| 研究実績の概要 |
The following are some key achievements during the past (final) year (FY 2021): (1) spatiotemporal analysis of global forest cover changes from 1960 to 2019; (2) presentation of research findings in a conference; and (3) writing of a research article based on the results of the analysis (already submitted to a journal for publication and is currently Under Review). In brief, the analysis revealed that over the past 60 years (1960-2019), global forest area has declined by 81.7 million ha, with forest loss (437.3 million ha) outweighing forest gain (355.6 million ha). With this forest decline and the population increase (4.68 billion) over the period, global forest per capita has decreased by over 60%, from 1.4 ha in 1960 to 0.5 ha in 2019. The spatiotemporal pattern of forest change supports the forest transition theory, with forest losses occurring primarily in the lower income countries in the tropics and gains in the higher income countries in the extratropics; furthermore, economic growth has a stronger association with net forest gain than loss. In the context of global sustainability, climate change and biodiversity conservation, there is a need to strengthen current global efforts both in reducing deforestation and forest degradation and in enhancing forest restoration and conservation (e.g., SDG 15) to at least flatten the world’s forest loss curve.
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