Rainforest destruction on the rise in 2020

The area of ​​virgin tropical forest destroyed in 2020 is equivalent to the size of the Netherlands: trees blown up in smoke or felled by humans at an ever-increasing rate, despite the economic crisis linked to Covid-19.

The annual Global Forest Watch report, based on satellite data, thus recorded the destruction in 2020 of 4.2 million hectares of tropical primary forests, crucial for the planet's biodiversity and carbon storage, or 12%. more than the previous year.

To read also: The “fronts of deforestation” are multiplying on the planet

The country most affected is Brazil, with an area missing three times that of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, second in the ranking.

In total, the tropics lost 12.2 million hectares of forest cover (which includes all types of forests and plantations) in 2020.

Not surprisingly, the main driver of this destruction is still agriculture.

The researchers are also pointing fingers this year at the heat waves and drought that fueled devastating fires in Australia, Siberia and to the far reaches of the Amazon.

These losses are "

a climate emergency, a biodiversity crisis, a humanitarian catastrophe and lost economic opportunities

," commented Frances Seymour, of the World Resources Institute who is piloting this report.

Negative impact of the pandemic

According to the researchers, the pandemic may have had some negative impacts, with illegally felled trees in forests left unprotected, for example, or the massive influx of people into rural areas.

They stress above all that this crisis has not made it possible to change the trajectory of forest destruction and they warn against a worsening of the situation in the event of relaxation of the rules to facilitate economic recovery.

In addition, the “

worst omen

” part of the 2020 data shows that forests themselves have been victims of climate change, Frances Seymour said at a press conference.

“

Wetlands are burning (...).

Nature had been whispering to us for a while that the threat was coming.

Now she is screaming,

”she insisted.

Very rich forest ecosystems cover more than 30% of the earth's surface and tropical forests are home to between 50 and 90% of terrestrial species.

The roughly 4 million hectares of tropical forests destroyed in 2020 released 2.64 gigatons of CO2, equivalent to the annual emissions of 570 million cars.

"The

longer we wait to stop deforestation, (...) the more our natural carbon sinks risk going up in smoke,

" warned Frances Seymour.