Deforestation is the destruction of forests. This disrupts the global carbon cycle and has massive impacts on the environment. Reforestation is a critical practice of restoration that works to make forests healthier as trees are replanted ot natural regeneration is encouraged.
Because of its impacts on climate change and biodiversity, deforestation is one of the most critical environmental issues right now.
Why does the preservation of forests matter?
Trees and soil currently absorb 30% of the CO2 created by human activity making them a significant carbon sink.Forests are critical in regulating the Earth’s climate and mitigating climate change. Forests sequester carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, storing large amounts of carbon which is then released into the atmosphere when forests are burned. Deforestation disrupts the carbon cycle, reducing the number of trees that are able to take in carbon dioxide and accelerating global warming. Deforestation accounts for 15% of human-caused emissions.
Additionally, preserving forests matters because:
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Forests protect the world’s biodiversity. Deforestation can lead to the extinction of species that rely on forests for critical habitat and food sources.
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Forests are necessary for human health and survival, producing the air we breathe and purifying water. According to the World Resources Institute, about “1.6 billion people, including 70 million Indigenous Peoples, rely on forest resources for their livelihoods.”
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Forests provide valuable ecosystem services, including recreation, aesthetic benefits, and economic benefits with over 106,000 forestry jobs in America.
How much forest land does the U.S. have?
The United States boasts the world’s fourth-largest forest estate, making up about 8% of global forests. Forests cover about one-third of U.S. land – almost 800 million acres. 521 million acres (68%) of this land is timberland — primarily used for production. Alongside these production-focused areas, there are reserved forests covering 75 million acres that are specifically preserved and not managed for timber harvest. The United States also boasts 187 million acres of other forest types, including woodlands, scrub forests, and urban forests.
Is the U.S. losing its forests? A few facts:
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In June 2020, data from the University of Maryland suggests that we lost a football field of primary forest every six seconds in 2019, making our loss 2.8% higher than the year before.
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In 2021 alone, the U.S. lost 4.22 million acres of forest, equivalent to 775 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
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The rate of loss in 2023 was nearly identical to 2021.
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Over the centuries, the country has witnessed the destruction of a staggering 75% of its virgin forests (since the 1600s).
Why are forests being cleared?
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In many parts of the world, they are cleared for agriculture — mainly to grow soy, raise cattle, and produce palm oil.
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In the Amazon, cattle ranching, mining and soybean farming are contributing to deforestation: the Amazon lost 54.2 million hectares of forest land from 2001 to 2020. The raging fires during President Bolsonaro’s first year in office in 2019 created an environmental and humanitarian crisis, highlighting how deforestation and natural disasters are entangled with policy, politics and human rights.
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In the U.S., logging, agriculture, urbanization, natural disasters and wildfires, and illegal unsustainable practices are the five biggest causes of deforestation.
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Particular kinds of agriculture cause more deforestation than others. For example, slash-and-burn agriculture, which involves cutting and burning. Eventually the land will become infertile, so the process is repeated in new forested areas.
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Oil extraction and mining contribute to deforestation globally.
What are some consequences of deforestation?
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The Amazon has moved from carbon sink to a source of CO2, emitting more than it is able to absorb.
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The trees which are “breathing in” CO2 and “breathing out” moisture, sequestering many tonnes of CO2, are being eliminated.
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1.6 billion people, including nearly 70 million indigenous people, are losing the forest resources they rely on for their livelihoods. Deforestation also impacts local temperatures and rainfall in ways that can compound the local effects of global climate change, with consequences for human health, not to mention agricultural productivity.
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More than half the world’s land-based plants and animals, and three-quarters of all birds, who live in and around forests, are losing their habitats. Deforestation both destroys habitats and creates habitat fragmentation. Habitat loss also contributes to an increase in the transmission of infectious diseases to humans from animals.
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Burning forests contributes to air pollution.
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Deforestation makes soil more prone to erosion, increasing the risk of floods, landslides and storm surges.
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Wildfire: deforestation makes forests more susceptible to wildfires, contributing to the fire-climate feedback loop.
Are there new dangers from global warming?
Can reforestation fix deforestation?
By planting trees in areas that have been degraded or deforested, reforestation helps the environment by guaranteeing, or accelerating the re-establishment of healthy forest structure by regrowing the forest canopy and preserving biodiversity within the ecosystem. Reforestation is a critical part of the USDA’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy, as threats to forests continue to increase in severity and frequency with climate change. Halting deforestation could reduce emissions by 4 gigatonnes a year.
What has the U.S. government done about deforestation?
President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad called for a conservation plan for forests. You can read The Plan here, which aims to help deliver by 2030 the global goal of ending forest loss and restoring 200 million hectares of forests.
In April 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order on “Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities and Local Economies,” noting that America’s forests absorb more than 10 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions and claiming that his administration “is committed to doing its part to combat deforestation around the world.” The order also called for two reports on deforestation, released in 2023: Combating International Deforestation Associated with Agricultural Commodity Production and Reducing International Deforestation through U.S. government international programming, assistance finance, investment, trade and trade promotion.
In conclusion:
Increasing 
