Tree Huggers

• Researchers say Indonesia’s claim of a 90% deforestation drop over the past decade is misleading due to cherry-picked data and an extreme baseline year.
• The actual decline is closer to 50-69%, driven by earlier policies and reduced forest availability in many regions.
• Deforestation is rising again, especially in Papua and Sulawesi, fueled by palm oil, pulpwood, and mining expansion.
• Civil society groups are crucial in tracking and exposing forest loss amid conflicting government policies and rising environmental threats.

"Estimates suggest that more than 90% of tropical deforestation continues to be driven by agriculture" and yet this article fails to mention the cow in the room...

The researchers also highlighted another likely major reason for the drop in deforestation: that there’s simply much less forest left to clear. They estimated that up to a third of the reduction in the deforestation rate can be explained by this so-called forest scarcity effect.

This is an important point. Whenever you read that deforestation rates are decreasing anywhere in the world, keep this in mind. There is a reason that Europe has such low deforestation rates while tropical rainforests have some of the highest.

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• Mongabay article
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As the world warms, driving sea levels higher, saltwater is encroaching along the world’s coasts and into its estuaries. The seawater invasion can overtake the freshwater that gives life to deciduous trees

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• Cambodian authorities have approved a new cement factory inside Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, despite a 2023 moratorium on new mining licenses, raising concerns about enforcement and conservation integrity.
• Factory developer KP Cement, a politically connected firm previously linked to deforestation, was awarded a 50-year lease on 99 hectares (245 acres) within the ostensibly protected sanctuary and is already clearing forest near a planned limestone mine.
• Local communities have expressed alarm over environmental degradation, health risks from limestone dust, and being excluded from decision-making, saying the development benefits only elites.
• The project reflects a broader pattern of politically tied companies exploiting Prey Lang’s resources despite its protected status, with critics accusing the government of favoring industry over conservation.

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• Indonesia’s human rights commission has found serious rights and environmental violations in a government-backed plantation project in Papua, including land grabbing, lack of Indigenous consent, and militarization that has created fear among local communities.
• The project, aiming to clear 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) for sugarcane and rice plantations, threatens biodiverse forests and Indigenous livelihoods, violating national and international protections for land rights, food security and environmental health.
• Five key rights were found to be violated: rights to land, environment, food, participation in decision-making, and security — all guaranteed by Indonesian law and international norms.
• The rights commission, Komnas HAM, recommended legal recognition of Indigenous lands, fair participation, and restoration of rights, but civil society groups are calling for a complete halt to the project and demilitarization, warning of systematic harm if it continues.

(To be clear, they intend to cut down the rainforest and plant 3 million hectares of grass.)

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A justice on the Brazilian Supreme Court has directed the government to seize private lands where forests have been illegally razed.

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• A new report has found that protected areas and Indigenous territories in the Amazon store more aboveground carbon than the rest of the rainforest.
• Protected areas and Indigenous territories were also found to serve as significant carbon sinks between 2013 and 2022, absorbing 257 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
• Protected areas in Colombia, Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana were found to be significant carbon sinks.
• The report underscores the need to protect these areas that aren’t currently threatened by deforestation as they play a critical role in offsetting emissions from other parts of the forest.

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In Brazil, the Jequitinhonha Valley, where the four Maxakali territories are located, has suffered a dramatic rise in temperatures in recent years. Twenty Brazilian cities registered temperatures five degrees Celsius (nine degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the average daily maximum. The city of Araçua even shattered the record for the hottest temperature in Brazil’s history in November of that year. More than 85 percent of the Atlantic Forest has been destroyed. In Minas Gerais, experts estimate, less than eight percent remains. Brazil's dictatorship set the stage for even greater destruction of the region's tropical forests. In less than nine months, 24,475 wildfires were tallied — far exceeding the previous record high in the whole of 2021. Grass fires can spread four times as quickly as forest fires, leading the Maxakali to nickname the invasive plant “kerosene”. Some experts consider the Atlantic Forest to be regionally extinct. Singing organises life in Maxakali villages: music is used to cure illness, teach history or transmit practical instructions. Twelve musical canons, distinct in grammar and lexicon, total about 360 hours of song. Contained in the lyrics are hundreds of species of flora and fauna now extinct in the territory. Nursery caretakers sing to seeds as they are buried. The song lyrics help participants remember the ecological knowledge of their ancestors. Since its inception in 2023, the Hmhi project has planted over 60 hectares (148 acres) of fruit trees and 383 acres of Atlantic Forest vegetation. Programme participants have organised themselves into a provisional fire brigade.

Grass.

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• Indonesian palm oil company PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (ESR), part of First Borneo Group, has begun clearing critical orangutan habitat in West Kalimantan province, threatening high conservation value (HCV) forests and the survival of the critically endangered Bornean orangutan.
• Despite only partial clearing so far, conservationists warn that ESR plans major expansion, risking the loss of up to 10,000 hectares (about 25,000 acres) of forest, and further undermining Indonesia’s biodiversity and climate goals.
• First Borneo Group has a long record of large-scale deforestation through multiple subsidiaries, prompting major palm oil buyers like Nestlé and Musim Mas to suspend or end sourcing from the group, though some companies remain linked via supply chains.
• Environmental groups are calling for an immediate halt to ESR’s land clearing, comprehensive ecological audits, and urgent action from companies still sourcing from First Borneo Group to prevent a potential ecological disaster for orangutans and the region’s forests.

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Brazilian prosecutors are calling for the cancellation of the largest carbon credit deal in the Amazon Rainforest, saying it breaks national law and risks harming Indigenous communities. The 1 billion real ($175 million) contract, signed last year by the state of Pará, promises to sell up to 12 million metric tons of forest-based carbon credits to the LEAF Coalition, comprised of the U.S., U.K. and Norwegian governments, and companies like Amazon, Bayer, H&M and Walmart. Prosecutors allege that the deal violates a law passed two months after its signing that bans the future sale of carbon credits, characterizing it as “an extractive and colonialist” form of negotiating and privatizing traditional territories.

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• The “Forest 500 Report 2025” by Global Canopy reveals that only 3% of major companies with influence over forest-risk commodities are taking adequate action on deforestation, with beef identified as the biggest driver
• The assessment identified 24 “persistent laggards” that have never made any deforestation commitments despite a decade of evaluation, while some companies like meatpacking giant JBS are backtracking on previous pledges.
• Only 9% of companies promise zero tolerance for violence against forest defenders, despite more than 2,000 people being killed while protecting land or environment since 2012, highlighting the gap between environmental and human rights commitments.
• The European Union Deforestation Regulation taking effect at the end of 2025 will require companies to prove their products aren’t linked to deforestation before selling in EU markets, potentially driving meaningful corporate action ahead of the COP30 climate conference in Brazil in November.

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• Farmers in a cacao-producing region of southwestern Côte d’Ivoire have seen their yields decline so much that they’re abandoning their plantations and considering switching to other crops.
• They say cacao, long a mainstay of the agricultural economy of this region and the country, is no longer profitable due to changing weather patterns and an increase in plant diseases like swollen shoot.
• An agronomist says the changing weather is partly due to deforestation caused by the expansion of cacao production in recent decades, and recommends agroforestry and reforestation as a remedy.

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In Ecuador, Indigenous communities are fighting for stronger safeguards to protect their sovereignty as more oil drilling looms. A right to say no to unwanted development could revolutionize a consultation process used around the world.

“We reject this future. We want to shape our own destiny, to live well in our forests.” — Silvana Nihua, Kiwaro community

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Tropical deforestation was found to cause large reductions in precipitation using a range of observation-based datasets1. However, the limitations of satellite-based space-for-time statistical analysis have hindered understanding of the roles of reshaped mesoscale atmospheric circulation and regional precipitation recycling at different scales. These effects are considered nonlocal effects, which are distinct from the local effects governed by deforestation-induced reductions in evapotranspiration (ET). Here we show reversed precipitation responses to Amazon deforestation across wet and dry seasons. During the wet season, deforested grids experienced a noteworthy increase in precipitation (0.96 mm per month per percentage point forest loss), primarily attributed to enhanced mesoscale atmospheric circulation (that is, nonlocal effect). These nonlocal increases weaken with distance from deforested grids, leading to significant precipitation reductions in buffers beyond 60 km. Conversely, during the dry season, precipitation decreases in deforested grids and throughout all analysis buffers, with local effects from reduced ET dominating. Our findings highlight the intricate balance between local effects and nonlocal effects in driving deforestation-precipitation responses across different seasons and scales and emphasize the urgent need to address the rapid and extensive loss of forest in the Amazon region.

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• Cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire began in the 1950s in forests bordering Ghana, and progressively shifted west as trees were removed and soil exhausted. Côte d’Ivoire lost 217,866 hectares of protected forest from 2001 to 2014 to monocultures of it.
• Now, the region where cocoa can be grown is shrinking due to climate and rainfall patterns: agroforestry is the sole way ensure that it can continue as the mainstay crop of the economies of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, so it’s time to ‘go big’ on implementing it widely.
• Agroforestry cools the microclimates on farms and increases climate resiliency and biodiversity, but is a complex, time consuming technique that varies by region.
• Careful selection of tree species and spacing are critical to maximize yields, which is a key problem to solve toward wider adoption of agroforestry-grown chocolate.

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During my 2023-24 IIE Rodman C. Rockefeller Centennial Fellowship research in eastern Panama, I walked through my neighbor Johnson’s land (not his real name), discussing the 18 hectares (44 acres) of steeply inclined secondary forest he has left on his property. As we wandered along the forest’s edge, he turned to me and asked, “How much will you pay me not to cut this forest down?”

His words stopped me in my tracks.

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In brief:

• A new “natural capital account” for Colombia’s Upper Sinú Basin calculates the economic value of its natural ecosystems’ erosion control services to the energy and water sectors at $100 million (1.7% of the region’s GDP). An aqueduct under consideration to support increased coastal tourism would increase the value by 12%.
• This is one of the first times outside Europe such an account has been created with locally validated models and data following the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounting framework.
• This paper’s methodology offers a practical way to develop and apply such accounts regionally, laying the groundwork for compensation programs that protect nature and support livelihoods.

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• The global agarwood trade heavily depends on wild-harvested endangered tree species, despite international regulations for protection, with significant volumes going undocumented in official trade records, a new study reveals.
• About 70% of the trade depend on Aquilaria filaria and Aquilaria malaccensis, both threatened species, sourced from the wild, raising major sustainability concerns. Meanwhile, there are some tree species that are not even covered by CITES, the global wildlife trade convention.
• Due to discrepancies between CITES and customs data, along with weak enforcement and outdated regulations, researchers suggest the illegal trade is far larger than reported.
• Researchers urge stronger monitoring, updated data, expanded species protection, and a shift to cultivated sources. They also call on consumers and wealthy importers to support conservation and governments to promote sustainable practices.

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• A new study of Colombia’s lowland forests and savannas finds that the nation may have extensive peatlands — organic wetland soils formed over thousands of years — holding as much as 70 years’ worth of Colombia’s carbon emissions. Protecting them from agricultural development is essential to preventing greenhouse gas releases.
• Researchers made peatland estimates by taking sediment cores in 100 wetlands, quantifying peat content, then building a model to predict locales for other peat-forming wetlands using satellite imaging. Peat was found in unexpected ecosystems, such as nutrient-poor white-sand forests, widespread in northern South America.
• Sampling in many locations was only possible due to the ongoing but fragile peace process between the Colombian government and armed rebel groups. In some places, security has already deteriorated and further sampling is unsafe, making this study’s scientific estimate a unique snapshot for now.
• Most Colombian peatlands are remote, but deforestation is intensifying along the base of the Andes, putting some wetlands at risk. Colombia’s existing REDD+ projects have been controversial, but opportunities may exist to combine payments for ecosystem services with peacebuilding if governance and security can be improved.

