 80% by 2025|url=https://amazonwatch.org/assets/files/2022-amazonia-against-the-clock-executive-summary.pdf|website=Amazon Watch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910025229/https://amazonwatch.org/assets/files/2022-amazonia-against-the-clock-executive-summary.pdf|archive-date=10 September 2022|page=8|date=September 2022|quote=Graphic 2: Current State of the Amazon by country, by percentage / Source: RAISG (Red Amazónica de Información Socioambiental Georreferenciada) Elaborated by authors.|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

Africa had the largest annual rate of net forest loss in 2010–2020, at 3.9 million ha, followed by South America, at 2.6 million ha. The rate of net forest loss has increased in Africa in each of the three decades since 1990. It has declined substantially in South America, however, to about half the rate in 2010–2020 compared with 2000–2010. Asia had the highest net gain of forest area in 2010–2020, followed by Oceania and Europe. Nevertheless, both Europe and Asia recorded substantially lower rates of net gain in 2010–2020 than in 2000–2010. Oceania experienced net losses of forest area in the decades 1990–2000 and 2000–2010.<ref name="GFRA2020" />

Some claim that rainforests are being destroyed at an ever-quickening pace.<ref>[http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4521 Worldwatch: Wood Production and Deforestation Increase & Recent Content] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025184730/http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4521|date=25 October 2008}}, [[Worldwatch Institute]]</ref> The London-based Rainforest Foundation notes that "the UN figure is based on a definition of forest as being an area with as little as 10% actual tree cover, which would therefore include areas that are actually savanna-like ecosystems and badly damaged forests".<ref name="Butler">{{cite web|author=Butler, Rhett A.|date=16 November 2005|title=World deforestation rates and forest cover statistics, 2000–2005|url=http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1115-forests.html|work=mongabay.com}}</ref> Other critics of the FAO data point out that they do not distinguish between forest types,<ref>The fear is that highly diverse habitats, such as tropical rainforest, are vanishing at a faster rate that is partly masked by the slower deforestation of less biodiverse, dry, open forests. Because of this omission, the most harmful impacts of deforestation (such as habitat loss) could be increasing despite a possible decline in the global rate of deforestation.</ref> and that they are based largely on reporting from [[forestry]] departments of individual countries,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Remote sensing versus self-reporting|url=http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0629-deforestation.html}}</ref> which do not take into account unofficial activities like illegal logging.<ref>The World Bank estimates that 80% of logging operations are illegal in [[Bolivia]] and 42% in [[Colombia]], while in [[Peru]], illegal logging accounts for 80% of all logging activities. (World Bank (2004). ''Forest Law Enforcement''.) (The Peruvian Environmental Law Society (2003). ''Case Study on the Development and Implementation of Guidelines for the Control of Illegal Logging with a View to Sustainable Forest Management in Peru''.)</ref> Despite these uncertainties, there is agreement that destruction of rainforests remains a significant environmental problem.

The rate of net forest loss declined from 7.8 million ha per year in the decade 1990–2000 to 5.2 million ha per year in 2000–2010 and 4.7 million ha per year in 2010–2020. The rate of decline of net forest loss slowed in the most recent decade due to a reduction in the rate of forest expansion.<ref name="GFRA2020" />

