Deforestation Images: The Global Impact of Deforestation

The following deforestation images provide snapshots of the way humans are radically changing our environment. More than 43 million hectares, a landmass the size of Morocco, were lost through deforestation between 2004 and 2017.¹ Deforestation causes about 10 percent of global greenhouse gases, roughly equal to the yearly emissions of 600 million cars.² Forests are home to 80 percent of the world’s land-based species.³ They also absorb and store vast quantities of carbon dioxide, helping to prevent climate change.⁴ 

Deforestation must reduce massively to protect the planet’s climate, biodiversity, and even the very air we breathe.

Deforestation images

Economic gain provides the most powerful incentive for clearing forests. The expansion of agriculture is behind nearly 80 percent of global deforestation.⁵ A mere four commodities – beef, soy, wood products and palm oil – drive the majority of deforestation in tropical regions.⁶ 

In Malaysia and Indonesia, clearing space for palm oil production is the principal motive for deforestation.⁷ Not only is the oil found in half of all packaged supermarket products, but it is also an important biofuel.⁸ To date, more than 27 million hectares of the Earth’s surface have been converted into palm oil plantations.⁹ 

Building roads through forests increases habitat fragmentation, kills wildlife and changes animals’ behaviour.¹⁰ It also provides access to increasingly remote locations.¹¹ This facilitates further logging activities, which provide wood and paper products.¹² As much as 95 per cent of all deforestation occurs within five kilometres of a road or navigable river.¹³

Logging operations remove countless trees each year.¹⁴ They supply pulp for the world’s paper and timber industries for construction, furniture and other products.¹⁵ Felling a single tree can bring down multiple neighboring trees, increasing the impact of selective logging.¹⁶ 

Subsistence and smallholder commercial farming leads much of Sub-Saharan Africa’s deforestation.¹⁷ Converting forests to farmland is a route many people are taking to improve their economic standing.¹⁸ Unfortunately, the tools used to work the land are often unsophisticated, resulting in more land required to grow sufficient crops.¹⁹ 

11,088 square kilometers (4,281 square miles) of Brazil’s rainforest was destroyed between August 2019 and July 2020.²⁰ This is the highest yearly rate of deforestation in the Amazon since 2008.²¹ Cattle ranching drives 80 percent of deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest.²² Soy cultivation, the majority of which becomes animal feed, is another significant driver.²³ 

1. Panda.org. (2017). Deforestation Fronts. [online] Available at: https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/forests_practice/deforestation_fronts_/.
2. Union of Concerned Scientists. (2016). What’s Driving Deforestation? [online] Available at: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/whats-driving-deforestation.
3. World Wildlife Fund. (2010). Deforestation and Forest Degradation | Threats | WWF. [online] Available at: https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation.
4. World Wildlife Fund. (2010). Deforestation and Forest Degradation | Threats | WWF. [online] Available at: https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation.
5. Youmatter (2020). Deforestation – What Is It? What Are Its Causes, Effects And Solutions? [online] Youmatter. Available at: https://youmatter.world/en/definition/definitions-what-is-definition-deforestation-causes-effects/.
6. Union of Concerned Scientists. (2016). What’s Driving Deforestation? [online] Available at: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/whats-driving-deforestation.
7. Nunez, C. (2019). Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet. [online] Nationalgeographic.com. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/.
8. Rainforest-rescue.org. (2010). Palm oil – deforestation for everyday products – Rainforest Rescue. [online] Available at: https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/topics/palm-oil#start.
9. Rainforest-rescue.org. (2010). Palm oil – deforestation for everyday products – Rainforest Rescue. [online] Available at: https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/topics/palm-oil#start.
10. globalforestatlas.yale.edu. (n.d.). Roads & Forests | Global Forest Atlas. [online] Available at: https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/land-use/infrastructure/roads-forests#:~:text=Although%20much%20publicity%20regarding%20deforestation [Accessed 2 Feb. 2021].
11. Nunez, C. (2019). Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet. [online] Nationalgeographic.com. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/.
12. Nunez, C. (2019). Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet. [online] Nationalgeographic.com. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/.
13. globalforestatlas.yale.edu. (n.d.). Roads & Forests | Global Forest Atlas. [online] Available at: https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/land-use/infrastructure/roads-forests#:~:text=Although%20much%20publicity%20regarding%20deforestation [Accessed 2 Feb. 2021].
14. Nunez, C. (2019). Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet. [online] Nationalgeographic.com. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/.
15. Yale.edu. (2010). Logging | Global Forest Atlas. [online] Available at: https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/forest-use-logging/logging.
16. HowStuffWorks. (2008). How Deforestation Works. [online] Available at: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/deforestation.htm#:~:text=Logging%2C%20or%20cutting%20down%20trees.
17. Panda.org. (2017). Deforestation Fronts. [online] Available at: https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/forests_practice/deforestation_fronts_/.
18. Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank. (2018). How Poverty Is Contributing to Deforestation Across Africa. [online] Available at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2018/12/how-poverty-contributing-deforestation-across-africa.
19. Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank. (2018). How Poverty Is Contributing to Deforestation Across Africa. [online] Available at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2018/12/how-poverty-contributing-deforestation-across-africa.
20. Brazil’s Amazon: Deforestation “surges to a 12-year high.” (2020). BBC News. [online] 30 Nov. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-55130304.
21. Brazil’s Amazon: Deforestation “surges to a 12-year high.” (2020). BBC News. [online] 30 Nov. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-55130304.
22. Yale University (2011). Cattle Ranching in the Amazon Region | Global Forest Atlas. [online] Yale.edu. Available at: https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/amazon/land-use/cattle-ranching.
23. Yale.edu. (2011). Soy Agriculture in the Amazon Basin | Global Forest Atlas. [online] Available at: https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/amazon/land-use/soy.