Illegal clearing by agribusiness ‘driving rainforest destruction’

Deforestation in Latin America and the Caribbean accounts for 44 per cent of the global loss of tropical forests, with most of the conversion to agricultural land being carried out illegally, concludes a study by the non-profit organisationForest Trends.

According tothe report, the planet lost 77 million hectares of tropical forests between 2013 and 2019 in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa, of which 60 per cent — 46.1 million hectares — was driven by commercial agriculture. At least 69 per cent of this “agro-conversion — forest clearing for agricultural purposes — was carried out in violation of national laws and regulations, it says.

报告称，在过去的七年中，非法清算牛肉，大豆和棕榈油等商品的生产造成了至少3170万公顷世界雨林的破坏。

“We don’t need to clear more forests in order to grow food. People need to understand the role of commercial agriculture in driving illegal deforestation, and how important tropical forests are,”

Arthur Blundell, ecologist

Ecologist Arthur Blundell, lead co-author of the report, said: “We don’t need to clear more forests in order to grow food. People need to understand the role of commercial agriculture in driving illegal deforestation, and how important tropical forests are.”

根据来自23个国家的数据，研究估计，拉丁美洲和加勒比海地区的森林砍伐占热带地区所有森林损失的44％，其中77％的损失是由于商业农业而导致的。beplay下载官网西西软件

In Asia, forest losses represented 31 per cent of the total, 76 per cent of which was caused by agribusiness.

非洲的热带森林损失占全球总数的25％，但商业农业仅占非法森林砍伐的10％，生存农业是主要驱动力。beplay下载官网西西软件

Many countries, however, fail to report data about illegal deforestation, and reliable country data is scarce, researchers noted.

Economic drivers

Geographer Eraldo Matricardi, associate professor at the University of Brasilia (UnB), who did not take part in the study, said: “Unfortunately, the forest is not yet considered as something viable, hence the interest in deforesting to make it productive. Agribusiness, in turn, has economic viability and high incentives from a financial point of view.”

Researchers accept that some deforestation for both commercial and subsistence agriculture is necessary for social and economic reasons.

However, Matricardi, an expert in land use changes, explains that while legal deforestation follows set limits and technical criteria, “for illegal deforestation there is a lack of criteria”.

The degree of unlawful deforestation varied widely between regions. In Latin America, 88 per cent of agro-conversion was conducted in violation of national laws and regulations, while in Africa the figure was 66 per cent, and in Asia, 41 per cent.

According to the report, 81 per cent of clearing for Indonesia’s palm oil — the country’s main export commodity — is estimated to be illegal.

报告称，在巴西，负责森林砍伐的主要农产品是牛肉和大豆，放牧牛的牧场驱动了74％的森林损失，而大豆则开车20％。

除了大豆，棕榈油和牛产品（牛肉和皮革）外，其他商品（例如可可，橡胶，咖啡和玉米）也被认为是非法森林砍伐的主要原因。

Researchers highlight the responsibility of consumers in the United States, China and EU, the main importers of these commodities.

布伦德尔说：“农产品生产者需要加强其法律并制止非法森林砍伐，但在国际上，消费者也发挥了作用。”“他们需要确保自己购买的商品与森林损失无关。例如，如果您要从巴西购买东西，那么有很多证据可能来自森林砍伐。”

气候变化and corruption

The authors point out, however, that illegality goes hand in hand with corrupt government systems, especially in Brazil and Indonesia.

In Brazil, illegality includes “impunity for deforestation in legal reserves and areas of permanent preservation, amnesty for land seizures, and the accelerated dismantling of environmental protections, since Jair Bolsonaro came to power”, the report states.

Looking at the role forest clearing had in climate change, the report shows that emissions from illegal agro-conversion account for more than 2.7 gigatons of CO₂per year — more than India’s emissions from fossil fuels in 2018.

布伦德尔总结说：“除非我们解决非法森林砍伐，否则我们将无法解决气候变化，并且在不解决商业食品的情况下我们无法处理非法森林砍伐。”

This article was produced by SciDev.Net’s Latin America and Caribbean desk and edited for brevity and clarity.