Deforestation facts
Agricultural expansion, illegal logging, mining and urbanization continue to drive deforestation around the world.
Globally, forests are under threat — large-scale efforts are needed to protect these ecosystems and the many benefits they provide.
Share these facts about deforestation:
Fact 1: One Belgium, every year
According to satellite dataJump to references1, Jump to references2, from 2002 through 2019, global tropical forest loss averaged 3.36 million hectares (8.3 million acres) a year — an area larger than Belgium. Tweet this fact
Fact 2: Half gone
More than half the world’s tropical forests have been destroyed since the 1960s.Jump to references3 Tweet this fact
Fact 3: Every six seconds
In 2019, the world lost an entire soccer field worth of primary rainforest every six seconds.Jump to references4 Tweet this fact
Fact 4: Brazil under siege
Between 2001 and 2019, Brazil lost 565,000 square kilometers (218,148 square miles) of tree cover — an area larger than the state of California — to deforestation.Jump to references5 Tweet this fact
Fact 5: Forests fall in Ghana
Ghana saw a 60 percent spike in the loss of its primary forests between 2017 and 2018 — more than any other tropical country.Jump to references6 Tweet this fact
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Fact 6: 40% due to agriculture
Commercial agriculture — such as cattle ranching, soy cultivation and oil palm plantations — drives 40 percent of deforestation worldwide.Jump to references7 Mining, infrastructure and urbanization are also key culprits. Tweet this fact
Fact 7: 45 million jobs
Globally, the formal forest sector provides 45 million jobs and about US$ 580 billion in labor income.Jump to references Estimates are likely much higher if the informal forest sector is included. Tweet this fact
Fact 8: 1.6 billion people
Deforestation impacts 1.6 billion rural people worldwide who rely on forests for their livelihoodsJump to references3 — most live in extreme poverty. Tweet this fact
Fact 9: 12% of emissions
Forests release carbon dioxide when they are cleared or burnt. About 12 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestationJump to references8 — roughly equivalent to emissions from all the cars and trucks on Earth. Tweet this fact
Fact 10: Increasing pressure
By 2050, the global demand for food could double. Using existing farmland more efficiently could feed more people without clearing additional forests and wetlands.Jump to references9 Tweet this fact
Fact 11: What are the effects of deforestation?
Forests are vital for food, water and livelihoods — and they affect you, whether you know it or not. Read “Forest conservation: 14 things you need to know” to learn more. Tweet this fact
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References
- Global Forest Watch. Global Primary Forest Loss. Retrieved March, 2020, from https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/global
- Weisse, M. and Goldman, E.D. (2020, June 2). We Lost a Football Pitch of Primary Rainforest Every 6 Seconds in 2019. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/06/global-tree-cover-loss-data-2019
- International Union for Conservation of Nature. (2021, February). Deforestation and forest degradation. https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/deforestation-and-forest-degradation
- Global Forest Watch. (2020, June). We Lost a Football Pitch of Primary Rainforest Every 6 Seconds in 2019. https://blog.globalforestwatch.org/data-and-research/global-tree-cover-loss-data-2019/
- Global Forest Watch. Global Tree Cover Loss. Retrieved March, 2020, from https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/global
- Weisse, M. and Goldman, E.D. (2019, April 25). The World Lost a Belgium-sized Area of Primary Rainforests Last Year. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/04/world-lost-belgium-sized-area-primary-rainforests-last-year
- FAO and UNEP. 2020. The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8642en
- Brack, Duncan. (2019). Background Analytical Study: Forests and Climate Change. United Nations Forum on Forests. https://www.un.org/esa/forests/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/UNFF14-BkgdStudy-SDG13-March2019.pdf
- Tilman, D., Balzer, C., Hill, J., & Befort, B. L. (2011). Global food demand and the sustainable intensification of agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(50), 20260–20264. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1116437108