It doesn't stop with deforestation: Highlighting degradation

When we think of the Amazon and anthropogenic impact, we often have this image in our heads:

However, after reading on environmental and climatic impacts of land cover change in the rain forest (in coming blog posts) I became aware that we need to highlight forest degradation as well as deforestation. Both have significant effects, and the fact that land still “looks green” in satellite pictures does take into account the forest productivity nor species diversity.

Therefore let me outline the two differing phenomena in the context of the Amazon rainforest area. Using the FAO definitions:

Deforestation: this involves a decrease in the area covered by forest, with no guarantee of continuity in maintaining the forest cover (by e.g. regrowth)

Forest degradation: this does not involve a reduction of the forest area, but rather a quality decrease in its condition, this being related to one or a number of different forest ecosystem components (vegetation layer, fauna, soil, ...), to the interactions between these components, and more generally to its functioning.

To illustrate this, I’d like give a few examples that would reduce forest “quality” or productivity: selective logging for specific timber wood and other extraction practices (and the infrastructure and transport associated with this), fires, infrastructural projects (roads, the Belo Monte Dam) and variable edge effects (of forests adjacent to clear-cut land).

Forest degradation is a more subtle process and (opposed to the picture above) not as easily identifiable. It therefore poses significant challenges to controlling its continued occurrence. Deforestation figures have occasionally slowed due to (variably effective)  environmental policies limiting the clear-cutting of rainforests.  According to Imazon, the percentage of land degradation is on the constant rise – the increase in total rainforest area degraded between Aug 2013-14 and Aug 14-15 being 207%. Additionally, the total area degraded in the considered time period (July14-15) is greater than total area under deforestation.

I hope I have shown how forest degradation cannot be neglected from the picture – and highlighted that if the functionings of the rainforest and all its ecosystem services are to be preserved, we need to tackle this issue along with clear-cut deforestation.