Deforestation statistics are very important for every country. Deforestation is a global problem that is getting worse every year. The negative consequences of deforestation affect not only human life, but also the planet as a whole. Thanks to statistics on unauthorized deforestation, the state can look for effective ways combating deforestation.

The problem of deforestation

A forest is a complex ecosystem. Its condition affects cleanliness, drinking and climatic conditions. Once upon a time there were a huge number of forests on planet earth. They occupied huge areas. When the number grew, active land development began, development began, and the number of forests began to gradually decrease. People cut down forests for various purposes, often without permission.

Today, deforestation has become environmental problem planetary scale. Trees are a source of oxygen. They absorb many toxic substances and destroy microorganisms that cause disease. They live in forests different types and plants. Trees absorb excess moisture, protect the soil, and protect against...


Although trees are renewable resources, the problem of deforestation is one of the most serious in the world. The rate of their reproduction is much lower than the rate of destruction. The planet is suffering enormous damage from deforestation. Everything could end in an environmental disaster.

Below is a photo from space, which clearly shows how the number of forest areas. On the left half you can see how the country looked before, and on the right, how things are with the number of trees now.

Why are forests cut down?


Humanity has many reasons for deforestation even in the 21st century. First of all, we need wood for building buildings. It is the most popular material in this industry due to the fact that it is a natural product and costs less. In many villages, especially in Siberia, wood is used to build houses. It is used to build sheds for animals, storage for hay or grain, and baths.

The second most popular reason is that forests are cut down to provide firewood for the winter. In many private houses in rural areas people still do not have the opportunity to heat with gas. They use wood stoves for this. Forests are also cut down for wood, which will be used to make furniture, doors, window frames, and parquet. It is used to make sleepers, carriages, and build bridges and ships.

Industrial deforestation also occurs, since wood is a raw material for the manufacture of various materials. For example, paper, fertilizers, rubber, plastics, acetone, turpentine, vinegar. Deforestation statistics include the preparation of the area they occupy for the following purposes:

  • for the construction of power lines;
  • for plowing steppes;
  • under roads;
  • for the manufacture of sports equipment, musical instruments;
  • under construction;
  • in mining.

Today, more than 20 thousand items of things that people need are made from wood.

Consequences of deforestation

However, not everyone understands what deforestation leads to. Humanity has not yet understood that trees need to be protected. The destruction of forests disrupts the oxygen cycle on the planet. This may end in the fact that in some areas of the planet it will simply be impossible to live - there will be nothing to breathe.

The destruction of trees leads to swamping of the area, which threatens a change in vegetation. Reservoirs will be overgrown with grass and mud. Deforestation leads to a decrease in ozone in the atmosphere. This will lead to poor harvests, epidemics, an increase in the number of sick people, and the formation of ozone holes.

The disappearance of trees leads to desertification as rainfall washes away the fertile soil layer. Because of this, residents of areas that have become arid become refugees. Many animals and plants die. Statistics on deforestation show that this leads to a change in the albedo of the earth and can provoke a disaster. Albedo is the ability of a planet to reflect radioactive streams from the sun. Additional consequences of deforestation:

  • sudden changes in temperature;
  • changing of the climate;
  • an excess of sunlight, which will destroy plants that like to live in the shade;
  • creation of a greenhouse effect in the biosphere;
  • destruction of ecosystems;
  • The amount of nitrogen in the soil increases, which prevents new trees from growing.

Trees retain groundwater flows because their roots feed on it. The death of forests contributes to an increase in their abundance, since there is no one to absorb excess moisture. The liquid comes to the surface, fills rivers, evaporates, and falls in the form of numerous precipitations. This is why deforestation is associated with increased flooding and the occurrence of floods in areas where they have never been seen before.

A striking example of this was the city of Bangladesh. When forests were cut down on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, this city began to suffer from floods every few years. Previously, this happened a maximum of two times in 100 years.

These are the negative effects of deforestation on earth. In the future, everything may end up with us leaving our descendants with an unsuitable planet.

Ways to solve the problem

The most important solution to the problem of deforestation is the development of standards for the reasonable use of plant resources. The following principles must be adhered to:

  • preserve the forest landscape;
  • teach the population to treat trees, animals and plants with care;
  • protect forests from illegal logging;
  • strengthen control over the use of resources at the state level;
  • restore forests after cutting down - plant and grow new trees in large quantities;
  • improve legislation, issue laws that will protect forests from deforestation;
  • fight poachers. Bring to or responsibility for deforestation;
  • select only the most resistant tree species for planting in order to increase the number of forests;
  • create nature reserves;
  • develop methods of using wood waste;
  • prohibit mining companies from using large areas of forest for clearing for their development;
  • develop ecological forms.

How ordinary citizens can contribute to the fight against deforestation:

  • plant landscaping on your property;
  • use wood products sparingly;
  • plant trees near houses, in courtyards, near villages, along river banks;
  • complain about those who attempt illegal deforestation,

Of course, deforestation is a big problem all over the world, but ways to solve it can be found.

Responsibility for deforestation in the Russian Federation

In Russia, illegal logging entails punishment depending on the severity (Article 260 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). If the actions of the criminal resulted in the loss of a small number of plantings, then the penalty for deforestation will not exceed 500 thousand. rub. If an act of poaching was committed by a group of persons, taking advantage of their official position, then the amount of sanctions will range from 500,000 to 1,500,000 rubles. For a crime committed on an especially large scale, a punishment of 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 rubles is provided.

According to Article 8.28 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for individuals a fine of 3–4 thousand rubles is provided, provided that the equipment was not used for deforestation. For officials, the fine is 20–40 thousand rubles, for, among others, from 300,000 to 500,000 rubles.

As shown arbitrage practice, illegal cutting of trees is often punishable by imprisonment for a period of 2 to 7 years. The following penalties are also possible for unauthorized deforestation:

  • forced labor;
  • deprivation of the right to hold certain positions for a period of up to 3 years.

By law, you need to obtain permission to cut down forests. Every citizen can influence the situation with illegal deforestation. It is enough to notify the relevant authorities about cutting down trees. Initially, you can inform the local forestry department. Write down how many people are engaged in cutting down, take a photo, record vehicle numbers and the number of pieces of equipment.

If the work is being carried out legally, the forestry department will inform you about it. If the loggers were engaged in poaching, specialists from the forestry department should go to the police with your materials. If you suspect that foresters are covering up for criminals, you can contact the police yourself.

World statistics

Statistics on deforestation in the world record the deforestation of about 200 thousand km² of plantings per year. This leads to the death of 100 thousand animals and plants. The table shows statistics on deforestation by country for last years:

A country Number of hectares (thousands)
Russia
Canada2,450
Brazil2,157
USA1, 7367
Indonesia1,605
Congo608
China523
Malaysia465
Argentina439
Paraguay.421

The fewest trees are cut down by Paraguayans, Chinese, Argentines and Malaysians. The secret is that China, for example, buys wood from other countries. Over the past 10 years, massive deforestation has reached the point where about 20 hectares of trees are destroyed every minute. It's time for humanity to learn how to replenish these riches of nature.

Today due to deforestation tropical forests there are two s left on our planet one more time There are fewer plantings than there were before. They once covered 14% of the land, but now only 6%.

In India, the number of forests has been halved in half a century. Large-scale deforestation has resulted from deforestation in America and the Caribbean. Here the number of forests has decreased by 500,000 hectares.

In Brazil, huge numbers of trees have been replaced with concrete walls. Because of this, the populations of some animal species have declined. Approximately 17% of all forests are concentrated in Africa, which is about 767 million hectares. Now the number of forests on this continent is declining by 3 million hectares annually. In 100 years, 80% of the forests here have been cut down. In a number African countries people still use it for heating charcoal. They don't have access to gas because of...

Deforestation in the Amazon and Madagascar has led to disastrous results. Much of the land has become arid and sun-scorched. Unique animals live here and plants grow that are not found anywhere else. But due to deforestation, many of them began to die out.

In Asia, deforestation has reached 98% of all land. Here trees are destroyed mainly for construction. In Europe, the problem has not yet reached such proportions, but programs are already being developed here aimed at restoring lost resources.

Data for Russia

The statistics on deforestation in Russia are disappointing - in our country much more trees are destroyed than in other countries. In the Baikal basin alone, 3 million cubic meters of forest have disappeared. Deforestation in Russia leads to the destruction of valuable coniferous species(cedar, pine).

In recent years, deforestation in Siberia and the Urals has led to the emergence of a large number of swamps in these regions. Floods have become more frequent here.

Constant deforestation on the slopes of the Caucasus Mountains has led to rivers overflowing more and more every year. Water erosion is developing, which is why cases have become more frequent. All this causes enormous damage to agricultural lands, as well as to settlements located near the mountains.

IN Lately harvests have decreased on Sakhalin Island salmon fish. Due to deforestation in river basins, which has become more frequent in this region, the bottom of reservoirs becomes unsuitable for laying eggs. In addition, the fauna that salmon feed on is disrupted.

Many forests are being cut down in the Altai Territory, causing damage to the famous belt bur. Here, 3.5 thousand hectares of forests are destroyed every year. 66 plots were leased to timber harvesting enterprises.

According to statistics on deforestation by year, in Russia annually the damage from the destruction of trees exceeds 10 billion rubles. It will take our country about 100 years to restore its resources, provided that the destruction of trees stops completely.

Ukrainian and Belarusian data

There are no statistics on deforestation in Ukraine. But recently, a catastrophically large number of trees have been cut down in the Carpathians. The satellite photo clearly shows how much area is now left without trees:

Statistics of deforestation in Belarus for 2015 shows the destruction of 18.5 million cubic meters of wood. However, the government of the Republic of Belarus plans to increase this figure by 18%. While the replenishment of resources in the country is very slow. Therefore, scientists fear for the ecology of the state.

conclusions

As deforestation statistics show, Russia destroys the most trees in the world. A large percentage comes from illegal activities. The government and specialists responsible for the environmental well-being of the country need to look for more effective measures to combat the destruction of forests.

MOSCOW, September 2 - RIA Novosti. The surface of our planet contains about three trillion trees, and Russia contains about 640 billion of them, which is an absolute record and almost twice as many as Canada, which ranks second, ecologists write in an article published in the journal Nature.

“Trees store enormous amounts of carbon, they are critical to maintaining the nutrient cycle in nature, providing us clean water and air, as well as countless other things. But when you ask someone to estimate, at least within an order of magnitude, how many trees there are on Earth, almost any of us will find it difficult to answer. I myself was surprised that we are talking about a number on the order of trillions,” said Thomas Crowther from Yale University (USA).

Crowther and his colleagues accurately calculated the number of trees on modern Earth, and also found that their number on the surface of our planet has decreased by about 46% since the appearance of the first centers of civilization, analyzing satellite images and forestry data using a supercomputer.

The idea to count all the trees on the planet came to Crowther and his colleagues after they were approached by representatives of the Plant for the Planet initiative, in which schoolchildren - with the support of the UN - are trying to stop global warming by planting trees.

Activists wanted to know how much they managed to replenish the number of trees on Earth, and scientists decided to help them find the answer to this question. To do this, Crowther's group combined the results of calculations carried out in over 500 thousand corners of the Earth, as well as a large number of satellite images of forest areas.

As it turned out, the number of trees on the planet was noticeably higher than what scientists expected to see - rough estimates based only on satellite data indicated that there should be about 400 billion trees on Earth. In fact, their number exceeds three trillion, with about half of them concentrated in the top ten countries.

The undisputed leader of this rating is Russia - about 640 billion trees grow in our country alone, most of which are located in the forests of Siberia and Far East. It is followed by Canada and Brazil, each with around 300 billion trees. In addition to them, the top ten includes the USA, China, Congo, Indonesia, Australia, Bolivia and Mexico.

The poorest country in terms of tree cover is Arab state Bahrain, on whose territory only about 3 thousand trees grow. He is accompanied by Qatar, Monaco, Cocos Islands, Gibraltar and the uninhabited Paracel Islands, whose territory is disputed by a number of Asian states.

Scientists, in addition to counting the number of trees themselves, also managed to calculate the rate at which their population is declining as a result of deforestation, climate change and other processes. Every year, as calculated by Crowther and his colleagues, about 15 billion trees disappear from the face of the planet.

In 2015, a group of 38 scientists conducted a large-scale study on the state of the planet's forests. By combining two methods - satellite observations and field work, they were able to calculate total trees on Earth. We have just over 3 trillion of them.

Map of forest density per capita. Source:

Leader in number of trees - French Guinea

There are more than 20 thousand of them per person. Suriname takes second place with 15 thousand, and Guinea takes third place with 14 thousand.

Half of all trees grow in Russia, Canada and Brazil

With so much wood, it is not surprising that a tenth of the world's roundwood exports belong to Russia, while Canada and Brazil account for . Despite this, due to the size of the population in these countries, there are 4.5 thousand trees per Russian, and 1.4 thousand per Brazilian. Canadians are luckier - almost 9 thousand trees per capita.

