Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Goal 1 Assessment

The report finds that the world is not on track to meet the Goal 1 target of halving natural forest loss by 2020. Between 2014 and 2018, average annual global gross tree cover loss increased by 43 percent compared to a 2001-13 baseline. Carbon emissions from tropical tree cover loss also rose, averaging 57 percent higher than before the declaration. While Indonesia saw a significant decline in primary forest loss in 2018, tropical Africa experienced the highest percent increase in loss. The report highlights that primary forests are particularly critical due to their carbon storage and the fact that they cannot be restored within the NYDF timeframe.

• The world is not on track to halve natural forest loss by 2020; average annual global gross tree cover loss from 2014 to 2018 increased by 43 percent (7.8 million hectares per year) compared to the 2001-13 baseline.
• Carbon dioxide emissions from tropical tree cover loss have increased significantly, with average annual emissions since the signing of the NYDF being 57 percent higher than previous levels, rising from 3.0 to 4.7 gigatons of CO2 per year.
• Tropical humid primary forest loss increased by 44 percent between 2014 and 2018 relative to the 2002-13 baseline, rising from 3.0 to 4.3 million hectares per year.
• Tropical Africa experienced the most significant relative increase in forest loss, with annual average loss in 2014-18 being 146 percent higher than in 2001-13, an increase of 2.6 Mha/yr.
• In Indonesia, primary forest loss reached its lowest rate since 2003 in 2018, following a decline that began in 2017; this reduction is attributed to government, private sector, and civil society actions, as well as wetter weather.
• Brazil remains a major deforestation hotspot, losing 18 million hectares of tree cover since 2014, primarily driven by commercial agriculture such as cattle and soy.
• In West Africa, specifically Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, tree cover loss since 2014 has been 181 percent higher than the 2001-13 baseline, driven by mining and commercial agriculture, particularly cocoa.

APA

Forest Declaration Assessment (2019). Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Goal 1 Assessment. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2019NYDFGoal1.pdf

Chicago

Forest Declaration Assessment. Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Goal 1 Assessment. 2019. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2019NYDFGoal1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Forest Declaration Assessment |title=Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Goal 1 Assessment |date=September 2019 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2019NYDFGoal1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forestdeclarationassessment2019progress, author = {{Forest Declaration Assessment}}, title = {{Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Goal 1 Assessment}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2019NYDFGoal1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }