Net Forest Loss Research Articles

Evaluating mangrove community forestry outcomes: a mixed synthetic control and field-based approach

Abstract Contemporary evaluations of outcomes in human-managed systems have been constrained by a lack of counterfactual analysis. Community forestry (CF), a widely adopted strategy to achieve both conservation and management in coupled human-environment systems, is no exception, and counterfactual analysis would greatly enhance CF research. We used a mixed method approach incorporating quantification of deforestation and forest regrowth rates, synthetic control analysis, and focus groups discussions to evaluate mangrove CF outcomes in the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myanmar, from to 1990–2021. CF resulted in an overall increase in net forest gain and reduction in net forest loss across sites. More than two-thirds of CF sites had superior outcomes relative to synthetic controls for at least one metric (deforestation or forest regrowth); however, CF tended to perform better for only one outcome while avoiding underperformance in the other. The annual rate of forest regrowth in CFs accelerated beginning three years prior to certification and peaked two years after certification, likely related to pre-certification engagement with the Forest Department or non-government organizations. Moreover, control sites near CFs experienced more rapid forest regrowth than controls further from CFs, suggesting spillover effects. The predominant challenge facing successful CF management was illegal extraction and overharvesting, and poor performing CFs experienced a complex array of challenges facing forest regrowth, likely related to the private nature of individual land claims within the CFs. Most supporting factors for CF were related to community management capacity, strongly indicating a need for extended close engagement with competent government and non-government actors to develop long-term management and governance capacities, which are sustainably funded. Our mixed-method approach can be replicated in other human-managed systems to evaluate the biophysical impacts of policies and gain insights into the underlying drivers of outcomes.

Two decades of accelerated deforestation in Peruvian forests: a national and regional analysis (2000–2020)

The global tree cover has kept reducing in the last two decades, mainly in tropical forests, despite the global efforts to conserve biodiversity and the ecosystem services that provides. Considering South America is the region that had the highest rate of net forest loss (2000–2020), it is crucial to understand the deforestation dynamics of each country and their regions for the evaluation of effective national conservation actions. Here, we carried out a spatiotemporal analysis of the deforestation rates from 2000 to 2020 on a national and regional scale, including the forest loss inside protected areas, in Peru. It was found that Peru lost 3.4 million ha of forest between 2000 and 2020, mainly in the Not Flooded Rainforest region. National deforestation rates accelerated, while within protected areas rates showed a very small increase. Regional deforestation rates followed the national pattern with one exception—the Coast region. Our results evidence the success of the national conservation strategy based on protected areas to avoid deforestation in all regions, except in the Andean. Moreover, the increment in deforestation rates is aligned with the growth in road infrastructure; increments in anthropic activities; and the more frequent and intense natural extreme events that vary according to the region. Therefore, it is urgent to differentiate the drivers of deforestation that operate at the national versus the regional scale, consider the inclusion of all forest types in the monitoring system, and the strengthening of policies related to land use change at all scales.

Exploring the landscape pattern change analysis for the transboundary Nyungwe-Kibira Forest (2000–2019): a spatially explicit assessment

