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The tropical forest and its biodiversity are disappearing at an alarming rate

Among other major functions, forests play a vital role in preserving biodiversity on Earth. Yet their deforestation and degradation continue to continue at an alarming rate. Today more than ever, conservation institutions and organizations are calling for action to avoid the irreparable.

To date, forests occupy approximately 31% of the earth's surface (4.06 billion hectares) and host most of the biodiversity earthly. It is therefore worrying to read that 420 million hectares of forest have been lost since 1990 due to human activity. Between 2015 and 2020, it is estimated that the rate of deforestation amounts to 10 million hectares per year. It is certainly 6 million hectares less than in 1990, but these figures will have to be considerably improved in order to avoid the catastrophe.

Endangered forests and biodiversity

" The deforestation and forest degradation continues at an alarming rate, which contributes significantly to the current decline in biodiversity ", underlines QU Dongyu, Director General of the Food and Food Organization of the United NationsAgriculture ((FAO). The primary cause of this eradication of forests remains industrial agriculture, mainly dedicated to the production of food for livestock and the cultivation of soy and palm: between 2000 and 2010, it was responsible for 40% of tropical deforestation. Local agriculture, on the other hand, contributed 33%.

Together, FAO and the United Nations have produced a new report reporting on the current forest situation, and supporting the need to act now to protect the forest biodiversity. With every million hectares of forest disappearing, there are countless cash plant, animal and fungal species that are dying out, while others are forced to evolve on an ever smaller territory, which leads to increased competition for the survival of species.

Of the 20,334 species oftrees listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 8,056 are threatened, of which 1,400 are close to theextinction. From vascular plants, 21% of the species are threatened. The forests also host 80% of the species ofamphibians, 75% of birds, 68% of mammals and most of insects. It is estimated that there are also several million species of mushrooms, some of which form the forest nervous system, allowing the exchange of signals and nutrients between the trees.

Protection duty

Forests around the world provide oxygen, protection, food, energy, beauty and many other benefits: 90% of people living in extreme poverty currently depend on forests to survive, while these generate tens of millions of jobs.

To continue to preserve these precious territories, the FAO and the United Nations advocate going far beyond the multiplication of natural reserves, by modifying the way we manage forests. " It is imperative that we separate environmental degradation and unsustainable resources from economic growth, and the associated patterns of production and consumption "Says FAO on his site. The agricultural and food production sectors are likely to be the first to have to change their practices.

" A realistic balance needs to be found between conservation objectives on the one hand and local resource needs which create jobs and well-being on the other. This requires effective governance, integrated policies for interrelated issues, tenure security, respect for the rights and knowledge of local communities and native, and increased monitoring of impacts on biodiversity. An ambitious program for these vast expanses that we cannot do without.

The world lost 12 million hectares of rainforest in 2018

AFP-Relaxnews article, published on April 26, 2019

The tropical forest is the most diverse of the natural habitats that exist on our planet. But in recent years, its trees have been felled for the benefit of the industry. wood or palm oil production, from cane to sugar or soy. And according to the latest report from Global Forest Watch (GFW), in matter deforestation, 2018 ranks as the fourth worst year.

It was in 2001 that Global Forest Watch (GFW) – a project supported by World Resources Institute (WRI), which is based in particular on satellite data – has started to map the decline of the world's forests. And his latest study shows that the destruction of tropical forests continued in 2018 at a sustained pace. According to the data, "The tropical regions lost, last year, 12 million hectares of tree cover", an area equivalent to that of Nicaragua.

After 2016, 2017 and 2014, 2018 thus appears to be the fourth worst year in terms of deforestation. "The disappearance of 3.6 million hectares of primary tropical forest, an area the size of Belgium, is particularly worrying", underlines GFW in its report. Because these forests "Constitute a ecosystem extremely important forest, containing trees that can reach hundreds or even thousands of years ”, recalls GFW. "They store more carbon than other forests and are irreplaceable for preserve biodiversity. "

The destruction of primary tropical forest is concentrated in five countries: Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Colombia and Bolivia. The report is also alarmed by the situation in Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world. A country that has lost "2% of its primary tropical forest in 2018, a proportion higher than that of any other tropical country". And GFW also points to the acceleration of the destruction of primary tropical forest in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire between 2017 and 2018.

Reasons to worry

The report highlights that in 2002, Brazil and Indonesia accounted for 71% of the losses tropical forests primary, and that they represent only 46% in 2018. Last year, “The loss of primary forest in Indonesia reached its lowest rate since 2003, continuing an encouraging decline that began in 2017”. This trend is explained by " recent government policies », for example with forest areas protected by a moratorium. The country also benefited from wet weather, "Preventing a season of Forest fires intense ". But the situation could change in 2019 with the phenomenon El Niño "Which will usually result in dry conditions and an extended forest fire season in Indonesia".

In Brazil, the loss of primary forest remains high, worries GFW. “Part of the 2018 loss can be attributed to forest fires, but it appears to be largely due to clear cuts in the Amazon, jeopardizing the drop in deforestation that the country experienced in the early 2000s ". And the situation could get even worse, because according to the NGO Imazon, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 54% in January 2019 compared to January 2018.

"It is still too early to assess how the weakening of environmental laws and their application under the new administration of Brazil ((Editor's note : a new president took office at the start of the year) will affect forest loss ", comments for its part GFW. The Brazilian president has indeed announced that he would put mining and agricultural interests first before protecting the environment.

In Colombia, finally, the acceleration of the loss of primary forest is explained by the peace agreement concluded with the Revolutionary Armed Forces: "Areas of the Amazon previously occupied by the FARC have opened up to development"says GFW.

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