At the U.N.'s global biodiversity convention, nations pledge to reverse deforestation

A recent biodiversity meeting acknowledged the serious problem of deforestation while a new report on global environmental threats to trees offered a startling estimate.

Transcript

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

At a noisy press conference in Columbia this past week, a statistic was shared that deserves some more attention.

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GRETHEL AGUILAR: More than 1 in 3 trees is threatened with extinction.

RASCOE: Dr. Grethel Aguilar is the director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which just published the first global assessment of the world's trees.

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AGUILAR: This is the news.

RASCOE: NPR science correspondent Nathan Rott covers nature and joins us now. Good morning.

NATHAN ROTT, BYLINE: Hey, good morning.

RASCOE: So is Aguilar saying that 1 of every 3 trees on the planet might disappear?

ROTT: Yeah, so she's saying that more than 1 of every 3 tree species could disappear, so we're talking entire populations of trees. They looked at nearly 50,000 different tree species and found that 38% of them, to be exact, are threatened with extinction.

RASCOE: What's going on? Like, why are trees having such a tough time?

ROTT: Well, Ayesha, I don't know if you've heard, but things aren't so great for nature right now.

RASCOE: I've heard that. Yeah. It's a rough time.

ROTT: More than a million species are at risk of extinction globally, many within decades, because of human activities, because, you know, the way we build, where we build, how and where we grow our crops. This statistic from a major United Nations report a couple of years ago always gobsmacks me. Humans have altered more than 70% of all the land on Earth. So it's hard out there, whether you're an endangered tree or a trout or a tree frog.

RASCOE: It seems like whenever we're looking at environmental issues like this, that climate change is, like, the culprit. Is that the case this time around?

ROTT: I mean, look, it's definitely playing a factor, but the main driver identified in this global tree assessment, which involved the work of more than 1,000 scientists worldwide, was that habitat loss is the biggest threat, so deforestation for agriculture, logging, a new subdivision. Diseases and pests are also playing a role. Basically, what you have is all of these already diminished populations of trees, stressed trees, and then you layer on a changing global climate on top of that, which is only getting worse, and that's how you have such a high number of trees facing extinction.

RASCOE: What happens if an entire species of trees disappear?

ROTT: So, like, look, if you lose an individual population - right? - like, the - all of the trees on an island, and the report did find that island trees are particularly at risk. That's obviously going to have cascading effects for other plants and animals. That also has effects for us. At that press conference we heard earlier, which was at the just-concluded United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, Grethel Aguilar was asked, why should we care?

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AGUILAR: I mean, I think it's very simple. We humans depend on those trees for medicines, for food, for - even for construction. We humans are very tied together with species and particularly with trees.

ROTT: I mean, trees make the air we breathe. They store climate-warming carbon. I could go on and on and on, but I think you get the point.

RASCOE: So what can be done? This news was shared at a biodiversity convention where I assume that people are trying to find solutions, right?

ROTT: Yeah, I mean, I think trying is the key word in that question. Nearly every country on the planet has signed onto this big global biodiversity framework, this list of goals and targets to achieve, as they put it, harmony with nature. This most recent conference in Colombia was for countries to show their plans and progress. There were some bright spots. You know, Brazil has had some success in curbing deforestation. You know, countries and industries, the business community, are recognizing that there is a problem.

But solutions are slow-moving, and despite pledges to, you know, say, end deforestation by 2030, which more than 140 countries have signed onto, a recent report says deforestation is actually increasing globally. So I think the hope for the people behind this tree assessment is to really show the world how severe the problem is, to put a number on it so that maybe words turn into action and forests get greater protections in the future.

RASCOE: That's NPR science correspondent Nathan Rott. Thank you, Nate.

ROTT: Hey, thank you, Ayesha.

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