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Science
28 October
Climate change
ANDREAS BRINK
Ten of the world's most protected forests have become net emitters of
carbon, as they are degraded by human activity and climate change.
It revealed 10 protected forests had emitted more carbon than they locked
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59065127 1/9
11/5/21, 7:54 PM Climate change: Human activity makes forests emit carbon - BBC News
The same research also revealed the network of 257 World Heritage forests
around the world collectively removed 190 million tonnes of carbon from the
"That is nearly half of the UK's annual carbon emissions from fossil fuels," said
Dr Tales Carvalho Resende, from the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (Unesco), who co-authored the report.
"We now have the most detailed picture to date of the vital role that [these]
forests play in mitigating climate change."
But forests face a raft of pressures, including illegal logging, the expansion of
farming and wildfires - which are made more likely by climate change.
GETTY IMAGES
Giant sequoias in California - some of the oldest living things on Earth - have been lost to wildfire
But as well as calculating the billions of tonnes of carbon absorbed by all that
"biomass" of trees and vegetation, the research revealed how much pressure
some of these sites were under.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59065127 2/9
11/5/21, 7:54 PM Climate change: Human activity makes forests emit carbon - BBC News
The sites studied in this assessment have some of the highest levels of official
protection.
They are deemed globally significant in terms of their natural value to the
world and are closely and continuously monitored.
HIDEHIRO OTAKE
'Vicious cycle'
In recent years, what Unesco called "unprecedented wildfires", notably in
Siberia, the US and Australia, have generated tens of millions of tonnes of
CO2.
"More carbon emissions means more wildfires, which means more carbon
emissions."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59065127 3/9
11/5/21, 7:54 PM Climate change: Human activity makes forests emit carbon - BBC News
GETTY IMAGES
'Alarming message'
Hurricane Maria destroyed an estimated 20% of the forest cover in Morne
Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica, in 2017.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59065127 4/9
11/5/21, 7:54 PM Climate change: Human activity makes forests emit carbon - BBC News
GETTY IMAGES
"Even the best and most protected forest areas in the world are threatened by
the global climate crisis.
"So action [to cut global emissions] is really needed now to ensure that these
forests - that all forests - can continue to act as carbon sinks and, of course, as
important sites for biodiversity."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59065127 5/9
11/5/21, 7:54 PM Climate change: Human activity makes forests emit carbon - BBC News
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