Forests are the earth’s lungs. They absorb carbon from the atmosphere, purify the air around us as well as have an important role in the global water cycle. In addition to their vital role in the earth’s climate system, they provide habitat for a majority of all terrestrial plant and animal species as well as numerous ecosystem services to humans. It is, therefore, evident that forests are a fundamental component to life on earth.
Deforestation has long been in the forefront of discussions on environmental degradation. Ever since the Industrial Revolution deforestation has peaked, and vast amounts of forested land have been cleared. However, some studies have pointed to a quiet significant increase in forested land area worldwide. According to a study on global land change from 1982 to 2016, global tree canopy cover has increased by up to 7% for various different reasons ranging from climate change to political, economic and social factors. Nevertheless, there is significant latitudinal variability suggesting that the increase is mainly taking place in higher latitudes, whereas greater rates of deforestation are recorded in the tropics.
According to the United Nations tropical deforestation is mainly driven by the expansion of cattle ranching, especially in Latin America. Considering that the animal farming industry is the most extensive anthropogenic way of using land, this comes as no surprise. Tropical forests are being cleared mainly to give space for grazing cattle, but also for growing feed crops. In Latin America pastureland expansion replaced forested areas at a greater rate than that of croplands, but new cropland production was regionally more extensive, pushing pastureland expansion to the frontiers of agricultural regions. In Southeast Asia cropland production seems to have expanded not only to former pasturelands, but to forested highland areas of high ecological value, increasing deforestation rates. As the largest part of forest loss can be attributed to commodity production (including beef and soy), the projected increase in the demand for animal-based foods by 2050 would further increase the need for cropland expansion.
Can this problem be solved?
Many efforts have been put into developing ecologically efficient food production strategies as well as improved policies and technologies in order to minimize the overall environmental impact of livestock production. There is potential to intensify low-productivity animal agriculture practices in some regions, hence minimizing land use and deforestation. The increase in factory farming on a global scale can already be seen as a shift towards more efficient food production, especially when it comes to land use. However, will intensification be enough as the demand for meat and dairy production increases along with population growth? Concerns regarding the need for increased cropland production, air and water pollution, freshwater use, let alone ethical concerns about animal welfare remain central to the discussion.
Intensification is seen as a step towards more sustainable food systems, but wouldn’t an overall reduction in animal farming be a more viable option?
Hi Panny! Thank you for your comment. I do think the introduction of the Flexitarian diet is a great initiative and definitely a step in the right direction as it reduces one's environmental footprint and therefore limits deforestation and other negative impacts on the environment. The traditional animal-based diets are often so deeply ingrained in our culture and our social and personal everyday habits that it might feel daunting to make a "drastic" change. A plant-based diet has a smaller environmental footprint and considering the sense of urgency that the recent studies have created surrounding climate change and biodiversity loss (cited in some of my other posts), a Flexitarian or vegetarian diet could also be seen as a stepping stone…
This is so interesting. Do you believe the introduction of the Flexitarian diet is a good initiative or do you think that still won't be enough to limit all the deforestation and fragmentation we are increasingly doing to keep up with the growing meat consumption of our growing population?