Deforestation in Peru

Deforestation leads to a degradation of forests, which compromises carbon sequestration.^[7] Carbon sequestration is an essential process in controlling climate change. Deforestation in tropical regions is often cited as a main driver of the greenhouse effect.^[8] The Amazon Rainforest is the world's largest tropical forest by area, which makes it an important region for carbon sequestration, or a carbon sink.^[8] Peru's current logging policies allow for the felling of trees with diameters of 41 centimeters or greater, while approximately 90% of the Amazon's above ground carbon are held in trees this size.^[9] Due to both deforestation and drought, recent research shows that regions of the Amazon have been net carbon sources since 2021.^[10] In 2012, deforestation processes in Peru led to the emission of approximately 80 gigatons of CO₂ equivalent.^[11] In 2018, Peru had a Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.86/10, ranking it 14th globally out of 172 countries.^[12]

Deforestation in Peru's rainforests also impacts biodiversity. Peru's rainforests are epicenters of biodiversity, containing more than 14,500 plant and vertebrate species.^[13] Induced wildfires cause much of the habitat destruction seen in the Amazon Rainforest. Peru's tropical forests are wet regions, so species are not adapted to survive fires. A recent study shows that up to 95% of species living in the Amazon Rainforest have been impacted by deforestation in some way since 2001.^[13] In the Madre de Dios province, illegal gold mining has caused mercury pollution in the Nanay River, affecting many aquatic species like the Giant River Otter.^[14] Coffee, cacao, and palm agriculture have fragmented the habitat of the San Martin Titi Monkey and the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey, which are both critically endangered species.^[15][16]

The most significant cause of deforestation in Peru is small-scale subsistence agriculture, which is responsible for up to 80% of the forest area lost.^[17] This is largely due to Peru's high rate of poverty, causing many to turn to subsistence farming or medium-scale farming operations for survival.^[18] Another driving factor is illegal logging operations, which are caused by high international demand and regulatory failure. Logging operations have contributed to about 10% of the total forest area lost in Peru.^[19] Illegal mining operations also contribute to deforestation. Gold mining alone has caused 139,000 hectares of deforestation in the Madre de Dios province since 1984.^[20] Operation Mercury in 2019 was an attempt by Peru's government to dismantle mining sites in Madre de Dios. This operation saw short-term success, but miners returned in greater numbers and across more regions after only a few years.^[20]

Global Forest Watch publishes annual estimates of tree cover loss and 2000 tree cover extent derived from time-series analysis of Landsat satellite imagery in the Global Forest Change dataset.^{[21][22][23][24]} In this framework, tree cover refers to vegetation taller than 5 m (including natural forests and tree plantations), and tree cover loss is defined as the complete removal of tree cover canopy for a given year, regardless of cause.^[25]

For Peru, country statistics report cumulative tree cover loss of 4,350,806 ha (43,508.06 km²) from 2001 to 2024 (about 5.6% of its 2000 tree cover area).^[21] For tree cover density greater than 30%, country statistics report a 2000 tree cover extent of 78,063,555 ha (780,635.55 km²).^[21] The charts and table below display this data. In simple terms, the annual loss number is the area where tree cover disappeared in that year, and the extent number shows what remains of the 2000 tree cover baseline after subtracting cumulative loss. Forest regrowth is not included in the dataset.^[21][25]