==== Reforestation and afforestation ====
{{Main|Reforestation|Afforestation}}

In many parts of the world, especially in East Asian countries, [[reforestation]] and [[afforestation]] are increasing the area of forested lands.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Foley|first1=J. A.|last2=Defries|first2=R|last3=Asner|first3=G. P.|last4=Barford|first4=C|last5=Bonan|first5=G|last6=Carpenter|first6=S. R.|last7=Chapin|first7=F. S.|last8=Coe|first8=M. T.|last9=Daily|first9=G. C.|last10=Gibbs|first10=H. K.|last11=Helkowski|first11=J. H.|last12=Holloway|first12=T|last13=Howard|first13=E. A.|last14=Kucharik|first14=C. J.|last15=Monfreda|first15=C|year=2005|title=Global Consequences of Land Use|url=http://rcin.org.pl/Content/31092|journal=Science|volume=309|issue=5734|pages=570–574|bibcode=2005Sci...309..570F|doi=10.1126/science.1111772|pmid=16040698|s2cid=5711915|last16=Patz|first16=J. A.|last17=Prentice|first17=I. C.|last18=Ramankutty|first18=N|last19=Snyder|first19=P. K.}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> The amount of forest has increased in 22 of the world's 50 most forested nations. Asia as a whole gained 1 million [[hectare]]s of forest between 2000 and 2005. Tropical forest in El Salvador expanded more than 20% between 1992 and 2001. Based on these trends, one study projects that global forestation will increase by 10%—an area the size of India—by 2050.<ref name="Owen">James Owen, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170907212622/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/061113-forests.html "World's Forests Rebounding, Study Suggests"]. ''National Geographic News'', 13 November 2006.</ref> 36% of globally planted forest area is in [[East Asia]] – around 950,000 square kilometers. From those 87% are in China.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Abbasi|first1=Akane O.|last2=Tang|first2=Xiaolu|last3=Harris|first3=Nancy L.|last4=Goldman|first4=Elizabeth D.|last5=Gamarra|first5=Javier G. P.|last6=Herold|first6=Martin|last7=Kim|first7=Hyun Seok|last8=Luo|first8=Weixue|last9=Silva|first9=Carlos Alberto|last10=Tchebakova|first10=Nadezhda M.|last11=Mitra|first11=Ankita|last12=Finegold|first12=Yelena|last13=Jahanshahi|first13=Mohammad Reza|last14=Alvarez|first14=Cesar Ivan|last15=Kim|first15=Tae Kyung|date=22 July 2023|title=Spatial database of planted forests in East Asia|journal=Scientific Data|volume=10|issue=1|page=480|doi=10.1038/s41597-023-02383-w|pmc=10363164|pmid=37481639|last16=Ryu|first16=Daun|last17=Liang|first17=Jingjing|bibcode=2023NatSD..10..480A}}</ref>

=== Status by region ===
{{Main|Deforestation by continent}}

Rates of deforestation vary around the world. Up to 90% of [[West Africa]]'s coastal rainforests have disappeared since 1900.<ref>{{cite web|title=Forest Holocaust|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestation/effect.html|work=National Geographic|access-date=16 October 2008|archive-date=22 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422132805/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestation/effect.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Madagascar]] has lost 90% of its eastern rainforests.<ref>[http://www.iucn.org/where/global/index.cfm?uNewsID=87 IUCN – Three new sites inscribed on World Heritage List] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114052147/http://www.iucn.org/where/global/index.cfm?uNewsID=87|date=14 January 2009}}, 27 June 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Madagascar's rainforest map|url=https://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/1717/17173001.jpg|work=New Scientist|access-date=26 August 2017|archive-date=20 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920083715/https://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/1717/17173001.jpg|url-status=dead}}</ref> In [[South Asia]], about 88% of the rainforests have been lost.<ref>{{cite web|title=THE SIZE OF THE RAINFORESTS|url=http://www.csupomona.edu/~admckettrick/projects/ag101_project/html/size.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930064512/http://www.csupomona.edu/~admckettrick/projects/ag101_project/html/size.html|archive-date=30 September 2012|publisher=csupomona.edu}}</ref>

[[Mexico]], [[India]], the [[Philippines]], [[Deforestation in Indonesia|Indonesia]], [[Thailand]], [[Myanmar|Burma]], [[Deforestation in Malaysia|Malaysia]], [[Bangladesh]], China, [[Deforestation in Sri Lanka|Sri Lanka]], [[Laos]], [[Nigeria]], the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Liberia]], [[Guinea]], [[Ghana]] and the [[Ivory Coast]], have lost large areas of their rainforest.<ref>[http://www.mongabay.com/deforestation_rate_tables.htm Chart – Tropical Deforestation by Country & Region]. Mongabay.com. Retrieved 4 December 2011.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090205200836/http://rainforestweb.org/Rainforest_Destruction/ Rainforest Destruction]. rainforestweb.org</ref>
[[File:Amazon fire satellite image.png|thumb|[[Earth observation satellite#Environmental monitoring|Satellite imagery]] of locations of the [[2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires]] as detected by [[MODIS]] from August 15 to August 22, 2019]]
[[File:Pichincha1a.jpg|thumb|Deforestation in [[Ecuador]].]]

Much of what remains of the world's rainforests is in the [[Amazon basin]], where the [[Amazon Rainforest]] covers approximately 4 million square kilometres.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A925913 The Amazon Rainforest], BBC, 14 February 2003.</ref> Some 80% of the deforestation of the Amazon can be attributed to cattle ranching,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Schlanger|first1=Zoë|last2=Wolfe|first2=Daniel|date=21 August 2019|title=The fires in the Amazon were likely set intentionally|work=[[Quartz (publication)|Quartz]]|url=https://qz.com/1692804/fires-in-the-amazon-rainforests-were-likely-intentional|access-date=22 August 2019}}</ref> as Brazil is the largest exporter of beef in the world.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mackintosh|first=Eliza|date=23 August 2019|title=The Amazon is burning because the world eats so much meat|work=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/23/americas/brazil-beef-amazon-rainforest-fire-intl/index.html|access-date=23 August 2019}}</ref> The Amazon region has become one of the largest cattle ranching territories in the world.<ref>{{cite news|last=Liotta|first=Edoardo|date=23 August 2019|title=Feeling Sad About the Amazon Fires? Stop Eating Meat|work=[[Vice Media|Vice]]|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/feeling-sad-about-the-amazon-fires-stop-eating-meat/|access-date=30 August 2019}}</ref> The regions with the highest tropical deforestation rate between 2000 and 2005 were [[Central America]]—which lost 1.3% of its forests each year—and tropical Asia.<ref name="Butler" /> In [[Central America]], two-thirds of lowland tropical forests have been turned into pasture since 1950 and 40% of all the rainforests have been lost in the last 40 years.<ref name="ru.org">{{cite web|author=Revington, John|title=The Causes of Tropical Deforestation|url=http://www.ru.org/ecology-and-environment/the-causes-of-tropical-deforestation.html|work=New Renaissance Magazine|access-date=17 October 2008|archive-date=27 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627031547/http://www.ru.org/ecology-and-environment/the-causes-of-tropical-deforestation.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Brazil]] has lost 90–95% of its [[Mata Atlântica]] forest.<ref>{{cite web|title=What is Deforestation?|url=http://kids.mongabay.com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/deforestation.html|work=kids.mongabay.com}}</ref> [[Deforestation in Brazil]] increased by 88% for the month of June 2019, as compared with the previous year.<ref>{{cite news|date=3 July 2019|title=Brazil registers huge spike in Amazon deforestation|work=Deutsche Welle|url=https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-registers-huge-spike-in-amazon-deforestation/a-49462773}}</ref> However, Brazil still destroyed 1.3 million hectares in 2019.<ref name="Guy-2020" /> [[Deforestation in Brazil|Brazil]] is one of several countries that have declared their deforestation a national emergency.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/environment/2008-01-24-brazil-amazon_N.htm Amazon deforestation rises sharply in 2007], USATODAY.com, 24 January 2008.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Vidal|first=John|date=31 May 2005|title=Rainforest loss shocks Brazil|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/brazil/story/0,,1488468,00.html|access-date=1 April 2010}}</ref> 
[[Paraguay]] was losing its natural semi-humid forests in the country's western regions at a rate of 15,000 hectares at a randomly studied 2-month period in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=Paraguay es principal deforestador del Chaco|url=http://www.abc.com.py/nota/103480-Paraguay-es-principal-deforestador-del-Chaco|access-date=13 August 2011|work=ABC Color newspaper, Paraguay}}{{Dead link|date=August 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> In 2009, Paraguay's parliament refused to pass a law that would have stopped cutting of natural forests altogether.<ref>{{cite web|title=Paraguay farmland|url=http://www.ventacamposparaguay.com/farmland.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918031615/http://www.ventacamposparaguay.com/farmland.html|archive-date=18 September 2012|access-date=13 August 2011}}</ref>

As of 2007, [[Deforestation in Haiti|less than 50% of Haiti's forests remained]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Haiti Is Covered with Trees|url=http://www.envirosociety.org/2016/05/haiti-is-covered-with-trees/|access-date=14 November 2016|website=EnviroSociety|date=19 May 2016|publisher=Tarter, Andrew}}</ref>

From 2015 to 2019, the rate of [[deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo|deforestation]] in the Democratic Republic of the Congo doubled.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49679883|title=World 'losing battle against deforestation'|last=Kinver|first=Mark|date=2019-09-12|work=BBC News}}</ref> In 2021, deforestation of the [[Congolian rainforests|Congolese rainforest]] increased by 5%.<ref>{{cite news|title=Analysis: The next Amazon? Congo Basin faces rising deforestation threat|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/next-amazon-congo-basin-faces-rising-deforestation-threat-2022-11-11/|work=Reuters|date=11 November 2022}}</ref>

The [[World Wildlife Fund]]'s [[ecoregion]] project catalogues habitat types throughout the world, including habitat loss such as deforestation, showing for example that even in the rich forests of parts of [[Canada]] such as the [[Mid-Continental Canadian forests]] of the prairie provinces half of the forest cover has been lost or altered.

