NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS PROGRESS ASSESSMENT GOALS SUMMARY

The assessment finds that the world is not on track to meet the 2020 milestone of halving natural forest loss. While net forest loss declined by 23 percent between 2010-15 compared to a 2000-10 baseline, gross tree-cover loss increased by an average of 35 percent between 2014 and 2016 relative to a 2001-13 baseline. Tropical deforestation emissions rose by 25 percent between 2014 and 2016 compared to the 2001-13 benchmark, with 2016 emissions peaking at 5 gigatons of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (Gt CO e). Significant drivers include agricultural expansion for palm oil in Southeast Asia and soy in Latin America, as well as severe droughts and wildfires caused by a strong El Niño event.

• The global target to halve natural forest loss by 2020 is unlikely to be met, as gross tree-cover loss increased by an average of 35 percent between 2014 and 2016 compared to the 2001-13 baseline. The year 2016 recorded the highest global tree cover loss since measurements began in 2000, being 51 percent higher than in 2015.
• When accounting for regrowth, the average rate of net forest loss between 2010 and 2015 declined by 23 percent relative to the 2000-10 baseline, with net loss peaking in 2005 at 9.7 million hectares. However, the document notes that regenerated or newly planted trees are unlikely to offset carbon emissions from natural forests and differ in biodiversity and ecosystem function.
• Tropical deforestation and associated carbon emissions are increasing, with average annual emissions from 2014-16 being 25 percent higher than the 2001-13 benchmark. Emissions peaked at 5 Gt CO e in 2016, with an additional 0.4 Gt CO e resulting from peatland fires in Indonesia in late 2015.
• A significant portion of global tree cover loss in 2016 occurred in Brazil and Indonesia. In the Amazon, deforestation rates in 2016 were 29 percent higher than in 2015.

APA

Harris, N. (2018). NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS PROGRESS ASSESSMENT GOALS SUMMARY. Forest Declaration Assessment. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2017Goal1.pdf

Chicago

Harris, Nancy. NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS PROGRESS ASSESSMENT GOALS SUMMARY. Forest Declaration Assessment, 2018. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2017Goal1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Harris |first1=Nancy |title=NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS PROGRESS ASSESSMENT GOALS SUMMARY |publisher=Forest Declaration Assessment |date=2018 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2017Goal1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{harris2018new, author = {Harris, Nancy}, title = {{NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS PROGRESS ASSESSMENT GOALS SUMMARY}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2018}, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2017Goal1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }