Images reveal ‘rapid forest loss’
- The red emphasis, below, is mine. Again and again, we read of government authorities noticing the problems with deforestation and beginning actions to protect forests. And then two or three years later, a new report is issued and once again the problem get press and the government notices again and more promises are made.
- And, in the end, nothing happens - and the trees continue to fall and the profiteers continue to profit - and we all lose.
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High-resolution satellite images have revealed the “rapid deforestation” of Papua New Guinea’s biodiversity rich rainforests over the past 30 years.
An international team of researchers estimates that the current rate of loss could result in more than half of the nation’s tree cover being lost by 2021.
They added that the main threats came from commercial logging and burning.
Existing conservation measures were failing to protect the world’s third largest rainforest, the team concluded.
Scientists from the University of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Australian National University spent five years analysing satellite images that showed deforestation and habitat destruction between 1972 and 2002.
They estimated that in 2001 the nation’s accessible forests were being cleared or degraded at an annual rate of 362,000 hectares (3,620 sq km).
The images also showed that trees in protected areas were being felled at the same rate as unprotected regions, the team added.
Although it only accounts for less than 0.5% of the Earth’s land cover, the heavily forested island nation is home to an estimated 6-7% of the planet’s species.
“It is still one of the most forested nations on the planet,” said lead author Phil Shearman.
“However, the report details how the forests are being lost at a far higher rate than previously thought.”
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