In 2011, [[Conservation International]] listed the top 10 most endangered forests, characterized by having all lost 90% or more of their original [[habitat]], and each harboring at least 1500 [[Endemism|endemic]] plant species (species found nowhere else in the world).<ref name="ci2011">{{cite web|date=February 2, 2011|title=The World's 10 Most Threatened Forest Hotspots|url=http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/The-Worlds-10-Most-Threatened-Forest-Hotspots.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205040801/http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/The-Worlds-10-Most-Threatened-Forest-Hotspots.aspx|archive-date=February 5, 2011|website=Conservation.org|publisher=Conservation International}}</ref>

{{As of|2015}}, it is estimated that 70% of the world's forests are within one kilometer of a forest edge, where they are most prone to human interference and destruction.<ref name="IPCC_AR6" /><ref name="Haddad2015">{{cite journal|doi=10.1126/sciadv.1500052|title=Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth's ecosystems|author1=Nick M. Haddad|author2=Lars A. Brudvig|author3=Jean Clobert|display-authors=et al.|date=2015|journal=Science Advances|volume=1|issue=2|pages=e1500052|pmid=26601154|pmc=4643828|bibcode=2015SciA....1E0052H}}</ref>

:{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Top 10 Most Endangered Forests in 2011<ref name="ci2011" />
|-
! Endangered forest
! Region
! Remaining habitat
! Predominate vegetation type
! Notes
|-
|[[Indo-Burma]]
|Asia-Pacific
|5%
|[[Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests]]
|Rivers, floodplain wetlands, mangrove forests. [[Myanmar|Burma]], [[Thailand]], [[Laos]], [[Vietnam]], [[Deforestation in Cambodia|Cambodia]], [[India]].<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/indo_burma/Pages/default.aspx Indo-Burma], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[New Caledonia]]
|Asia-Pacific
|5%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|See note for region covered.<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/new_caledonia/Pages/default.aspx New Caledonia], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Sundaland]]
|Asia-Pacific
|7%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|Western half of the Indo-Malayan archipelago including southern [[Deforestation in Borneo|Borneo]] and [[Sumatra]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070714080542/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/sundaland/Pages/default.aspx Sundaland], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Philippines]]
|Asia-Pacific
|7%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|Forests over the entire country including 7,100 islands.<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/philippines/Pages/default.aspx Philippines], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Atlantic Forest]]
|South America
|8%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|Forests along [[Brazil]]'s Atlantic coast, extends to parts of [[Paraguay]], [[Argentina]] and [[Uruguay]].<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/atlantic_forest/Pages/default.aspx Atlantic Forest] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111212005601/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/atlantic_forest/Pages/default.aspx|date=12 December 2011}}, Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|Mountains of Southwest China
|Asia-Pacific
|8%
|[[Temperate coniferous forest]]
|See note for region covered.<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/china/Pages/default.aspx Mountains of Southwest China], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[California Floristic Province]]
|North America
|10%
|[[Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests]]
|See note for region covered.<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/california_floristic/Pages/default.aspx California Floristic Province] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414053932/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/california_floristic/Pages/default.aspx|date=14 April 2011}}, Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa]]
|Africa
|10%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|[[Mozambique]], [[Tanzania]], [[Kenya]], [[Somalia]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070714051028/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/coastal_forests/Pages/default.aspx Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Madagascar]] & Indian Ocean Islands
|Africa
|10%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|[[Madagascar]], [[Mauritius]], [[Reunion (island)|Reunion]], [[Seychelles]], [[Comoros]].<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/madagascar/Pages/default.aspx Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Eastern Afromontane]]
|Africa
|11%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests<br />[[Montane grasslands and shrublands]]
|Forests scattered along the eastern edge of Africa, from [[Saudi Arabia]] in the north to [[Zimbabwe]] in the south.<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/afromontane/Pages/default.aspx Eastern Afromontane], Conservation International.</ref>
|}

===By country===
Deforestation in particular countries:

{{World topic|Deforestation in|title=Deforestation by country|noredlinks=yes|state=expanded}}