Introduction and aimEnsuring the protection and restoration of forest ecosystems is vital to maintaining and restoring ecological balance in deforested or degraded landscapes. However, sustainable development faces challenges from high human impacts on natural forest ecosystems, insufficient advanced conservation measures, and limited engagement of local communities in developing nations. The aim of this study was to explore the utility of spatial remote sensing datasets in examining the landscape pattern changes within the transboundary Nyungwe-Kibira Forest from 2000 to 2019. This aimed to emphasize the necessity of understanding the intricate dynamics of this ecosystem and its susceptibility to human activities in order to bolster diverse restoration initiatives throughout the region.MethodsThe landscape pattern change in the Nyungwe-Kibira between 2000 and 2019 was analysed using high-resolution Landsat data. This analysis encompassed an evaluation of the dynamics of changes in built-up, cropland, and forest areas within the region. Especially, primary data derived from the Landsat dataset and secondary data from reports such as the Outlook Report were employed to elucidate the ongoing landscape transformation within and surrounding the transboundary forest.Results and discussionThe analysis revealed a net change of +62.3% and +18.07% in built-up and cropland areas, resulting in a gross change of 14,133 ha and 6,322 ha in built-up and cropland areas, respectively. Furthermore, the forest experienced an overall gain of 9.11%, corresponding to a net loss of 6.92% due to deforestation, estimated at -14,764 ha. The analysis also indicated that built-up areas accounted for approximately 33.02% of the net forest loss, primarily affecting the northern edge of the Rwanda region, while cropland expansion contributed to a net loss of forest (-9.48%), predominantly impacting the southeast portion of the forest in Burundi. Additionally, the forest is predicted to decrease by 0.74% by 2030, with current findings showing aggregated forest and cropland at 66% and 7%, dissected rangeland at 24%, and created built-up areas at 3%. The findings indicate that the Nyungwe-Kibira Forest is undergoing notable transformations, highlighting the necessity of land-based projects and mitigation plans to facilitate the restoration of the forest from its historical changes. Without proactive measures, an ongoing decrease in forest area by 2030 is anticipated.

Understanding Community Participation in Tree Planting and Management in Deforested Areas in Cameroon's Western Highlands.

Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates in Africa despite global net forest loss reductions. This is prompting large-scale forest restoration involving community volunteers to prevent, halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity for the sustainable development of forest landscapes in Africa. The study explored the motivations, challenges, barriers and negotiation strategies of community volunteers in ecosystem restoration and conservation initiatives in Cameroon's Western Highlands (Mount Bamboutos landscape), given that many such interventions are not achieving desired targets and goals. A total of 134 respondents involving farmers and local implementing NGO workers were interviewed, using semi-structured open-ended questionnaires. One focus group discussion was held with paramount traditional rulers to assess the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the community-led ecosystem restoration and conservation initiative. The principal components analysis with oblique (Direct oblimin) rotation was used to reduce the number of constitutive items in each dimension of motivation, challenge and barrier to community participation. Linear regression analysis was used to examine how the different dimensions of motivations, challenges and barriers influence community participation. Community participation was initially driven more by environmental motivations given the highly deforested and degraded Mount Bamboutos landscape, but later on driven more by economic and community motivations. Social factors were least expressed and non-significant predictors of participation. Community participation was primarily limited by management, financial, psychological, personal, and information challenges and barriers. Providing financial incentives to cover daily subsistence costs of food and transport was a key negotiation strategy that increased community participation. Conservation organisations should capitalise on environment, community and social motivational appeals during community education and awareness campaigns to increase voluntary community participation. The local knowledge on ecosystem restoration and conservation motivations, challenges, barriers, negotiation strategies, recommendations and SWOT analysis provide relevant baseline information for environment management decision-makers in Cameroon and other Sub-Saharan African countries.

What will it cost to achieve the COP26 Glasgow forest agreement commitment and halt global forest loss?

We quantified the minimum payments to halt global net forest loss by 2030, as per the commitment made by countries to the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forest and Land Use (GFA) at COP26 for the top 20 signatory countries (GFA20) in terms of net forest loss by area. We identified three possible pathways to achieve the GFA and quantified the differences in the avoided loss in carbon-sink capacity of forests in GFA20 countries due to forest loss. We calculated the difference in carbon-sink capacity between our best-case pathway (lowest net forest loss to achieve the GFA) and worst-case BAU pathway at 42 GtCO2e to 2030 and 152 GtCO2e to 2050. Further, we estimated the average per-hectare cost for each country and constructed a combined Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) for the GFA20. Based on the country-specific average cost and the MACC, we calculated that to deliver the GFA, at a minimum, would cost an additional 11–52 billion USD (2020 value) to 2030 and a further 343–694 billion USD between 2031 and 2050, over and above pre-COP26 funding commitments in forest conservation.

