Report Finds Successful Efforts to Reduce Deforestation

Programs and policies to reduce tropical deforestation are seeing broad success in 17 countries across four continents, according to a report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

The report, Deforestation Success Stories: Tropical Nations Where Forest Protection and Reforestation Policies Have Worked, highlights successes in reducing deforestation and restoring forests while supporting economic development in 17 countries across Africa, Latin America and south and southeast Asia. While some countries highlighted in the report, including Brazil, are known for their forest efforts, other countries, including Mexico, El Salvador and the six countries of Central Africa, emerge as surprising innovators.

In the 1990s, an average of 16 million hectares of forest were cleared per year, which accounted for about 17 percent of all climate emissions.  By the early 2000s, deforestation was down 19 percent to 13 million hectares.  Currently, deforestation is responsible for about 10 percent of climate emissions globally.

Report Finds Successful Efforts to Reduce Deforestation