International agriculture and lumber industries are main drivers of tropical deforestation, according to a new study. Roughly a third of recent tropical deforestation and associated carbon emissions (3.9 Mha and 1.7 GtCO2) can be attributed to the production of beef, soy, palm oil and timber alone.
The analysis maps the link between deforestation for the above-mentioned four commodities in eight case countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea) to consumption, through international trade. The analysis covers the period 2000-2009.
The studied countries comprise a large share of the internationally traded volumes of the analyzed commodities: 83% of beef and 99% of soybean exports from Latin America, 97% of global palm oil exports and roughly half of (official) tropical timber trade.
On average, a third of analyzed deforestation is attributable to agricultural exports, mainly to the EU and China. In all countries but Bolivia and Brazil, export markets are dominant drivers of forest clearing for the four analyzed commodities.