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Brazil reduces 70% of area burned in the first quarter of 2025

Of the total burned areas, 78% are native vegetation

By Fabíola Sinumbú – Agência Brasil

In the first three months of 2025, the extent of all areas affected by fires in the country totaled 91,900 hectares. Compared to the same period of the previous year, when 2.1 million hectares were registered, there was a reduction of 70% in the national territory affected by the fire.

Of the total burned areas 78% are native vegetation, and 43% of what was consumed by fire were country formation.

Among the Brazilian states, Roraima was the one that burned the most in these three months, totaling 415,700 hectares. Pará was the second hardest hit, with 208.6 thousand hectares burned and Maranhão lost 123,800 hectares to the fire, the third being on the list. Among the cities, Pacaraima and Normandy, both in Roraima, were the most affected, with 121,500 and 119.1 thousand hectares, respectively.

According to the researcher of the Environmental Research Institute of the Amazon (Ipam) Felipe Martenexen, Roraima experiences its dry season at the beginning of the year, which makes the state particularly vulnerable to the fires in this period. “The data for the first quarter of 2025 reflect this climatic seasonality, with Roraima emerging as the main fire focus in the country,” he explains.

The figures were released on Wednesday (16) and are from Monitor of Fire, a tool of MapBiomas that uses satellite images to map scars of fire across the country.

“The occurrence of the rainy period contributes to this decrease in the fires. However, the Cerrado stood out with the largest burned area in the first quarter compared to recent years, which reinforces the need for specific strategies for prevention and firefighting of each biome,” warns Mapbiomas Fogo researcher Vera Arruda.

Biomes

Between January and March 2025, the Cerrado had an increase of 12% compared to the same period of the previous year, There were 91.7 thousand hectares burned, being 106% above the historical average since 2019.

They also grew in an area hit by fire the Atlantic Forest and the Pampa. Compared to 2024, the burned areas increased by 7% and 1.4%, respectively. While the Atlantic Forest had 18,800 hectares affected, the Pampa had 6,600 hectares burned.

The Amazon, despite having registered a 72% drop in the burned area compared to the first three months of 2024, was the biome most affected in the same period of 2025. There were 774 hectares burned, representing 78% of the national total.

“It is important to understand that the dry season of 2025, which is approaching, will probably still be strong, which may reverse this condition of reduction,” says the director of Science of Ipam and coordinator of Mapbiomas Fogo.

The Pantanal and the Caatinga also observed a reduction in their burned areas during the first three months of 2025. They had, respectively, 10.9 and 10 thousand hectares affected by fire, which represented reductions of 86% and 8% compared to the same period of 2024.

March

In the last month of the first quarter of this year, the fire reached 106,600 hectares of the country, equivalent to 10% of the total area burned in the months analyzed. Compared to March 2024, there were 674,900 hectares less burned, which represents a reduction of 86%.

Of the total in the month, the Amazon burned 55,100 hectares; the Cerrado, 37,800 hectares, the Caatinga 2,200 hectares, Atlantic Forest, 9,2 thousand hectares, the Pampa 1.5 thousand hectares and the Pantanal, 561 hectares.

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Agroforestry is recognized as a way to boost local biodiversity, improve soils and diversify farming incomes. New research suggests it may also benefit nearby forests by reducing pressure to clear them.

The study found agroforestry has helped reduce deforestation across Southeast Asia by an estimated 250,319 hectares (618,552 acres) per year between 2015 and 2023, lowering emissions and underscoring its potential as a natural climate solution.

However, the findings also indicate agroforestry worsened deforestation in many parts of the region, highlighting a nuanced bigger picture that experts say must be heeded.

Local social, economic and ecological factors are pivotal in determining whether agroforestry’s impacts on nearby forests will be positive or negative, the authors say, and will depend on the prevalence of supportive policies.

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