TROPICAL DEFORESTATION CONTINUES IN 2018: Last year humanity destroyed an expanse of tropical forest nearly the size of England, the fourth largest loss since global satellite data become available in 2001, researchers reported Thursday. The pace of the loss is staggering – the equivalent of 30 football fields disappearing every minute of every day in 2018, or a total of 120,000 km2 (46,000 miles2). Almost a third of that area, some 36,000 km2, was pristine primary rainforest, according to the annual assessment from scientists at Global Forest Watch. The main drivers are the livestock industry and large-scale commodity agriculture – palm oil in Asia and Africa, soy beans and biofuel crops in South America. Small-scale commercial farming – of cocoa, for example – can also lead to the clearing of forests. Nearly a third of last year’s tropical forest destruction took place in Brazil (13,500 km2), with the Democratic Republic of Congo (4,800 km2), Indonesia (3,400 km2), Colombia (1,800 km2) and Bolivia (1,500 km2) also in the top five. In Brazil, there have been invasions into indigenous lands that have been immune to deforestation for years. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, who came into office in January, has vowed to curtail environmental regulations and allow commercial farming and mining on indigenous reserves, which comprise more than 10 percent of Brazil’s territory. But researchers emphasized that Bolsonaro has not been in office long enough to assess his impact on deforestation. In West Africa, meanwhile, 70 percent of primary forest loss in Ghana and Ivory Coast occurred in protected areas, pointing up the need for stricter enforcement. Sources: American Geographical Society, The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, New York Times, BBC, Bloomberg Graphic Source: AFP
