Table 1 Countries with the greatest forest carbon loss and associated drivers across the tropics between 2001 and 2019 (top 20)

From: Doubling of annual forest carbon loss over the tropics during the early twenty-first century

Country

Trend (TgC yr−1 decade–1)

Commodity agriculture

Small-scale agriculture

Forestry

Others

Total

D. R. Congo

2.6*

92.2*

0.3*

3.3*

98.4*

Indonesia

82.8*

10.8*

4.5*

2.2

95.2

Brazil

−2.4

24.3*

4.8*

5.6*

46.9

Laos

11.4*

5.1*

16.4*

0.2*

33.1*

Malaysia

19.3*

1.0*

5.7*

0.2*

28.2*

Madagascar

0.8*

21.6*

0.1*

0.1

23.0*

Bolivia

15.1*

4.6*

−0.1*

1.1*

22.8*

Vietnam

10.6*

2.5*

7.6*

0.3*

21.2*

Myanmar

6.2*

5.2*

8.8*

0.2*

20.9*

Peru

3.8*

15.5*

0.0*

1.3*

20.5*

Liberia

0.9*

13.0*

0.0*

0.1*

14.0*

Cambodia

12.8*

0.7*

0.3*

0.1*

13.7*

Côte d’Ivoire

0.4*

13.1*

0.0*

0.0*

13.4*

Guinea

1.0*

12.6*

0.0*

0.1*

13.3*

Angola

0.2*

12.5*

0.0*

0.2*

12.8*

Cameroon

0.7*

10.6*

0.1*

0.7*

12.0*

China

0.8*

0.2*

10. 2*

0.3*

11.6*

Thailand

3.8*

1.6*

5.8*

0.1*

11.2*

Mozambique

0.0*

10.4*

0.1*

0.1*

10.6*

Mexico

0.9*

6.9*

0.4*

0.7*

9.6*

 

Amount (TgC yr–1)

Brazil

260.4

78.5

25.6

8.5

373.0

Indonesia

171.0

20.2

9.3

3.0

203.6

D. R. Congo

3.7

112.5

0.4

3.6

120.2

Malaysia

64.2

1.3

8.4

0.3

74.4

Bolivia

25.8

11.6

0.4

2.7

40.5

Colombia

8.5

24.2

0.9

1.4

35.0

Peru

6.4

24.5

0.1

1.5

32.5

Laos

12.4

4.6

14.4

0.1

31.5

Madagascar

0.8

23.2

0.1

0.2

24.3

Vietnam

13.0

3.1

7.2

0.3

23.5

Mexico

2.2

17.1

1.1

1.1

21.5

Myanmar

7.3

5.1

8.5

0.3

21.1

Cambodia

19.0

0.7

0.6

0.2

20.5

China

0.7

0.2

18.6

0.4

20.0

Thailand

6.1

2.4

8.0

0.2

16.7

Côte d’Ivoire

0.9

15.6

0.1

0.0

16.6

Mozambique

0.0

15.0

0.1

0.2

15.3

Angola

0.2

14.5

0.0

0.5

15.2

Paraguay

14.1

0.5

0.1

0.2

14.8

Venezuela

1.5

9.9

0.6

1.2

13.2

  1. Gross forest carbon loss in these 20 countries accounts for 78% of the increase in tropical forest carbon loss and 83% of the total amount of the loss; 1 TgC is equivalent to 10−3 PgC. Forest carbon loss includes aboveground and (committed) belowground biomass carbon loss and (committed) soil organic carbon loss.
  2. *Statistically significant trend at P < 0.05.
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