{"id":31970,"date":"2026-01-22T17:25:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T07:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=31970"},"modified":"2026-01-22T17:25:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T07:25:07","slug":"tiny-clearings-not-major-deforestation-drive-tropical-carbon-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/tiny-clearings-not-major-deforestation-drive-tropical-carbon-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiny Clearings, Not Major Deforestation, Drive Tropical Carbon Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Tiny patches of deforestation, often no larger than a football field, are responsible for more than half of all carbon losses in the Tropics, according to a new study that challenges long\u2011held assumptions about the drivers of emissions in the world\u2019s most important forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-025-09870-7\">Published in <em>Nature<\/em>,<\/a> the research delivers the most detailed reconstruction to date, showing how tropical forest carbon between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn has changed over the past 30 years. Scientists at the Laboratory for Climate and Environmental Sciences (LSCE) in France, working with the European Space Agency\u2019s Climate Change Initiative, found that clearings smaller than two hectares account for 56% of net carbon losses, despite representing just 5% of the total disturbed area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-025-09870-7\">Click here to download the research<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The team used a high\u2011resolution bookkeeping approach that combines sub\u2011hectare satellite observations with new biomass\u2011recovery curves, enabling carbon losses and gains to be mapped at a 30\u2011metre scale. Their analysis shows that disturbances in tropical humid forests caused nearly 16 billion tonnes of carbon loss between 1990 and 2020, whilst tropical dry forests showed a rough balance between disturbance\u2011driven losses and natural regrowth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"IwrmePehjTM\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Agriculture drives most illegal deforestation in the tropics, study finds\" width=\"696\" height=\"522\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IwrmePehjTM?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>In recent years, several studies have pointed to agricultural expansion as the primary cause for deforestation. Footage courtesy of Mongabay.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Yidi Xu and Philippe Ciais, the study&#8217;s lead authors, the breakthrough came from the unprecedented detail provided by ESA\u2019s biomass maps. \u201cUnlike previous global models that rely on simplified assumptions or continental averages, our approach captured how disturbance type, size, and local climate conditions shape forest recovery,\u201d they said. \u201cThis allowed us to discover that small\u2011scale human activities, not just large clear\u2011cutting or wildfires, are quietly driving the majority of tropical carbon losses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Most of these clearings are not linked to logging or catastrophic fires.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, they reflect the cumulative impact of everyday human activity, expanding croplands, creating pasture, building roads, and establishing settlements. In humid forests, these disturbances often fail to regrow, locking in long\u2011term emissions and amplifying the climate impact of each hectare lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study also shows that disturbances are increasingly encroaching on denser, more carbon\u2011rich humid forests. While undisturbed tropical forests continue to act as a carbon sink, their ability to offset losses elsewhere is now only just enough to keep the overall tropical carbon balance close to neutral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Three decades of satellite data reveal a surprising culprit behind tropical carbon loss.<br><br>Using data from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/esaclimate?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@esaclimate<\/a>\u2019s RECCAP-2 and Biomass projects, scientists found that small deforestation clearings \u2013 often under two hectare \u2013 are behind more than half of total losses since\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4AH4dfBFQR\">pic.twitter.com\/4AH4dfBFQR<\/a><\/p>&mdash; ESA Earth Observation (@ESA_EO) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ESA_EO\/status\/2012853714407584118?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 18, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings carry significant implications for climate policy, particularly in regions such as Africa, where small\u2011scale disturbances dominate. The authors argue that curbing incremental agricultural expansion could deliver far greater climate benefits than previously recognised, and that regenerating forests must be protected from repeated disturbance to maintain their carbon\u2011storage potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ESA\u2019s Head of Actionable Climate Information, Clement Albergel, said the study reinforces the importance of long\u2011term satellite monitoring. \u201cAs tropical forests face increasingly frequent hazards from climate change, fires, and human encroachment, this study underscores a vital truth: even the smallest clearings matter,\u201d he said. \u201cThrough ESA\u2019s maps of biomass, we\u2019re gaining an unprecedented view of how these ecosystems lose and regain carbon \u2013 knowledge that is crucial for protecting them while there is still time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information: Xu, Y., Ciais, P., Santoro, M.\u00a0<em>et al.<\/em>\u00a0Small persistent humid forest clearings drive tropical forest biomass losses.\u00a0<em>Nature<\/em>\u00a0<strong>649<\/strong>, 375\u2013380 (2026). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41586-025-09870-7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tiny patches of deforestation, often no larger than a football field, are responsible for more than half of all carbon losses in the Tropics, according to a new study that challenges long\u2011held assumptions about the drivers of emissions in the world\u2019s most important forests. Published in Nature, the research delivers the most detailed reconstruction to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"default","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[80,51,52,50,33,2,32,46,45,44,31],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":{"0":"post-31970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-americas","9":"category-asia","10":"category-australia","11":"category-editors-picks","12":"category-featured","13":"category-global-news","14":"category-industry","15":"category-sustainability","16":"category-sustainable-forest-management","17":"category-top-stories"},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jason","display_name":"Jason Ross","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31970"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31973,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31970\/revisions\/31973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31970"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=31970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}