Toward a forest transition across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome

The world has entered the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), yet many regions of the world still face environmental degradation. In this context a question arises: under what conditions may a given region shift from a trajectory of environmental degradation to environmental recovery? Answering this question constitutes an important endeavor for the scientific community, policymakers, and organizations leading the planning and implementation of restoration projects. This study examines some of the human-environment conditions underpinning the net gains in natural forest cover in a region that has experienced environmental degradation: the Atlantic Forest biome, Brazil. Using land-use/cover (LULC) data, we assessed the loss and successive gain in forest cover during the 1987–2001 and 2001–2015 periods. Municipality-level statistics on agriculture and economy, together with LULC and biophysical data, were used to develop models for assessing forest cover trajectories. Of the 1,972 municipalities experiencing net forest loss during the 1987–2001 period, 59% shifted their trajectory to a net gain during the 2001–2015 period. This shift, known as forest transition, followed a complex socio-economic pathway characterized by (i) the stagnation of traditional agricultural activities favoring the replacement of pasturelands by mechanized agriculture, and (ii) the emergence of non-agricultural rural activities together with multifunctional landscapes. Furthermore, a trend of decrease in precipitation seems to be associated with land abandonment, thus, favoring the return of natural vegetation. Our findings suggest that forest transition at the biome level is possible if environmental and land regulations take advantage of specific context-dependent situations that foster net forest gains.

Forest conservation in Indigenous territories and protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon

Conflicts between forest conservation and socio-economic development in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) have persisted for years but the effects of Indigenous territory (ITs) and protected area (PAs) status on deforestation there remain unclear. To address this issue, we analysed time-series satellite images and qualified annual forest area in the BLA under different governance and management regimes. Between 2000 and 2021, areas classified as ITs or PAs increased to cover 52% of forested areas in the BLA while accounting for only 5% of net forest loss and 12% of gross forest loss. In the years (2003–2021) after establishment, gross forest loss fell 48% in PAs subject to ‘strict protection’ and 11% in PAs subject to ‘sustainable use’. However, from 2018 to 2021 the percentage rate of annual gross forest loss in ITs/PAs was twice that of non-designated areas. Our findings reveal the vital role of, and substantial progress achieved by, ITs and PAs in Amazonian forest conservation as well as the dangers of recent weakening of Brazil’s forest policies. The Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) has Earth’s largest tropical rainforest and a history of tension around its fate. Between 2001 and 2018, this study finds that Indigenous territories and protected areas in the BLA have expanded and reduced deforestation markedly, with some gains eroded in recent areas.

Spatiotemporal pattern of global forest change over the past 60 years and the forest transition theory

Forest ecosystems play an indispensable role in addressing various pressing sustainability and social-ecological challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. However, global forest loss has been, and still is today, an important issue. Here, based on spatially explicit data, we show that over the past 60 years (1960–2019), the global forest area has declined by 81.7 million ha (i.e. 10% more than the size of the entire Borneo island), with forest loss (437.3 million ha) outweighing forest gain (355.6 million ha). With this forest decline and the population increase (4.68 billion) over the period, the global forest per capita has decreased by over 60%, from 1.4 ha in 1960 to 0.5 ha in 2019. The spatiotemporal pattern of forest change supports the forest transition theory, with forest losses occurring primarily in the lower income countries in the tropics and forest gains in the higher income countries in the extratropics. Furthermore, economic growth has a stronger association with net forest gain than with net forest loss. Our results highlight the need to strengthen the support given to lower income countries, especially in the tropics, to help improve their capacity to minimize or end their forest losses. To help address the displacement of forest losses to the lower income countries in the tropics, higher income nations need to reduce their dependence on imported tropical forest products.

Large net forest loss in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake protected areas during 1992–2019

Historical land-use practices have caused forest loss in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake area (TSLA), the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. However, it remains unclear if this deforestation trend had continued since 2001 when the land was designated as protected areas. Using satellite imagery, we investigated forest conversion flows and fragmentation patterns in the TSLA for 1992–2001, 2001–2010, and 2010–2019, respectively. Results show substantial forest losses and fragmentations occurring at the lower floodplain where the protected areas are located until 2010, with some forest regain during 2010–2019. The land conversions indicated that forest clearing and agricultural farming were the primary causes for observed extensive forest loss during 1992–2010. Hence, despite the creating of protected areas in 2001, our findings reveal the persistence of alarming forest loss in the TSLA until 2010. On the other hand, while net forest loss has stopped after 2010, forest regain during 2010–2019 is way too small to restore the region’s total forest area to even the level when the protected areas were established. Thus, more effective planning and implementations of forest management and restoration policies are needed for the TSLA.

