How Can We Stop Deforestation?

One football field of forest gone every second 

Since 2016, 28 million hectares of forest have been cut down every year on average. That’s one football field of forest lost every SECOND of every day, year in and year out. 

From 2001 to 2018, a forest area larger than India was lost worldwide (3,610,000 square kilometers). The loss is equivalent to a 9 % reduction in global tree cover since 2000.

Why deforestation? Our everyday products

The main drivers for the loss of forests are production of timber and the clearing of land for cattle, soy, and palm oil production. 

“The main reason tropical forests are disappearing is not a mystery – vast areas continue to be cleared for soy, beef, palm oil, timber, and other globally traded commodities.''

- Frances Seymour, the World Resources Institute.

The Trees have no Tongues…

We’ve heard about how we’re losing vast tracts of forests each year – for many reasons. We’ve also learned about the negative effects. Trees are a very important part of our biodiversity. It is vital to life on Earth. So how come we’re killing them? How can we stop deforestation?

Tropical rainforests have more than 210 gigatons of carbon stored within its trees. When we cut them now, not only are we reducing our supplier of oxygen, we are releasing all that carbon in our atmosphere.

To date, more than 4.6 million hectares of forests have been cut down or burned – to supply our ever increasing demand for wood and land.

Save our Forests

You can contribute to the efforts against deforestation by doing these easy steps:

1. Plant a Tree where you can.
2. Go paperless at home and in the office. 
3. Buy recycled products and then recycle them again.
4. Buy certified wood products. Read the labels and look for the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) mark.
5. Support the products of companies that are committed to reducing deforestation. It’s all about business. If you don’t buy, they will be encouraged to improve their practices.
6. Raise awareness in your circle and in your community.
7. Buy only what you will use. 
8. Don’t use Palm Oil or products with Palm Oil.

Every product that is made out of trees is Recyclable. Practice recycling diligently.

Your power as a consumer is vital to stopping deforestation. Just like any business, if there’s no demand then the supply will be lessened. Fortunately, there are environmentally and forest friendly businesses that are helping to stop deforestation. They need your support. Let’s encourage their efforts by patronizing their products.