Deforestation
It’s hard to overstate the value of forests. They play a major role in mitigating climate change, host an estimated 80 percent of the world’s known terrestrial biodiversity, and support local communities by providing food, water, and livelihoods. But they are also under immense threat. Since 1990, some 420 million acres of forest have been lost across the globe. The primary driver of this loss is agricultural expansion. While the rate of deforestation has slowed down over the past several decades, the world is still losing forestland at an alarming rate, particularly in tropical regions.
August 8, 2022 – At the same time, Indigenous tribes are being violently expelled from their land in the name of conservation, report says.
July 15, 2021 – Environmentalists hail move, ask president to protect all mature forests in the US as a strategic carbon reserve.
April 13, 2021 – Activists fear billion-dollar climate deal will bolster Bolsonaro and reward illegal forest clearance, but US says action can’t wait.
January 21, 2021 – After 35 years of clearcutting Southeast Alaska forests, Sealaska says it wants to generate “sustainable value” for shareholders.
July 24, 2020 – China could play a pivotal role in halting trade in trees crucial for West African ecosystems made more fragile by climate change.
July 14, 2020 – Concession to extract timber from 148,000 hectares in upper Baram was granted despite repeated objections from local communities.
June 2, 2020 – Closed to tourists, pandemic is taking major toll on Virunga’s finances, local economy, as park reels from recent violence.
April 8, 2020 – Transforming our relationship with nature can help us build the future we want as we recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
April 1, 2020 – Our violent disregard for biodiversity and our own part in the web of life has generated a perfect storm of global proportions.
March 3, 2020 – Investigation traces meat sold to JBS and rival Marfrig to a farm in Brazil owned by man implicated in Mato Grosso killings.
March 2, 2020 – Amid the world’s longest-running ethnic insurgency, Indigenous Karen people in Myanmar have initiated a conservation project that advances a vision for peace and self-determination.
October 7, 2019 – US Forest Service’s multiple plans to log vast swathes of Tongass National Forest faces stiff opposition
August 16, 2019 – The environmental policies of President Jair Bolsonaro have put the Amazon Fund's future in doubt.
April 8, 2019 – Taxing work brings tree planters face-to-face with the ecological impacts of industrial timber production.
April 4, 2019 – If we want to effectively mitigate climate change, it’s time for bold action to protect forestlands
September 24, 2018 – New Greenpeace report on clearcutting by palm oil groups underscores how practice persists in tropical forests.
July 11, 2018 – Even protected areas aren't safe as some of Europe's largest primeval woodlands come under threat
May 7, 2018 – Clear-cuts reduce security and prey for a struggling wolf population on Prince of Wales Island
April 5, 2018 – HR 2936 was pushed through the House by lawmakers whose campaigns are bankrolled by the logging industry
February 2, 2018 – A wetland forest left standing is worth 15 times more than a forest cut for timber
December 18, 2017 – It’s time for Malaysia to listen to Indigenous communities and help preserve Borneo
September 19, 2017 – Recent trip to region uncovered survival of endemic salamander thought to be extinct
September 14, 2017 – As global demand for cocoa booms, ‘dirty’ beans from national parks enter big business supply chains
August 7, 2017 – Rebels imposed environmental rules remote rainforest regions, government struggling to fill power vacuum
March 21, 2017 – Logging reduces potential forest sink by over a third, hampering critical action to curb global warming, says new report
December 7, 2016 – Divergent land ownership claims make it difficult to hold accountable those responsible for igniting blazes, say advocates
December 1, 2016 – On one of the Philippines’ most densely-forested islands, a small team of dedicated park staff struggle to fend off illegal loggers and miners.
March 28, 2015 – Conversation: Ecologist Philip Fearnside explains what needs to be done to once again bring deforestation under control