Forest Transition and Metropolitan Transformations in Developed Countries: Interpreting Apparent and Latent Dynamics with Local Regression Models

Metropolitan fringes in Southern Europe preserve, under different territorial contexts, natural habitats, relict woodlands, and mixed agro-forest systems acting as a sink of biodiversity and ecosystem services in ecologically vulnerable landscapes. Clarifying territorial and socioeconomic processes that underlie land-use change in metropolitan regions is relevant for forest conservation policies. At the same time, long-term dynamics of fringe forests in the northern Mediterranean basin have been demonstrated to be rather mixed, with deforestation up to the 1950s and a subsequent recovery more evident in recent decades. The present study makes use of Forest Transition Theory (FTT) to examine spatial processes of forest loss and expansion in metropolitan Rome, Central Italy, through local regressions elaborating two diachronic land-use maps that span more than 80 years (1936–2018) representative of different socioeconomic and ecological conditions. Our study evaluates the turnaround from net forest area loss to net forest area gain, considering together the predictions of the FTT and those of the City Life Cycle (CLC) theory that provides a classical description of the functioning of metropolitan cycles. The empirical findings of our study document a moderate increase in forest cover depending on the forestation of previously abandoned cropland as a consequence of tighter levels of land protection. Natural and human-driven expansion of small and isolated forest nuclei along fringe land was demonstrated to fuel a polycentric expansion of woodlands. The results of a Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) reveal the importance of metropolitan growth in long-term forest expansion. Forest–urban dynamics reflect together settlement sprawl and increased forest disturbance. The contemporary expansion of fringe residential settlements and peri-urban forests into relict agricultural landscapes claims for a renewed land management that may reconnect town planning, reducing the intrinsic risks associated with fringe woodlands (e.g., wildfires) with environmental policies preserving the ecological functionality of diversified agro-forest systems.

Land cover change-induced decline in terrestrial gross primary production over the conterminous United States from 2001 to 2016

As one of the most dynamic aspects of global environmental change, land cover change (LCC) has a profound impact on terrestrial carbon sequestration. However, LCC-induced carbon fluxes are still the most uncertain terms in global and regional carbon budgets. Ecosystem gross primary production (GPP) is the total carbon uptake by vegetation through photosynthesis, serving as a major control on ecosystem function and land carbon balance during and after the modification of the land surface. However, accurately capturing LCC-induced GPP changes requires both high-quality land cover data and controlling for variation driven by other environmental factors such as climate. In this study, we comprehensively examined the effects of LCC on annual GPP trends over the conterminous United States (CONUS) from 2001 to 2016 using the USGS National Land Cover Database, a remote sensing-driven ecosystem model, and the Google Earth Engine cloud computing platform. We designed a series of model experiments to identify LCC effects on GPP by controlling climate effects. During the study period, LCC exerted a strong negative effect on total GPP across the CONUS ([-2.2, -1.8] Tg C yr−2), while climate had smaller positive effects ([0.17, 0. 92] Tg C yr−2). The LCC-induced reduction of GPP was mainly caused by net forest loss ([-1.98, -1.39] Tg C yr−2) and urban expansion ([-2.03, -1.92] Tg C yr−2), but was partially offset by increases in crop area ([+0.66, +0.79] Tg C yr−2). Ensemble simulations from TRENDY did not capture the strong negative LCC influences on GPP, likely due to limitations of the adopted land use/cover data. Our study provides a novel perspective on LCC-induced GPP changes, which could help to improve our understanding of ecosystem function changes and constrain the estimation of land carbon balance in the context of anthropogenic activity and climate change.

