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.

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Amid Pledges to Reverse Deforestation, DRC Auctioning Oil Blocks in Protected Areas

August 8, 2022 – At the same time, Indigenous tribes are being violently expelled from their land in the name of conservation, report says.

Rebecca George

Biden Restores Protections for Tongass National Forest

July 15, 2021 – Environmentalists hail move, ask president to protect all mature forests in the US as a strategic carbon reserve.

Journal Staff

Biden in Risky Talks to Pay Brazil to Save Amazon

April 13, 2021 – Activists fear billion-dollar climate deal will bolster Bolsonaro and reward illegal forest clearance, but US says action can’t wait.

Jonathan Watts The Guardian

Native Alaskan Company Involved in Controversial Carbon Offsets Project to Quit Logging

January 21, 2021 – After 35 years of clearcutting Southeast Alaska forests, Sealaska says it wants to generate “sustainable value” for shareholders.

Paul Koberstein and Jessica Applegate

Rosewood Trafficking Worsens in the Gambia

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.

Louise Hunt

Amid Pandemic, Malaysia Grants Timber Giant Logging Permit on Indigenous Land in Borneo

July 14, 2020 – Concession to extract timber from 148,000 hectares in upper Baram was granted despite repeated objections from local communities.

Fiona McAlpine

Covid-19 and Africa’s National Parks: ‘Utter and Total Devastation’ 

June 2, 2020 – Closed to tourists, pandemic is taking major toll on Virunga’s finances, local economy, as park reels from recent violence.

Sophie Neiman

In Crisis, Learning from Ecologies of Care

April 8, 2020 – Transforming our relationship with nature can help us build the future we want as we recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Gaurav Madan

We Need Our Tropical Forests More Than Ever

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.

Jeff Conant

World’s Biggest Meat Company Linked to ‘Brutal Massacre’ in Amazon

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.

Dom Phillips The Guardian

The Revolutionary Forest

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.

Benjamin D. Hodgdon

Trump Doubles Down on His Assault on Alaska’s Old-Growth Forests

October 7, 2019 – US Forest Service’s multiple plans to log vast swathes of Tongass National Forest faces stiff opposition

Paul Koberstein and Jessica Applegate

Norway Freezes Support for Brazilian Anti-Deforestation Fund

August 16, 2019 – The environmental policies of President Jair Bolsonaro have put the Amazon Fund's future in doubt.

Sue Branford and Thais Borges

For Some, Replanting Logged Lands Leads to Shifting Views of Forest Management

April 8, 2019 – Taxing work brings tree planters face-to-face with the ecological impacts of industrial timber production.

Diana Myers

Logging Is the Lead Driver of Carbon Emissions from US Forests

April 4, 2019 – If we want to effectively mitigate climate change, it’s time for bold action to protect forestlands

Danna Smith, Chad Hanson, and Matthew Koehler

Malaysia’s Palm Oil Expansion Ban: More Greenwashing or a Signal of Real Change?

September 24, 2018 – New Greenpeace report on clearcutting by palm oil groups underscores how practice persists in tropical forests.

Fiona McAlpine

Illegal Loggers Are Decimating Romania’s Virgin Forests, Say Green Groups

July 11, 2018 – Even protected areas aren't safe as some of Europe's largest primeval woodlands come under threat

Adrian Chirila

Wolves Are Losing Ground to Industrial Logging in Southeast Alaska

May 7, 2018 – Clear-cuts reduce security and prey for a struggling wolf population on Prince of Wales Island

Faith Rudebusch

Bill Relies on Fear of Wildfires to Expedite Logging on Public Lands

April 5, 2018 – HR 2936 was pushed through the House by lawmakers whose campaigns are bankrolled by the logging industry

Charles Pekow

By Logging Wetland Forests for Corporate Profit, the American South Is Losing Its Backyard

February 2, 2018 – A wetland forest left standing is worth 15 times more than a forest cut for timber

Dr. Sam Davis

Sarawak Is Worth Saving from Timber Barons and Palm Oil Tycoons

December 18, 2017 – It’s time for Malaysia to listen to Indigenous communities and help preserve Borneo

Fiona McAlpine

Safeguarding Mexico’s Sierra Madre Cloud Forest against Logging

September 19, 2017 – Recent trip to region uncovered survival of endemic salamander thought to be extinct

Roberto Pedraza Ruiz

Chocolate Industry Drives Devastating Deforestation in Ivory Coast

September 14, 2017 – As global demand for cocoa booms, ‘dirty’ beans from national parks enter big business supply chains

Colombia Faces Soaring Deforestation Following FARC Guerrilla Demobilization

August 7, 2017 – Rebels imposed environmental rules remote rainforest regions, government struggling to fill power vacuum

Taran Volckhausen

US Needs to Massively Scale Up Forest Protection to Tackle Climate Change

March 21, 2017 – Logging reduces potential forest sink by over a third, hampering critical action to curb global warming, says new report

Erin Banks Rusby

Conflicting Maps Complicate Fight Against Fires, Deforestation in Indonesia

December 7, 2016 – Divergent land ownership claims make it difficult to hold accountable those responsible for igniting blazes, say advocates

Forest Guardians

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.

Issac N. Pearlman

What Lies Behind the Recent Surge of Amazon Deforestation

March 28, 2015 – Conversation: Ecologist Philip Fearnside explains what needs to be done to once again bring deforestation under control

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