Tropical Forest Equal In Area To Bangladesh Destroyed In 2017 (39 Million Acres)

OSLO, Norway — It has been a decade since the United Nations launched REDD+, an ambitious program to incentivize forest restoration and conservation in developing countries, as a part of a global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The program has been heralded as an integral part of the solution to climate change as tropical forests and wetlands can deliver 23 percent of the total mitigation needed between now and 2030.

As a result, billions of dollars have been poured into this scheme, and countless projects have been initiated to enable tropical countries to receive money in exchange of them reducing their deforestation rates. Norway, for instance, has invested about $2.8 billion into the program in the past decade, more than any other wealthy nation. On the other side of the equation, Brazil in particular has been lauded as a champion in REDD+ as it managed to slow down its deforestation rate nearly 80 percent in 10 years between 2004 and 2014.

This week, representatives from these countries are gathering to celebrate the 10th anniversary of REDD+ at the Oslo Tropical Forest Forum in Norway. But instead of being celebrated for their achievement, these countries are in the hot seat as the conference came on the heel of new data from the University of Maryland (UMD) showing how tropical tree cover loss in many countries has been ramping up in recent years, including in Brazil.

According to the data, tropical countries lost 158,000 square kilometers (39 million acres) of tree cover in 2017 – an area the size of Bangladesh. The 2017 number is the second highest since UMD stared collecting data in 2001, and only a bit lower than the record high in 2016.

EDIT

https://news.mongabay.com/2018/06/the-world-lost-an-area-of-tropical-forest-the-size-of-bangladesh-in-2017/