Dynamics of deforestation worldwide: A structural decomposition analysis of agricultural land use in South America

Deforestation, mainly caused by the conversion of forest land to agriculture, threatens the achievement of multiple goals across the 2030 Agenda. This environmental issue is particularly marked in the area formed by Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay (ABP region), where a net forest loss of more than 5,5 million hectares per year and a simultaneous net gain in agricultural land of almost 3 million hectares were registered during 2000–2015. To identify the main contributors to the growth in agricultural land use driving regional deforestation, a Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA) is applied on multiregional input-output tables. Results suggest that changes detected within ABP were mainly influenced by shifts in domestic demand and exacerbated by the influence of Brazil within the Mercosur trade agreement. Outside ABP, results show that consumption per capita and population expansion in developed and developing economies (the EU28, the US, and China) are major drivers of regional deforestation. Although globalization led to a surge in the ABP’s land displaced to other countries, our results indicate that outsourced agricultural activities did not affect the growth in ABP’s agricultural land use. There is thus a need of designing mitigation measures with a global sense that also addresses co-responsibility mechanisms among countries in the region.

Linking Population and Forest Dynamics over the Conterminous US for the 1990s and 2000s

Few studies have investigated deforestation and population connections in the U.S. at large spatial extents or small scales. We examined forest cover changes over two decades, 1990-2000 and 2000-2010, in the continental U.S. at the county scale. Forest dynamics were estimated using the National Land Cover Database, a satellite-derived classification product and then linked to population data from the US. Census. At the aggregate level, high population growth seems to increase net forest loss in a non-linear manner, especially in the 2000s. Counties were also ranked based on observed forest change when compared to counties of similar population change. Looking specifically at the county level, the majority of counties with low ranking (interpreted as disproportionate high forest loss for experienced population change) were in the south east region for both 1990s and 2000s. In 2000s, the entire east coast demonstrated low rankings, along with regions in the northwest (Oregon and Washington) and central north (Minnesota, northern Wisconsin/Michigan). While our study was not designed to group socioeconomic and environmental drivers, linking forest dynamics to population changes offers important insights and supports comparisons at the national scale. Future work should consider targeted regional analysis motivated by our results and multi-factor modeling.

20 years of landscape dynamics within the world's largest multinational network of protected areas

The world's largest network of protected areas (PAs), Natura 2000, is facing different types of disturbances and pressures, however, it still remains unclear the impact they have on the conservation status of sites. Remote sensing big data analysis and satellite data were used to quantify dynamics of the dominant land cover category, landscape structure, and vegetation greenness, as indicators of conservation status, as well as drivers of change, between 2000 and 2018, within each Natura 2000 protected area, across the entire European Union. Our results show that the majority of sites are ‘favourable’ on natural land cover range and areas, but heading to ‘unfavourable’ status regarding the landscape structure, while an alarmingly high number of sites experience both net loss of the dominant land cover type and degradation of landscape structure, labeled consequently as having an ‘unfavourable’ conservation status. The results also showed high differences between biogeographic regions and countries, with an extremely low number of sites suffering dramatic changes to other dominant land cover types, mainly among grasslands. Mediterranean region showed a high net forest increase (mainly extension of existing forests) as well as insignificant changes of landscape fragmentation and diversity (predominantly in Greece, Spain and, Italy), related to the intensification of forest planting, and to a high loss of grassland area and cropland (land abandonment). High net forest gain, but increasing landscape fragmentation, was observed in the Continental region (mainly in Bulgaria, Poland, Germany and, Italy), suggesting that forest developed in numerous new smaller patches, due to the development of invasive species through natural processes (agricultural land abandonment) and natural system modifications. The Alpine region also showed a low positive net forest change, but with significant dynamics of gains due to reducing of agricultural activities and human disturbances, and losses due to natural catastrophes such as natural fires, storms, avalanches or landslides. Contrarily, the Boreal and Atlantic regions recorded considerable net forest loss during the analyzed period, caused mainly by the occurrence of natural catastrophes, natural biotic and abiotic processes (erosion, parasitism, diseases), and the increase of forestry clearance. These results show the high potential of moderate resolution remote sensing big data in assessing PAs, even more as higher spatial and temporal resolution satellite data are continuously emerging.

