Posted on April, 28 2015

Eleven places in the world – 10 of which are in the tropics – will account for over 80 per cent of forest loss globally by 2030, according to research released today by WWF.
 
Up to 170 million hectares of forest could be lost between 2010 and 2030 in these “deforestation fronts” if current trends continue, according to findings in the latest chapter of WWF’s Living Forests Report series. The fronts are located in the Amazon, the Atlantic Forest and Gran Chaco, Borneo, the Cerrado, Choco-Darien, the Congo Basin, East Africa, Eastern Australia, Greater Mekong, New Guinea and Sumatra.
 
“Imagine a forest stretching across Germany, France, Spain and Portugal wiped out in just 20 years,” says Rod Taylor, Director of WWF’s global forest programme. “We’re looking at how we can tackle that risk to save the communities and cultures that depend on forests, and ensure forests continue to store carbon, filter our water, supply wood and provide habitat for millions of species.”
 
The report builds on earlier analysis by WWF showing that more than 230 million hectares of forest will disappear by 2050 if no action is taken, and that forest loss must be reduced to near zero by 2020 to avoid dangerous climate change and economic losses.
 
Landscape solutions vital to halting deforestation
 
Globally, the biggest cause of deforestation is expanding agriculture – including commercial livestock, palm oil and soy production, but also encroachment by small-scale farmers. Unsustainable logging and fuelwood collection can contribute to forest degradation, while mining, hydroelectricity and other infrastructure projects bring new roads that open forests to settlers and agriculture.
 
The EU and the Green Heart of Europe
 
European Commission-funded research shows that EU consumption led to the loss of 9 million hectares of forest globally during the period 1990-2008 – an area the size of Portugal. A main contributor is the  agriculture sector through its consumption of oil crops, as well as meat consumption.  Also, only 11 EU states have laws that can control the legality of timber entering their territory. 

"Despite acknowledging the need to address the environmental impact of its consumption, the EU has not yet taken significant steps to address its impact abroad and to balance its consumption,” said Anke Schulmeister, Senior Forest Policy Officer at the WWF European Policy Office.

In the Green Heart of Europe, forest loss is often driven by unsustainable and very often illegal logging, infrastructure development, and tourism expansion.  

But deforestation is by no means necessary. It could be halted by better land planning and putting a price to forest ecosystems to convince governments and business to embrace wiser land use. Eliminating deforestation from company supply chains is another path. A growing number of major retailers and investors have pledged to do the latter.
 
One way in which supply chains are controlled is through certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) whose requirements include deforestation and illegal logging control. FSC also promotes forest management that ensures economic, social and environmental benefits and requires areas with no intervention. Some 186 million hectares of forests in the world are now FSC certified – an area larger than the one we risk losing by 2013 according to the Living Forest Report.
 
About 3.5 million forest hectares in Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine are now certified according to FSC criteria as part of WWF DCPs partnership with IKEA. This is an area a bit bigger than the size of Belgium.
 
An increasing area of certified forests means that our region’s supermarkets offer a growing number of wood and forest products with the FSC logo and local market is becoming more sustainable.  Some 427 companies, forest and hunting enterprises now have the FSC certificate.
 
"Our goal is to ensure the sustainable management of at least 30% of all forests in the Green Heart of Europe by 2020," says Costel Bucur, Head of Forests & Protected Areas at WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme.
 
 
Editor’s notes:
The Living Forests Report aims to catalyse debate on the future role and value of forests in a world where humanity is living within the Earth’s ecological limits and sharing its resources equitably. The Living Forests Model, which WWF developed with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, forms the basis for the Living Forests Report. panda.org/livingforests
 
 
About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
 
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