Africa Loses Vast Swathes Of Vital Forest – Study

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Africa lost around 3.6m ha (about 14,000 sq miles) of tree cover in 2022, according to new data.

This includes about 800,000 ha (3,000 sq miles) of primary – or old-growth – tropical forests, with the majority of that loss coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ghana has also seen a massive increase in tropical primary forest losses in recent years of about 70% – mostly in protected areas.

Losses have also accelerated in other countries, like Angola and Cameroon.

Nevertheless, there are countries – like Ivory Coast, Gabon and Madagascar – that have managed to reverse this trend, suggesting improvements are possible.

Primary tropical forests are critical for nature, climate and people.

For example, they take planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, preventing further temperature rises

Scientists warn this can’t easily be done by newer trees planted elsewhere because primary forests have developed over such a long period of time.

The increase in global deforestation – defined as human-caused, permanent removal of natural forest cover – followed pledges made by over 100 world leaders in 2021 to “halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030”.

Source: BBC