Effectiveness of Costa Rica’s Conservation Portfolio to Lower Deforestation, Protect Primates, and Increase Community Participation

Common approaches to reverse the trend of tropical deforestation and loss of wildlife include systems of protected areas (PAs) such as national parks, payments for ecosystem services programs (PES) that provide financial rewards to landowners protecting their forests, and ecotourism that attempts to increase local economic gains and protect biodiversity while minimizing detrimental ecological effects from tourists. For example, Costa Rica successfully reversed deforestation by restoring forest cover from 24.4% in 1985 to >50% by 2011 through implementation of national environmental protection policies in the 1990s that included a portfolio of PAs, PES, and ecotourism. However, the social-ecological effectiveness of this conservation portfolio in terms of interactions between deforestation, biodiversity, and community participation is not clear across local scales. Therefore, we conducted multitemporal geospatial analysis to determine forest cover change from 2001-2017, broad census surveys to determine primate species richness and group encounter rate, and surveyed private landowners to determine participation in PES and ecotourism across four regions of Costa Rica. Net forest loss varied sevenfold across regions and occurred in both protected and non-protected areas across all regions from 2001-2017, although rates were lower inside protected areas. Primate group encounter rate varied significantly across all regions with an elevenfold difference between the region with the most primates compared to the region with the least. All but one region contained the full community of primate species present. Participation in conservation incentives also varied sevenfold across regions, with those reporting the highest participation having the highest primate density and diversity, as well as the lowest deforestation rates. These results suggest that the most effective strategy to simultaneously curb tropical deforestation, protect primates, and ensure community benefits may depend on a complete portfolio of PAs, PES, and ecotourism, rather than a subset of these strategies. Future studies will explore finer scale differences and similarities across PA, PES, and ecotourism forests, including measures of primate physiology and behavior, forest structure, and pesticide exposure.

Using Geospatial Analysis to Map Forest Change in New Hampshire: 1996–Present

AbstractNew Hampshire’s forests are vitally important to the state’s economy; however, there are indications that the state is experiencing a continuous loss in forest cover. We sought to investigate forest cover trends in New Hampshire. A baseline trend in forest cover between 1996 and 2010 was established using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Change Analysis Program land cover data. A land cover map was then generated from Landsat imagery to extend the baseline trend to 2018. Results show that the state has experienced a continual decline in forest cover with the annual net loss steadily increasing from 0.14% between 1996 and 2001 to 0.27% between 2010 and 2018. Additionally, the more urbanized counties in southern New Hampshire are experiencing some of the greatest rates of net forest loss, most likely because of urbanization and agricultural expansion. This study demonstrated an effective methodology for tracking forest cover change and will hopefully inform future forest use policies.

Forest cover dynamics in the Selva Maya of Central and Southern Quintana Roo, Mexico: deforestation or degradation?

ABSTRACTForest cover dynamics (1993-2018) was assessed in two regions on the Yucatan Peninsula: Zona Maya (ZM), 67% indigenous with shifting cultivation and community forestry; and Bacalar–Rio Hondo (BRH), mainly commercial agriculture and pastureland. Degradation (12,915 ha y−1) exceeded deforestation (5882 ha y−1) and was worse in BRH. In BRH there was a net forest loss (−1.6% y−1) associated with pastureland and commercial agriculture. In ZM, mature forest recovery (1.4% y−1) and dynamic forest cover (continuous loss and gain) were associated with shifting cultivation. Changes were more intense during 2011–2018 and gains of mature forest in ZM and deforested areas in BRH targeted secondary vegetation. Fragments of mature and secondary vegetation decreased, and connectivity improved in ZM, but opposite trends occurred in BRH. Reporting and monitoring deforestation using Global Forest Watch data is inadequate since 62% of forest cover loss represent degrading or recovering forest cover.

