If tropical deforestation were a country, it would rank third in global emissions behind China and the United States. Tree cover loss is on the rise, but channeling climate mitigation finance towards forests could change the course of the world's climate.
Charcoal production is destroying mountain gorillas' habitat in Virunga National Park. Pastureland is pushing into protected forests in Brazil. Satellites are watching these and other threatened forests.
Transforming the way the world eats is the forgotten solution for achieving major economic and climate gains.
More than a quarter of global tree cover loss between 2001 and 2015 was associated with commodity-driven deforestation, not likely to be forested again, finds a new study published in Science.
Global Forest Watch has always been able to tell you where tree cover loss has occurred. Now, in a huge leap, it can tell you why.
Countries are joining the restoration movement, and especially the Bonn Challenge. But few have yet aligned their restoration and climate commitments. Doing so would make the planet greener—and the air cleaner—faster.
In a short documentary film, "Abadiat", independent filmmaker Purabi Bose explores the struggles of adivasi, indigenous women in India, who seek recognition of their rights to community lands and forests.
This event highlights the challenges Indigenous Peoples and communities face in acquiring legal rights to their land, the loopholes companies can often take, and ways countries can simplify complex procedures.
Indonesia must build on recent reductions in tree cover loss and protections for peatlands. To get there, they'll need more international support, innovative schemes such as peatland restoration and continued monitoring.
Most of the tree cover loss in our sample concession occurred in areas where, using clues from the ground, we can conclude it wasn't illegal deforestation. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
Colombia is the latest country to join the Cocoa and Forests Initiative, which aims to create a global movement for deforestation-free cocoa. Sustainable cocoa farming offers a viable alternative to Colombia's violent coca trade, among other benefits.
Most news stories about the Democratic Republic of the Congo focus on ebola outbreaks and violence. But within the country's forests, positive changes are happening.
Las comunidad de Santa Clara Uchunya lleva varias generaciones viviendo en una zona remota del Amazonas peruano.
Indigenous and community lands, crucial for rural livelihoods, are typically held under informal customary arrangements.
This infographic allows you to navigate the process for a community seeking formal land rights in Indonesia, versus for a company securing an oil palm concession.
The Santa Clara de Uchunya community has lived in a remote section of the Peruvian Amazon for generations, relying on the forest for hunting, fishing and natural resources. But in 2014, someone started cutting down large sections of their ancestral lands. They've been struggling for their land rights ever since.
This working paper explains how much and why results differ between nationally reported deforestation estimates and the Global Forest Change (GFC) tree cover loss data of Hansen et al. (2013).
The tropics lost 15.8 million hectares of tree cover in 2017, an area the size of Bangladesh. That’s the equivalent of losing 40 football fields of trees every minute for an entire year!
Even though more and more companies are committing to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains, the tropics lost a Vietnam-sized area of forest in just the last two years. Why aren't forest protections working?
Brazil's semi-arid Caatinga region is a living laboratory for climate change impacts, with record-breaking droughts from 2010 to 2016. Local farmers are using landscape restoration techniques to boost climate resilience -- and are creating jobs for women in the process.