Least of all - in the Middle East and North Africa

True, if there is one palm tree per Egyptian, and two per Israeli, then the residents Persian Gulf the trees are completely gone.

If we assume that all the trees disappear, then first the herbivores will die out, then the predators, then people will begin to starve. Food prices will rise catastrophically. The incidence of disease will increase sharply, as starving people will be seriously weakened. The human population will decline dramatically. There will be much less oxygen, since a significant part of it is produced by trees. And there will be more carbon dioxide. And with a decrease in the amount of oxygen, the Earth's ozone layer will suffer.

Of course, we won't be able to cut down all the forests on the planet. But their number. Over the past 12 thousand years, 46% of forests have been destroyed, largely for the sake of Agriculture. Is it worth trying to somehow explain that thoughtless deforestation is bad? Especially in a country that suffers from timber smuggling.

    Trees are divided into only two types:

    • coniferous trees(reproduction through cones; they have needles as foliage)
    • deciduous trees (covered with foliage that looks like a thin leaf)

    The rest of the classifications are already based on some characteristics, for example, the shape of the crown, leaves, fruits, roots, trunk, etc.

    If we talk about the number of breeds, then there are more than 3000 of them, there is no exact figure, since in the scientific world breeds are often combined, separated and complemented.

    There are 650 species of coniferous trees. They are divided into 7 families.

    There are many more deciduous trees, about ten thousand, they are divided into 60 families.

    The oldest trees are coniferous.

    Trees are evergreen and deciduous.

    The most tall tree sequoia.

    Today, scientists and biologists know about 650 species of conifers, A deciduous and it is completely impossible to count, their count goes on to thousands of species.

    It is worth noting that the first to appear conifers types of trees that appeared during the era Carboniferous period, and here deciduous species began to grow on Earth only tens of millions of years after the appearance of conifers.

    Coniferous trees can be combined into 7 large families:

    • pine,
    • capariaceae,
    • swamp cypress,
    • yew,
    • capitate,
    • araucaria,
    • Odocarpaceae.

    There are many more deciduous trees; they are divided into 60 families.

    This is the diversity of our plant world.

    The plant world of the Earth is enormous. On this moment There are several types of trees. Coniferous- about 650 species, deciduous- several thousand species. There are also record holders among trees. So the tallest tree is considered to be the sequoia, height - 115.55 meters, the thickest is the baobab, diameter - 15.9 meters, and the oldest tree is the spruce, which grows in the mountains of Sweden, age - 9550 years

    Experts say that there are countless types of trees!

    If pine alone has 120 species, can you imagine how many there are, if you count both coniferous and deciduous? Thousands and tens of thousands, even scientists don’t know exactly. But the most common ones are counted. Conifers - 650 species, apple trees - 36, etc.

    According to 2015 data, there were about three trillion trees on Earth. If we talk about Russia, then there are 640 billion trees growing on its territory, and with this number it ranks first in the world after Canada and Brazil.

    Every year there are fewer trees on Earth. This figure is huge - 15 billion. Trees are being cut down by humans, and they are also dying as a result of climate change.

    By type, all trees can be divided into coniferous and deciduous.

    Conifers are characterized by evergreen needles. These trees can grow pine cones and juniper berries. Coniferous trees include the following trees: pine, fir, spruce, cypress, larch, sequoia.

    Deciduous trees include maple, ash, oak and many others.

    To begin with, it should be noted that there is a division into coniferous species (the first to appear on the planet) and deciduous species.

    There are more than 650 coniferous species (seven families).

    There are several thousand deciduous species (60 families).

    There are a lot of tree widows on earth. According to scientific data, there are about 650 widows of coniferous trees alone on earth. And there are even more deciduous ones, about ten thousand. And so, if you look, all trees are divided into coniferous and deciduous.

    On Earth, the very first trees appeared at the end of the Carboniferous period; by the way, these were coniferous trees, so they are considered the oldest, while deciduous trees appeared tens of millions of years later.

    There are 650 species of coniferous trees, all of which are grouped into seven large families:

    There are many more deciduous trees, as many as several thousand species, all of them are divided into genera, the genera, in turn, are divided into families. There are 60 families of deciduous trees.

    In general, there are a huge number of tree species on Earth. But if we talk about dividing them into types, then there are two large groups:

    1) The first type includes coniferous trees. Distinctive features are the presence of needles, propagation by cones., ;

    2) But for the second type - deciduous. Distinctive features is that there are thin leaves.