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Chapter 3
TREND IN TROPICAL FORESTS
The 2010s opened with a concerted
push to reduce tropical deforestation by
2020 as a way to achieve multiple objectives,
including combatting climate
change, stabilizing forest-dependent
livelihoods and ecosystem services, and
slowing species extinction rates. That
ambition, however, failed to meet its
most basic target: Deforestation in the
2010s far outpaced the rate of forest
loss in the 2000s, rising at least 30%,
according to two datasets developed
by a team lead by Matthew Hansen of
the University of Maryland. ▼ Hansen’s
data shows that tropical tree cover loss
between 2010 and 2018 averaged 12 million
hectares per year, an increase from
8.5 million hectares per year from 2002-
2009. Tree cover loss, however, includes
both deforestation and activities within
tree plantations, like cyclical harvesting
and replanting. As a result, it is not a
complete indicator of what’s happening
in tropical forests, especially in countries
like Malaysia and Indonesia that
have large industrial plantation sectors.
Therefore, Hansen’s data on primary
forests, which excludes plantations,
is a useful proxy for providing more
context on tropical forest trends.“drylands”—areas
too dry to support large
numbers of trees—and most are considered
grazing lands. There, goats, sheep,
and cattle may harm what few trees are
able to grow.