It’s not a new warning – in fact, environmentalists have been warning about it for the past decade and it seems the advice has gone unheeded as our rainforests are being eroded at a higher rate than ever.

A generation ago, it was estimated that 50 acres of tropical forest were being chopped down every minute. U.N. specialists have estimated that around 60 acres of tropical forest are currently being felled every minute.

Although all the old reasons behind saving the rainforests still hold true – by chopping down the forests, we risk making animal and plant species extinct, forest people may lose their livelihood, and it causes a huge surge in soil erosion – but there is a new, more ‘trendy’ reason too: climate change.

It is predicted that global warming will dry up and kill vast swathes of rainforest, and with this decrease in the number of trees, we will also lose a valuable resource that soaks up carbon in the atmosphere. The burning or rotting of the trees that goes hand-in-hand with deforestation also adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere – some say more so than all the world’s transport systems put together.

The numbers are worrying: according to the U.N., around 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of forest is lost each year. Although South America loses more acerage than Africa, the percentage loss in Africa is much higher – almost 1% of African forests are lost each year. Between 2000 and 2005, Africa lost 10 million acres of forest a year – up from 9 million acres per year a decade ago.

The reasons for deforestation are different for each continent – in South America, most of the forest is cleared to make way for cattle grazing or soybean farming. In and around south-east Asia, the forests are cleared or burned for palm plantations for use in cosmetics and food processing. In Africa, it is more likely to be for plots for small-scale farming – many locals believe there is no other way to feed their families.

The country is trying to make a stand – there is much work being done in local communities to try and encourage farmers to learn alternative trades such as beekeeping or raising snails (a regional delicacy). A new licensing system has also been introduced whereby anyone wanting to cut down any sort of hardwood tree must obtain a license and share the profits from the tree with the local community – plus the trees may only be taken away after they have been sawed into planks, a task which locals can help with (and get paid for). However, in a large area with few rangers, it is difficult to fully enforce the scheme.

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