Spotlighting conflicts’ environmental impact with Global Forest Watch

Healthy societies protect forests. Human conflict harms them. Global Forest Watch (GFW) has released new data on tree cover loss, emerging forest loss hot spots, loss due to fires, and updated data on widgets. This data aids decision-makers and the general public track, monitor, and comprehend how the rise in global conflict is depleting forests.

The well-being of humans and forest ecosystems are closely intertwined. We depend on them for clean drinking water, medicine and the air we breathe. Conversely, one of the biggest obstacles to forest health is human lawlessness. Global conflict still is not properly addressed in global biodiversity frameworks, but an amplified chorus in the conservation community is calling upon NGOs to speak out on war’s impacts on the environment and to advocate for biodiversity conservation’s potential as a catalyst for peacebuilding.

To preserve life on this planet, policymakers, law enforcement agencies, international organizations, conservation planners, and NGOs need to ensure the survival of civilians and forest ecosystems alike. GFW’s newly updated features on tree cover loss, emerging forest loss hotspots, fire alerts, loss due to fires and individual widgets spotlight where decision-makers’ attention and actions are most urgently needed as escalating human conflict and environmental stress collide.

Ukraine war’s environmental cost underscores need for proactive measures

Ukraine is home to 35% of Europe’s biodiversity, a significant part of which is at risk following the invasion by Russia. A lot of life is found in Ukraine’s forests, but now, military activity is fueling deforestation and forest fires.

GFW’s fire alerts illustrate the spike in fires in all of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the country on February 24, 2022. The timeline presented above portrays the three-month period preceding the invasion in contrast to the initial three months and the subsequent three months of the war.

Illegal logging and timber exports as well as corruption had exacted a toll on Ukraine’s ancient forest landscape long before Russia’s invasion. Efforts were being made to address these challenges through reforms, but the war disrupted such progress. Military operations and land clearing by farmers has put significant additional stress on tree cover with close to 20,000 fires burning across more than 755,638 hectares since the beginning of the invasion. In 2022 alone, Ukraine lost more than 5,820 hectares of forest cover through those fires.

Aside from fires, the factors contributing to forest loss in Ukraine include the demand for fuelwood, land clearance for military objectives, and the displacement of people, which in turn leads to unsustainable logging practices. Some laws introduced for defense purposes are also undermining environmental protections.

Forest fires peaked following the initial invasion of Ukraine and again in the third quarter of 2022 when Ukraine went on its first counteroffensive.

The good news: forestry experts are making the case that the destruction could lead to a “major overhaul” in Ukraine’s forestry management and better prepare the country for climate change, support biodiversity, and protect water quality. With potential future forest management frameworks already taking shape, satellite imagery paired with GFW’s new forest loss and fire alert datasets can inform policymakers where the conflict has destroyed most forest cover and where to focus reforestation efforts in post-war Ukraine.

Pressures on Syria’s western forests continues as conflict lingers on

The Syrian civil war caused tremendous human bloodshed and suffering. But the conflict also carried a steep cost for the nation’s environment and forests. Between 2012 and 2019, Syria lost 14% of its entire tree cover.

Ever since the outbreak of the civil war, annual tree cover loss rates across Syria have remained significantly higher than pre-conflict levels. Forest fires, illegal logging, agricultural expansion, charcoal production, and inadequate management of natural resources are to blame. Despite a drop in violence from 2017–2018, logging and intense forest fires led to a renewed rise in forest cover loss in 2018–2022, especially in western Syria.

While the peak of violence occurred from 2012–2017, forest fires, illegal logging, agricultural expansion, charcoal production, and inadequate management of natural resources are still affecting Syria’s conflict-ridden landscape to date. In 2020, fires destroyed over 9,000 ha of land, impacting 140,000 individuals by damaging their homes, assets, and essential services like power, water, and healthcare. Overall, Syria has lost close to 15,000 ha of tree cover due to fires alone since the beginning of the conflict. Meanwhile, tree cover loss data serves as a reminder that the conflict and its far-reaching socio-economic and environmental implications are far from over.

Forest fires intensified throughout the Syrian conflict. Bombing campaigns have been a primary cause of these fires. “Forest cover loss due to fires” data illustrates that Lattakia, Idlib, and Hama have been hit particularly hard, accounting for roughly 89% of Syria’s tree cover loss since the conflict’s outbreak.

An important export for Syria, local olive oil production has yet to recover to pre-conflict levels. Prior to the civil war, the olive sector contributed significantly to the country’s economic output and provided livelihoods for many households. Syria was a leading regional producer, with over 79 million olive trees yielding approximately 1.1 million tons of olives. However, in 2020, a Turkish-backed Syrian opposition armed group destroyed more than half a million olive trees in Afrin, dealing a serious blow to the industry.

The period from 2019 to 2022 saw a major increase in tree cover loss in the area around Afrin, home to many olive tree plantations (areas in white) due to Turkish-backed opposition forces ravaging the area’s olive trees.

