While deforestation appears to be on the decline in some countries, it remains disturbingly high in others-including Brazil and Indonesia-and a grave threat to our world’s most valuable forests still remains. WWF works with governments, companies, communities and other stakeholders to promote certification for responsible forest management practices, combat illegal logging, reform trade policies, protect forested areas, and more.ĭeforestation can happen quickly, such as when a fire sweeps through the landscape or the forest is clear-cut to make way for an oil palm plantation. WWF has been working to protect forests for more than 50 years. Deforestation in this region is particularly rampant near more populated areas, roads and rivers, but even remote areas have been encroached upon when valuable mahogany, gold, and oil are discovered. For example, in the Amazon around 17% of the forest has been lost in the last 50 years, mostly due to forest conversion for cattle ranching. In 2019, the tropics lost close to 30 soccer fields' worth of trees every single minute.ĭeforestation is a particular concern in tropical rain forests because these forests are home to much of the world’s biodiversity. The main cause of deforestation is agriculture (poorly planned infrastructure is emerging as a big threat too) and the main cause of forest degradation is illegal logging. The threats manifest themselves in the form of deforestation and forest degradation.

Forests also play a critical role in mitigating climate change because they act as a carbon sink-soaking up carbon dioxide that would otherwise be free in the atmosphere and contribute to ongoing changes in climate patterns.īut forests around the world are under threat, jeopardizing these benefits. Forests are home to more than three-quarters of the world’s life on land. They help people thrive and survive by, for example, purifying water and air and providing people with jobs some 13.2 million people across the world have a job in the forest sector and another 41 million have a job that is related to the sector. Forests cover 31% of the land area on our planet.

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