Overview
- The Scientific Reports paper concludes Africa’s forests became a net carbon source after about 2010, reversing gains recorded from 2007 to 2010.
- Researchers estimate average losses of roughly 106 billion kilograms of aboveground biomass each year from 2010 to 2017, concentrated in tropical moist broadleaf regions.
- Hotspots include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and parts of West Africa, with deforestation and forest degradation linked to farming, infrastructure and mining.
- The team combined NASA’s GEDI lidar, Japan’s ALOS radar, machine learning and thousands of ground measurements to produce decade‑scale, high‑resolution biomass maps.
- Authors urge tighter forest governance, restoration through AFR100 and rapid scale‑up of the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, with reported pledges near $6.5–$6.6 billion well short of its multibillion‑dollar goal.