UNIT 3 Deforestation

What are characteristics of Deforestation?

habitat loss

increased soil erosion

climate change exacerbation

and biodiversity decline, often driven by agriculture

urbanization

mining

What are natural processes of Deforestation

Insects, pests, diseases

Wildfires

Short term: Storms, drought, landslides, volcanos

Long Term: Climate change

What are characteristics of Wildfires in relation to deforestation

• Affects about 3% of global forest area each year

• Primarily in dry temperate and tropical regions

• Some forests naturally regenerate, some depend on fire for regrowth, some are very sensitive

What are short term characteristics of deforestation

• Storms, cyclones, hurricanes

• Drought

• Landslides

• Earthquakes

• volcanos

What are long term characteristics of deforestation

• Climate change when forests are located between HCO and LGM

What is Deforestation?

the conversion of forest to other land use independently of whether human-induced or not

What are human processes of Deforestation

Agricultural expansion

Projects to improve infrastructure

Poor forest management

Wars and civil distribution

Pursuit of economic development

What are characteristics of Agricultural expansion in relation to deforestation

• Responsible for 73% of global deforestation

• Supported by government subsidies to promote food security therefore fuels deforestation

• Cattle ranching accounts for 80% of forest clearing in Brazilian rainforest

What are characteristics of poor forest management in relation to deforestation

• Lack of workforce capacity to enforce laws

• Corruption because forest products provide high financial rewards relative to average incomes

• Not enough attention to broader and long term benefits of intact forests

• International criminal police organization (INTERPOL) estimated forestry crimes (illegal logging & unlawful clearing) total US$51 Billion - US$152 Billion per year

What are characteristics of pursuit of economic development in relation to deforestation

• deforestation occurs rapidly

• Forest dieback has been documented on every vegetated continent over the past three decades.

What’s the interconnection between human and natural deforestation

• Overall, human activity is the driver of deforestation

• Human activities are speeding up natural climate change

• Human disturbances like selective logging and land clearing, forest edges become more prone to natural disturbances 

• Clearance areas for agriculture and cattle ranching are more susceptible to fires

What are the characteristics of Tropical forests?

• Around the equator

• 45% of forests in the world

• Located between 10°N & 10°S of the equator

What are the characteristics of Boreal forests

• Grows in regions of the northern hemisphere

• Occurs between 50° and 60° north

• 27% of forests around the world

What are the characteristics of Temperate forests

• Found between 25° and 50° in both hemispheres

• Takes up 16% of forest area

• Has 4 seasons

What are the characteristics of Subtropical forests

• Found between temperate and tropical regions

• Located between 25° and 35°

• wet and dry seasons

• 11% of all forest cover

What is Brazil’s absolute location?

14.2°S , 51.9°W

What is Brazil’s relative location?

Central-eastern part of south America

Bordering the Atlantic ocean

North east of Bolivia

What’s the size of the Amazon rainforest

3.17 square kilometers

What is the amazons rainforests relative location

East of Peru

northern south America

What is the amazon rainforests absolute location

3.4° S, 62.2° W

What’s the population of Brazil

211.1 Million

What percentage of Brazil is rainforest

60%

What percentage of the worlds forests are in Brazil?

12.2%

How many square kilometers of forest takes up the amazon rainforest?

4.9 million square kilometers

What contributes to Brazil’s economy?

Agriculture: coffee, soybeans, beef and poultry

Manufacturing: Cars, chemicals, steel & food products

Service: finance, tourism & healthcare

Mining: Iron ore, aluminum,

What does Brazil import?

Machinery, fuels, chemicals, vehicle parts, crude oil, coal, natural gas

With: China, U.S, Germany, Argentina, Russia

What does Brazil export?

Soybeans, crude petroleum, iron ore, raw sugar & corn

With: China, U.S, Argentina, Netherlands, Chile, Canada, Japan & Germany

What are the environmental impacts of deforestation?

Biodiversity loss

• Over 3 million species live in the amazon rainforest

• Estimated 137 plant, animal and insect species lost in the amazon each year

Adds to climate change

• reduces carbon sink

• deforestation add carbon and means that there are less trees to take in carbon and recycle it into oxygen.

Increased temperatures

• Desertification

• Soil erosion/decline in soil fertility

What are the economic impacts of deforestation?

• World bank says that Brazil could face losses US $317 billion per year if amazon deforestation continues

• Short term gain for individuals

• Cattle ranching brings in US $123 billion to the economy annually

• Non-timber forest products need forests to survive (Rubber, Brazil nut and Acai) Which contributes to 6 million household incomes in Brazil

• Forestry sector (2.3% of Brazil’s GDP), although most of the deforestation that happens is illegal

What are the social impacts of deforestation?

Indigenous communities

• Since 16th century, estimated 80% of the indigenous population has died to diseases & displacement

• 422 indigenous reserves

• illegal logging is the biggest threat

• deforestation on indigenous lands increased by 129% between 2013 and 2021

Health

• Air pollution lead to respiratory issues

• Already vulnerable groups will be harmed more

• Long-term effects from toxic pollutants cause cardiovascular diseases & premature death

How are the Kayapo people providing themselves with a sustainable income?

