Forest cover

"The comprises the most biodiverse region in the world, but, despite being highly threatened by human-induced s, little is known about how those changes influence the remaining forest’s extent and configuration in Brazil’s arc of . We analysed the spatial and temporal dynamics and the configuration of forest cover in Brazil’s state of over 34 years. We calculated seven landscape metrics based on freely available satellite imagery to understand the habitat transformations. Overall, natural vegetation cover declined from 90.9% to 62.7% between 1986 and 2020, and fragmentation greatly increased, generating 78,000 forest fragments and 100,000 fragments of ‘natural vegetation’, which also includes forest."

"Forests clean the air, filter water, control and support biodiversity (Acharya et al., 2019; Aznar-Sánchez et al., 2018). In addition, many forests are spiritual and cultural sites, enriching the lives of people in surrounding communities and offering opportunities for aesthetic enjoyment, relaxation and recreation (Brauman et al., 2020). Forests also play a significant role in influencing localised temperatures and rainfall (Leite-Filho et al., 2021; Schwaab et al., 2021). In 2020, total forest carbon stocks were estimated to be 662 million s, averaging 163 t per (, 2020). Between 1990 and 2020, global forest carbon stocks declined; however, forest carbon stocks per hectare increased owing to improved (FAO, 2020). Human activities, including deforestation and unsustainable practices, in particular, have greatly impacted forest ecosystems (Lambin and Meyfroidt, 2010). Between 1990 and 2020, 420 million hectares of forest were lost to other land uses. Despite a slowing deforestation rate, forests continued to decline at an annual rate of 0.25 % between 2015 and 2020 (FAO, 2020). Halting deforestation and forest degradation is crucial for addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, desertification, and threats to human health (Rametsteiner et al., 2022). Forests also play a crucial role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), mitigating climate change, and enhancing human well-being and economic prosperity (Rametsteiner et al., 2022). Forest governance, therefore, includes the restoration of degraded forests, expanding forest cover, upgrading forest quality, increasing sustainable use and building green value chains to help meet future demands for materials and ecosystem services and to support greener, circular economies."

"In the 1920s about 60 percent of Haiti still had forest cover. In the 1980s it was estimated that between 1 and 4 percent of Haiti still had forest cover."