Spatio–Temporal Changes of Forests in Northeast China: Insights from Landsat Images and Geospatial Analysis

Dramatic changes of forests have strong influence on regional and global carbon cycles, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Understanding dynamics of forests from local to global scale is crucial for policymaking and sustainable development. In this study, we developed an updating and object-based image analysis method to map forests in Northeast China using Landsat images from 1990 to 2015. The spatio–temporal patterns of forests were quantified based on resultant maps and geospatial analysis. Results showed that the percentage of forested area occupying the entire northeast China was more than 40%, about 94% of initial forest cover remained unchanged (49.37 × 104 km2) over the course of 25 years. A small net forest loss (1051 km2) was observed during 1990–2015. High forest gain (10,315 km2) and forest loss (9923 km2) both occurred from 2010 to 2015. At the provincial level, Heilongjiang demonstrated the highest rate of deforestation, with a net loss of 1802 km2 (0.89%). Forest changes along elevation, slope, and distance from settlements and roads were also investigated. Over 90% of forest changes occurred in plains and low mountain areas within the elevation of 200–1000 m and slope under 15°. The most dramatic forest changes can be found within the distance of 2000 m from settlements and roads. The reclamation of sloping land, construction of settlements and roads, and possible smallholder clearing contributed more to forest loss, while ecological projects and related government policies play an important role on afforestation and reforestation. These results can provide useful spatial information for further research on the driving forces and consequences of forest changes, which have critical implications for scientific conservation and management of forests.

The neglected burden of agricultural intensification: a contribution to the debate on land-use change

ABSTRACT Between 1992 and 2015 Argentina lost 17% of its tree cover. Regionally, deforestation continues, but net forest loss recently came to a halt. Some scholars argue that this was facilitated by industrial agricultural intensification. This view is debated, but we focus on the neglected costs associated with this intensification. An almost tenfold increase of pesticide use in Argentina during the last two decades caused the pollution of soil, water and sediments. The widespread use of pesticides is impairing the health of agricultural workers and people living near agricultural fields, and is putting the health of vulnerable parts of the population (children and pregnant women) at risk. More than 50 pesticide active ingredients marketed in Argentina have been banned in the European Union for safety reasons. We contend that health and pollution aspects need to be taken into account when assessing the benefits and drawbacks of different types of land use.

Annual continuous fields of woody vegetation structure in the Lower Mekong region from 2000‐2017 Landsat time-series

Spatially and temporally consistent vegetation structure time-series have great potential to improve the capacity for national land cover monitoring, to reduce latency and cost of international reporting, and to harmonize regional land cover characterizations. Here we present a semi-automatic, operational algorithm for mapping and monitoring of woody vegetation canopy cover and height at a regional scale using freely available Landsat time-series data. The presented algorithm employs automatic data processing and mapping using a set of lidar-based vegetation structure prediction models. Changes in vegetation cover are detected separately and integrated into the structure time-series. Sample-based validation and inter-comparison with existing datasets demonstrates the spatial and temporal consistency of our regional data time-series. The dataset reliably reflects changes in tree cover (tree cover loss user's accuracy of 0.84 and producer's accuracy of 0.75) and can serve as a tool to map annual forest extent (user's accuracy of 0.98 and producer's accuracy of 0.81 for 10% canopy cover threshold to define the forest class). The tree height estimates are consistent with a GLAS-based global map (mean average error of 3.7 m, the correlation coefficient of 0.92 and the R2 of 0.85). The algorithm was prototyped within the Lower Mekong region where it revealed an intensive woody vegetation dynamic. Of the year 2000 forest area (defined using canopy cover threshold of 10% and tree height threshold of 5 m), 9.4% was deforested by the year 2017, and 16.6% was affected by stand-replacement disturbance followed by reforestation. The average annual area of stand-level forest disturbance within the region was 2.34 Mha, and increased by 34% from 2001 (1.85 Mha) to 2017 (2.48 Mha). Total forest area decreased by 6.2% within the region, and 11.1% of year 2000 primary forest area was lost by 2017. At the national level, Cambodia demonstrated the highest rate of deforestation, with a net forest area loss of 22.5%. We estimated that 21.3% of 2017 forest cover had an age of 17 years or less, illustrating the intensive forest land uses within the region. The time-series product is suitable for mapping annual land cover and inter-annual land cover change using customized class definitions. The regionally-consistent data are publicly available for download (https://glad.umd.edu/), and online analysis (https://rlcms-servir.adpc.net/en/forest-monitor/), and serve as an input to the SERVIR-Mekong Regional Land Cover Monitoring System.