Geospatial insights on forest cover loss due to conflicts in Syria support the case made by scientists and the European Economic and Social Committee for international legislative protection of forests and the local environment during war times. As tragedies such as the ravaging of olive tree plantations in Afrin demonstrate, such protections will serve the socio-economic benefits and even the survival of local communities dependent on these environments as well.

Tussle for land in Apyterewa Indigenous Territory

Important ecosystems face pressure not only from large-scale wars in Europe and the Middle East. Even small conflicts can harm large oases of primary forest like the Brazilian Amazon.

Primary forest loss in Brazil is a particularly dicey topic. The South American country was home to a staggering 43% of all global primary forest loss in 2022. Local land-grabbing and land use conflicts played a significant role in accelerating primary forest loss like in Apyterewa Indigenous Territory.

Apyterewa Indigenous Territory is part of the Xingu Basin, a mosaic of 46 reserves that form an ecological buffer against the advance of deforestation. The Brazilian government has officially declared a significant portion of this land for exclusive use by indigenous groups.

Despite being designated for exclusive use by the Parakanã people under federal protection since 2007, the reserve situated in the state of Pará near São Félix do Xingu, a prominent cattle-ranching hub in Brazil, has witnessed the encroachment of settlers. These settlers have engaged in illegal logging activities within the reserve’s humid primary forest and the Parakanã have given up hope for a deal with the intruders. Apyterewa Indigenous Territory has lost 9.4% of its primary forest cover since then, making it one of Brazil’s most deforested reserves at present. Indigenous leaders from the area have even urged brands such as Tesla and Apple at the UN to stop supporting deforestation there.

Apyterewa Indigenous Territory has turned into one of Brazil’s most deforested reserves. Humid primary forest loss keeps on ticking upwards as the dispute between the local Parakanã and ranchers, who have moved inside the territory illegally, escalates further.

GFW illustrates where exactly primary forest loss is occurring due to the conflict between settlers and indigenous people. Thanks to GFW’s updated data, the unlawful infringements upon the Parakanã Indigenous people’s land is now visible to everyone. This information can facilitate monitoring of primary forest loss trends and thus help governments, law enforcement, and conservationists act to end the conflict and safeguard the area for indigenous use.

Refugees forced to settle in Virunga National Park

The March 23 Movement rebellion is resurging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, fueling another conflict whose origins date back to more than a decade ago. The new outbreak of the conflict between the M23 rebels and government forces is taking place in Virunga National Park, Africa’s oldest natural reserve and home to the iconic mountain gorilla.

The DRC hosts various forest loss hot spots of different kinds and as a consequence environmental challenges proliferate. Ethnic conflict and violent resource competition lie at the core of the countries’ social ailments while some of the most important and intact primary forest is lost. The area of North Kivu, home to DRC’s Virunga National Park is the site of several intensifying, new, and persistent hot spots for tree cover loss.

As a result of the remerging conflict, civilians have been fleeing to neighboring countries but are also seeking refuge in Virunga National Park. In this World Heritage Site, small-scale charcoal production and slash and burn agriculture make up their best chance at survival. They were reported to have razed more than 200 ha of forest cover within less than two months of moving into the reserve. Meanwhile GFW data shows that North Kivu, the province in which Virunga National Park is located, lost 3,980 ha of humid primary forest in key biodiverse areas including in Virunga in 2022, the highest mark since 2018. Likewise, Lubero, the territory of which Virunga together with Lake Kivu forms the eastern extent, experienced a rise in humid primary forest loss of 9410 ha in 2022.

Overall, the DRC was the country with the second highest primary forest loss in 2022. Reemerging conflict is accelerating forest cover loss, particularly that of humid primary forest which hosts thousands of species in Virunga National Park, Africa’s most biodiverse protected area.

Virunga represents just one of many tales of concern in a country plagued by frequently recurring conflicts. In a country as biodiverse as the DRC, which is also home to some of the most important forest ecosystems in the world, conservation action and protection of primary forests need to happen quickly. GFW’s data on emerging hotspots can guide the necessary action and planning to preserve and restore the critically important forest ecosystems at the center of the African continent.

Leveraging GFW for the benefit of humans and nature

Conflicts across different regions of the world continue to have severe impacts on ecosystems such as forests. From Ukraine to Syria, Brazil, and the DRC, the consequences range from deforestation, destruction of livelihoods and habitats, forest fires to illegal logging, and violations of land rights in protected areas.

GFW and its updated features enhance our understanding of conflicts’ environmental impacts on forest ecosystems. Through geospatial insights and data updates, GFW illuminates the extent and the alarming trends in forest loss caused by conflicts around the world in great detail.

Decision-makers can translate such critical information into prompt and effective action in protecting and restoring these crucial ecosystems. Geospatial data and the updated features of GFW empower us to take the next step towards mitigating environmental destruction through conflicts by implementing conservation measures, law enforcement activities, and legislative actions. To preserve life on this planet, let’s ensure the survival of civilians and forest ecosystems alike.