Brazil nut & coumarou harvest

• can only be harvested from primary forest

• generates sustainable and equitable distributed annual income for kayao forest communities

• makes sure there is no overproducing of these nuts

• ethical source of income that doesn’t harm the environment

Why has there been a decline in deforestation in brazil?

• increased enforcement and regulations

  Brazilian gov is cracking down on illegal logging

  IBAMA increased rate of inspections

  prevented illegal trespassing on indigenous lands & protected areas

• expansion of protected areas

  expanded network of indigenous reserves

  land tenure rights have been enforced

What actions are taken, by REDD+ in Brazil?

• Brazil was the first country to voluntarily submit REDD+ results after it was adopted in COP19

• migrating carbon emissions

• promoting sustainable forest management

• protecting ecosystem services

Has REDD+ been successful, why?

• Successfully protected areas have targeted local governments

Has REDD+ been successful, why not?

• Impacts on wellbeing in local communities have been mixed

• Deforestation is still a significant issue

• backlash from political groups in favor of weaker environmental policies

• lack of transparency

• difficult to assess overall effectiveness

What is Global Forest Watch?

A geospatial technology program

How can people use Global Forest Watch

To explore different datasets

To analyze forest change

Detect illegal gold minding and logging in protected areas within days

To access precise information

What type of geospatial technology does Global forest watch use?

GIS (Geographic information systems)

Remote sensing

GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System)

What are benefits of using geospatial technology for the Global Forest Watch

• Satellite-derived alerts

• indicates areas of potential deforestation/tree cover disturbance

• based on LANDSAT (land satellite) imagery

• help monitor forest health

• provides detailed mapping at a global scale

• real-time monitoring

• accessible on the internet

• identifies large-scale events

What are issues of using geospatial technology for the Global Forest Watch

• Not a reliable sole source of data

• should be used as a tool to trigger ‘further investigation’

• Accuracy issues in certain biomes & regions

• cannot detect sparce tree cover

• no differentiation between natural forest & plantations

• Lack of privacy of peoples land

What is Fragmentation?

When there are some clearing of ‘pockets of land’

Commonly happens in the construction of road

Prevents the movement of plants and animals along natural forested corridors

Describe the ICF (local) +aim & outcome

ICF (International Conservation Fund)

Founded in 2019

located South-East Amazonia, Brazil

protect land with:

guard posts that discourages potential invaders

create sustainable incomes with Brazil nut harvesting

annual income for kayapo communities

aim: To ensure Kayapo culture, economic, political and territorial autonomy.

outcome: kayapo have successfully defended their land, satellite images reveal no deforestation.

What are positives for ICF

Discourage potential invaders

promote sustainable incomes, preserve Kayapo culture, protect biodiversity.

and enhance community resilience.

What are negatives for ICF

Potential conflicts with external interests

limited funding for long-term projects

reliance on consistent local governance

challenges in scaling up impact.

Describe the Forest Code (national) +aim and outcome

Forest code (national)

Introduced 1985

Updated from 1965-2023

Legally covers rivers, forests, soils

Enforced with inspections, sanctions (administrative and criminal)

aim: balancing agricultural land use as well as restoration of degraded areas

to conserve biodiversity

outcome: critics argue that the revised Forest Code has led to a decline in environmental protections and increased deforestation. 

Positives for The Forest Code (national)

claim to be “ensuring environmental protection”

Actively monitoring deforestation through rural environmental registry (CAR)

Negatives for The forest code

reduceed required forest cover on private land from 80% to 50%

code has been difficult to enforce

increased deforestation, loss of up to 190 million acres of forest

unclear regulations and inadequate support for sustainable practices

conflicts with local communities

Describe the REDD+ (global) +aim and outcome

Redd+

Introduced in cop19

Purpose: incentivizing developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by preserving their forests

Stands for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

Aims:

reduces emissions from

conservation of forest-carbon stocks

sustainable management of forests

enhancement of forest carbon stocks

Outcomes:

projects have led to significant carbon storage and improved livelihoods

others have yielded mixed results

failure to create a large-scale funding mechanism

Describe Global Forest Watch (geospacial) +aim and outcome

Global forest watch

Geospacial technology program (GIS, GNSS, Remote sensing)

Established in 1997 - established by world resources institute (WRI)

Started as a network of NGO’S, Worked its way up by working with governments to address changes with deforestation

Aim:

Detect illegal gold mining and logging

To provide precise information

Track fires

Explain where, when, why forests are changing

Outcome:

increased awareness of deforestation trends

enhanced decision-making by governments and organizations

the potential for more effective forest protection and restoration efforts

Positives of the Global forest watch

• satellite-derived alerts

• indicates areas of potential deforestation/tree cover disturbances

• based on LANDSAT imagery

• accessible, on the internet

• real-time monitoring

• detailed mapping on a global scale

temporal distribution of deforestation

generally decreased since the 1990s, not without fluctuations

peaked in the 1980s

rate of net forest loss

7.8 ha (1990-2000) per year

4.7 ha (2010-2020) per year

comparison of amazon rainforest and brazils absolute location

forest: 3.4° S, 62.2° W

brazil: 14.2°S , 51.9°W