Motaher Hossain :
“Trees and forests are friends of the environment.” This is an eternal truth. Yet, despite this reality, forests are being destroyed across the world, including in Bangladesh.
Recent international research has once again highlighted alarming evidence of this trend.
According to joint research by the World Food Organization and Global Watch, several countries are responsible for the highest levels of deforestation.
Notable among them are Brazil, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Peru, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Madagascar.
In Brazil, large parts of the Amazon rainforest are being cleared for agricultural expansion, cattle ranching, deliberate fires, and mining activities.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to the world’s second-largest rainforest (the Congo Basin), forests are being cut down for fuel wood, agriculture, and livelihoods driven by poverty.
In Bolivia’s Santa Cruz region, agricultural expansion, livestock farming, and fires are causing widespread forest loss. Paraguay’s Chaco forests are being destroyed for cattle ranching.
Argentina is losing forests in the Gran Chaco region due to agriculture and soybean cultivation.
In Peru, coca cultivation and agricultural expansion are driving deforestation. In Malaysia, forests and wildlife habitats are being destroyed for the palm oil industry. Myanmar faces forest loss due to teak exports and illegal logging.
In Nigeria, population growth, agriculture, and fuel demand have already destroyed nearly 90 percent of forests.
In Madagascar, continued agriculture, fuelwood use, and forest fires are threatening unique biodiversity.
In Cameroon, agricultural expansion and illegal timber trafficking are reducing forest cover.
These findings emerge from research conducted by a team led by Professor Heiko Balster of the University of Leicester, along with Dr. Neža Ašil and other young researchers.
The researchers warn that African forests—once key allies in the fight against climate change—are no longer absorbing carbon but have instead become sources of carbon emissions.
While African forests absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for decades, they are now releasing more carbon than they absorb.
This alarming shift, which has occurred since 2010, has reinforced the urgency for world leaders to take stronger action to protect forests.
It was a major topic of discussion at the recently concluded COP30 climate conference in Brazil.
Using advanced satellite data and machine learning technologies, researchers tracked the amount of carbon stored in vegetation—known as “aboveground biomass”—over more than a decade since 2007.
While Africa gained carbon between 2007 and 2010, this trend reversed afterward due to extensive deforestation.
Between 2010 and 2017, Africa lost approximately 106 billion kilograms of forest biomass each year—equivalent to the weight of about 106 million cars.
Tropical moist broadleaf forests were heavily destroyed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and parts of West Africa. Although shrub growth increased in savanna regions, it was insufficient to compensate for the losses.
Professor Heiko Balster, Director of the Institute for Environmental Futures at the University of Leicester, stated: “This is a serious warning for global climate policy. If African forests no longer absorb carbon, other regions will need to reduce emissions even more to keep the Paris Agreement goals within reach.
Rapid climate finance is needed for initiatives such as the ‘Tropical Forests Forever’ fund to halt global deforestation.”
Accordingly, the COP30 Presidency announced the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, aimed at financially supporting forest-rich countries to preserve their forests. However, research warns that without swift action, the world risks losing one of its most important natural carbon buffers.
Although the causes of deforestation are broadly similar across countries, global indifference toward forest protection is deeply concerning.
Climate change itself weakens forest ecosystems, making trees less resilient and reducing their carbon storage capacity. Forest fires further degrade forests, reduce rainfall, raise temperatures, and prolong droughts.
African forests once absorbed millions of tons of carbon annually; declining absorption now means accelerated global warming, making it increasingly difficult to achieve the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C emissions target.
The countries most affected by forest loss include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon. The research describes forests as a “game-changer” for climate policy due to their role in carbon absorption and climate risk reduction.
There is growing concern that if African forests permanently become carbon sources, achieving global climate targets may become nearly impossible. This would not be just Africa’s problem—it would signal a profound shift in the Earth’s carbon balance.
Dr. Neža Ašil of the University of Leicester calls for stronger initiatives to protect forests. She recommends strengthening forest governance, enforcing laws against illegal logging, and restoring 100 million hectares of land across Africa by 2030 to help offset losses. Another researcher, Dr. Pedro Rodríguez Vega, noted:
“This research provides critical risk information for voluntary carbon markets.
Deforestation is not just a local issue—it is reshaping the global carbon balance. If African forests become permanent carbon sources, achieving global climate goals will be extremely difficult. Governments, the private sector, and civil society must work together to increase investment in forest conservation.”
The research warns that reduced forest cover will weaken air, water, and soil quality, wildlife protection, biodiversity, climate risk reduction, and carbon absorption.
Although the study does not specifically address Bangladesh, the country is densely populated, riverine, and highly vulnerable to climate change. To reduce climate risks, forest cover should ideally be 20–25 percent.
Officially, Bangladesh has 12.8 percent forest cover, though the actual figure is likely lower. In this context, expanding protected forests alongside nationwide tree planting—in cities and villages, green corridors, riverbanks, char lands, and open spaces—must be prioritized.
Trees remain one of the most effective tools for climate risk reduction and carbon absorption. Therefore, increasing forest cover and strengthening forest protection through global, regional, sub-regional, and local initiatives is essential.
(The writer is Editor, Climate Journal 24.com and General Secretary, Bangladesh Climate Change Journalists Forum (BCCJF)
