deforestation

More than a hundred countries just promised to protect and restore forests. Similar pledges in the past have not succeeded, but forest advocates hope that this effort can learn from past mistakes.

Deforestation in the region rose 22% compared to the year prior, according to data released just days after Brazil made new global promises to combat environmental degradation.

More than 100 countries have pledged to reverse the loss of crucial forestland needed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Cristiana Barreto says deforestation threatens to erase evidence of huge, dispersed civilizations, including rock art, ceremonial earthworks and waterways.

Not since 2008 has the Amazon been destroyed at a faster rate, according to Brazilian authorities. They say an area more than 12 times the size of New York City was deforested in the span of a year.

Palm oil plantations have led to widespread deforestation in Indonesia. But now some farmers are turning to a different crop — damar, a kind of anti-palm oil, grown in forest-based farms.

Researchers say there's been a huge rise in the number of fires compared with last year. That's likely linked with a similar leap in deforestation since President Jair Bolsonaro took office.

Dozens of food companies have promised to stop their suppliers from clearing forests in order to grow crops or graze cattle. Now the companies have a tool to monitor those farmers from space.

In 2017, 39 million acres of tree cover disappeared, an area as big as Bangladesh. "The report is telling a bleak picture," researcher Mikaela Weisse said. "What we are doing right now isn't enough."

Governments dole out millions each year. Researchers debate whether the payouts actually work. A new study from Uganda offers some answers.

Brazil's National Institute for Space Research found that more than 3,000 square miles of forest cover were lost between August 2015 and July 2016 — a substantial increase over the year before.

Hundreds of food companies have promised to keep their suppliers from cutting down forests. A global coalition of environmental groups is watching to see if the companies are keeping their promises.