Call to prevent ‘imported deforestation’

Agricultural expansion is responsible for approximately 80% of the 1,3 million square kilometres of indigenous forests felled globally between 1990 and 2016.

Despite the resultant loss of essential ecosystem services and goods provided by such forests, they are still being cut down at an alarming pace.

This was according to a recent virtual media conference convened by the international Cities4Forests programme, and hosted by the Revolve Group, to coincide with the United Nations’ International Day of Forests 2021 celebrated in March.

During her presentation, Nicole Polsterer, a sustainable consumption and production campaigner with Fern, the EU-based non-governmental global human rights and environmental justice organisation, said half of the deforestation due to agriculture was driven by the production of commodity foods, feeds, fuels and fibres. Once these forests were converted, the areas were likely to remain permanently deforested.

She added that from 2001 to 2015, the top seven agricultural commodities driving deforestation globally were cattle production via conversion to grazing (45,1 million hectares); palm oil (10,5 million); soya bean (8,2 million); cocoa (2,3 million); plantation rubber (2,1 million); coffee (1,9 million); and plantation wood fibre (1,8 million).

“The EU and other markets, like China, that import a lot of these commodities for consumption […] are indirectly contributing to deforestation in countries like Brazil, where these are being grown commercially on a large scale. This is called imported deforestation,” Polsterer said.

She urged companies importing these commodities to implement internal policies aimed at avoiding imported deforestation.

A report by environmentalist

Zoë Chapman Poulsen, for the Botanical Society of South Africa, stated that although indigenous forests covered only 0,56% of the country’s landmass, they were “one of several ecosystem types that provide disproportionate benefits to people relative to their size […]”.

Forestry South Africa’s environmental consultant, Dr John Scotcher, told Farmer’s Weekly that the country’s indigenous forests were under pressure from being harvested for medicinal purposes, building materials, firewood, bark, roots and fruit. This was typically seen in areas close to rural communities.

Scotcher added that 25% of all of South Africa’s natural forests were on land owned by growers of plantation timber and were, therefore, protected in terms of both the law and the certification of these plantation operations. – Lloyd Phillips

[INDIGENOUS FORESTS] ARE BEING CUT DOWN AT AN ALARMING PACE