A Continental Assessment of the Drivers of Tropical Deforestation With a Focus on Protected Areas

Steffen Fritz,Ivelina Georgieva,Olga Danylo,Martin Jung,Florian Hofhansl,Linda See,Juan Carlos Laso Bayas,Myroslava Lesiv,Ian Mccallum,Martina Dürauer,Dmitry Schepaschenko

doi:10.3389/fcosc.2022.830248

Abstract

Deforestation contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions and must be reduced if the 1.5°C limit to global warming is to be realized. Protected areas represent one intervention for decreasing forest loss and aiding conservation efforts, yet there is intense human pressure on at least one-third of protected areas globally. There have been numerous studies addressing the extent and identifying drivers of deforestation at the local, regional, and global level. Yet few have focused on drivers of deforestation in protected areas in high thematic detail. Here we use a new crowdsourced data set on drivers of tropical forest loss for the period 2008–2019, which has been collected using the Geo-Wiki crowdsourcing application for visual interpretation of very high-resolution imagery by volunteers. Extending on the published data on tree cover and forest loss from the Global Forest Change initiative, we investigate the dominant drivers of deforestation in tropical protected areas situated within 30° north and south of the equator. We find the deforestation rate in protected areas to be lower than the continental average for the Latin Americas (3.4% in protected areas compared to 5.4%) and Africa (3.3% compared to 3.9%), but it exceeds that of unprotected land in Asia (8.5% compared to 8.1%). Consistent with findings from foregoing studies, we also find that pastures and other subsistence agriculture are the dominant deforestation driver in the Latin Americas, while forest management, oil palm, shifting cultivation and other subsistence agriculture dominate in Asia, and shifting cultivation and other subsistence agriculture is the main driver in Africa. However, we find contrasting results in relation to the degree of protection, which indicate that the rate of deforestation in Latin America and Africa in strictly protected areas might even exceed that of areas with no strict protection. This crucial finding highlights the need for further studies based on a bottom up crowdsourced, data collection approach, to investigate drivers of deforestation both inside and outside protected areas.

Highlights

Curbing deforestation in tropical areas continues to be a key environmental challenge, with global implications for climate change and biodiversity loss (Betts et al, 2017; Popkin, 2019)
A recent Remote Sensing Survey undertaken by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as part of their Forest Research Assessment (FRA) showed that between 2000 and 2018, despite a slowdown at the global scale, most deforestation occurred in tropical biomes (FAO, 2021)
This study adds to the current knowledge on the dominant drivers of deforestation in protected areas, confirming previous results and producing outcomes that contrast with foregoing studies, with regard to the degree of protection, which requires further investigation

Summary

Introduction

Curbing deforestation in tropical areas continues to be a key environmental challenge, with global implications for climate change and biodiversity loss (Betts et al, 2017; Popkin, 2019). Some commitments have been made through the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use to reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 (Glasgow Leaders CoP26, 2021), we still need more effective monitoring tools in place to ensure that commitments are fully implemented. To achieve this goal, a better understanding of the regional drivers of forest loss and which interventions are most effective in a certain region would be needed for a better targeting of committed funding efforts

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