SINGAPORE - Every minute in 2023, the world lost the equivalent of 10 football pitches of tropical primary forest cover, a global study released on April 4 showed.

In total, primary rainforest loss totalled 3.7 million ha, or about the size of Bhutan. That is down 9 per cent from 2022, but still stubbornly high and similar to the totals in 2021 and 2019. Primary forest refers to pristine forest that exists in its original condition.

A dramatic drop in forest loss in Brazil and Colombia in 2023 was offset by rises in Indonesia, Laos and Bolivia, among other countries, the study by the World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch platform and the University of Maryland showed.

The figures are concerning because mature rainforests are vital storehouses of nature which soak up large amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) and regulate regional and local climates. They also provide food and livelihoods for millions of people and are major sources of fresh water for rivers.

Despite their many benefits, these forests are being cleared at an alarming rate for agriculture, mining, roads and urbanisation. This is despite a pledge in 2021 by more than 140 countries to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.

The annual study used satellite data to calculate forest loss from clearing, fires or other causes. The scientists involved focused mainly on the loss of tropical primary forests because almost all deforestation takes place in the tropics.

“And also because those tropical primary forests represent some of the most important ecosystems to protect in order to avoid carbon emissions and biodiversity loss,” Ms Mikaela Weisse, director of Global Forest Watch, told a media briefing.

She said primary forest loss in 2023 caused the release of 2.4 billion tonnes of CO2, equivalent to almost half the fossil fuel emissions of the US, underscoring the climate value in protecting the rainforests. 

Brazil recorded a 36 per cent drop in primary forest loss, coinciding with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s first year in office. Since his re-election, Mr Lula has revoked anti-environmental measures of the past administration, recognised new indigenous territories and bolstered law enforcement.

In Colombia, primary forest loss fell 49 per cent. Ms Weisse pointed to President Gustavo Petro’s peace talks with different armed groups that focused on forest conservation as an explicit goal.

But these gains were countered by losses elsewhere, including a 27 per cent increase in primary forest loss in Bolivia, which recorded the third-highest primary forest loss of any tropical country in 2023. Fires and agricultural expansion were the main reasons.

In Laos, rainforest loss surged by 47 per cent, to 136,533ha in 2023 from 93,089ha in 2022.

“Primary forest loss in Laos is mostly driven by agricultural expansion, which is fuelled in part by demand and investment in agriculture by China,” Ms Elizabeth Goldman, senior research manager for Global Forest Watch, told the media briefing.

Agriculture and mining were also partly behind a 27 per cent jump in rainforest loss in Indonesia to just over 290,000ha, or four times the area of Singapore.

“About 15 per cent of the loss in Indonesia in 2023 occurred in patches of over 100ha alongside existing palm oil and pulpwood plantations,” Mr Rod Taylor, forests director at the World Resources Institute, told The Straits Times.

“However, the vast majority of loss occurred in smaller patches where it is very difficult to pinpoint a single driver,” he said, adding that despite being an El Nino year, fires were responsible for only 5 per cent of Indonesia’s primary forest loss in 2023.

However, going forward, there are concerns that the focus of the incoming administration of Mr Prabowo Subianto to boost biodiesel production and expand agricultural food estates could lead to more land clearing, some commentators have said.

Globally, tree cover loss increased by 24 per cent in 2023 from 2022 because of huge wildfires in Canada. Not including Canada, global tree cover loss decreased by 4 per cent.

Canada lost 7.8 million ha of tree cover from fires in 2023, three times more than any previous year, largely driven by intense drought and rising temperatures caused by climate change.

Ultimately, the bottom line from the 2023 data means “countries can cut rates of forest loss when they muster the political will to do so”, Mr Taylor told the media briefing. But progress can be reversed when political winds change.

“So to sustain reduced deforestation rates, the global economy needs to increase the value of standing forests relative to the short-term gains on offer from clearing forests to make way for farms, mines or new roads,” he said.

This included rewarding forest protection and restoration by valuing forests for the carbon they store, the water they regulate or their biodiversity, and securing the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities living in and around forests, he said.

Studies show that indigenous groups are successful forest guardians.