Largescale deforestation threatens our natural defenses #shots #shorts #climatechange #biodiversity

Despite some progress in curbing deforestation, conversion of forests to other land use remains
a major threat to these critical resources and a serious shortcoming in achieving climate and
biodiversity global goals. According to various analyses on forest cover and land use change,
expansion of agricultural land and deforestation are closely linked and therefore solutions to
sustainable agriculture and forestry need to be determined together.

The Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020 Remote Sensing Survey (FRA 2020
RSS) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through a remote
sensing and sampling-based approach, has confirmed this nexus. Indeed, the survey showed
that the impact of agricultural expansion on forests over the period 2000–2018 has been greater
than previously thought, driving almost 90 percent of deforestation.
The study presented in this document expands on the work conducted during the FRA
2020 RSS by refining the original analysis to obtain additional information on deforestation
drivers linked to agriculture. Notably, considering the importance it would have in designing
appropriate strategies for halting deforestation, the study assesses the share of agriculturedriven deforestation linked to small-scale and large-scale farming, both for cropping
and livestock systems.
Worldwide, in the period 2000–2018, most of the forest conversion to cropland and
grassland occurred in the context of small-scale farming, which accounted for 68 percent
of agriculture-driven deforestation – 40 percent for cropland and 28 percent for livestock grazing
(Figure A). Deforestation due to cropland expansion was for 71 percent linked to small-scale
farming and 29 percent to large-scale farming (Figure B). With regards to deforestation due to
livestock grazing, 64 percent was associated to small-scale farming and 36 percent to largescale farming.
Figure A and B

FAO, 2023

#Deforestation #SaveOurForests #SustainableAgriculture #ProtectThePlanet #EcoFriendlyFarming #ForestsMatter #GreenFarming #StopDeforestation #Conservation #ClimateAction #Biodiversity #Agroforestry #Reforestation #Sustainability #EnvironmentalProtection"