Forget guilt over calories – the next time you dig into your favourite meal, you might feel guilt over culled forests, displaced animal homes and less oxygen on the planet.
Half of Forest Land Illegally Cleared
A recent report by the United States non-profit organisation Forest Trends found that more than 50 percent of all forest land that has been cleared between the years 2000 and 2012 has been illegal. Many agricultural exports have been grown on this land, such as beef, soy, palm oil and timber. Shockingly, the deforestation has been occurring at a rate of five football fields every minute.
No Trees, More Global Emissions
It’s not just the loss of trees that we should be worried about. Scientists have found that up to 20 percent of global carbon emissions originate from deforestation – this is more than emissions from every truck, plane and car combined!
Planting a Solution
So how are companies managing to illegally destroy forests? Through fraudulent permits that were given to them from corrupt officials. In order to tackle the problem, the following measures have been suggested to be put into place by governments of producer countries:
- Pausing all forest conversion until legal frameworks are installed.
- Using technological methods, such as satellite images, to keep a watchful eye on deforestation.
- Setting stricter penalties on all offenders.
- Improving law enforcement by ensuring better information sharing between government agencies.
What You Can Do To Alleviate the Problem
We’re not completely helpless when it comes to doing something positive to prevent deforestation.
- Use brands committed to ending deforestation as much as possible.
- Decrease your use of items such as palm oil. This ingredient is found in many foods and products, but the less it is required, the fewer forests will be culled to produce it.
- Buy items that are produced from recycled metal, plastic, and paper. This not only creates less waste but also uses less energy.
- As cattle ranching is a leading cause of deforestation, decrease your consumption of meat.
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