Land Clearing with Excavator and Chained Bulldozer - Deforestation for Agriculture

[Music] the excavator knows where it is at all times it knows this because it knows where it isn't the operator uses deviations to generate commands to drive the excavator from a position where there is Forest to a position where there isn't consequently the position where the forest is is now the position that it wasn't and it follows that the position that it was is now Barren land [Music] I need more farm field I need more Farm Fields bigger Ranch bigger Ranch sir a shocking new study has revealed that nearly half of the world's tropical forests

cleared for agriculture between 2001 and 2015 were left completely unused that's right no farming or livestock grazing whatsoever on over 100 million hectares of land an area the size of Colombia completely cleared of trees for no reason foreign [Music] this wasteful deforestation was likely driven by speculators hoping to sell cleared land at a profit as well as small farmers who cleared Forest but lacked resources to actually utilize the land a tragic and short-sighted destruction of vital forest ecosystems [Applause] money money money money [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] foreign between 1990 and 2020 a staggering 420 million

hectares of forest worldwide were lost according to the U.N that's a land area approximately the size of the entire European Union Brazil faced the biggest losses with over 90 million hectares of Brazilian Rainforest wiped out other tropical countries seeing massive deforestation include Indonesia Congo Angola and Tasmania the leading causes agriculture logging cattle ranching development projects wildfires and fuel wood collection but the biggest culprit by far is agriculture responsible for a whopping 80 percent of global deforestation the impacts just devastating forests are critical for sopping up greenhouse gases and breaking climate change their biodiversity Banks wildlife

sanctuaries indigenous livelihoods and Watershed Guardians their disappearance is straining ecosystems across the planet tropical forests like the Amazon are especially vital harboring over half the world's remaining rainforest yet we've hacked away 17 percent of the Amazon in just the last 50 years at this rate some scientists say the whole Amazon could collapse in less than 50 years that would be straight calamitous potentially flipping the rainforest into a Dusty Savannah and unleashing billions of tons of stored carbon into the skies the impacts would be felt from Sao Paulo to Siberia wreaking havoc on weather food chains

and communities [Applause] yeah we're already getting a taste of losing so much tree cover wonky rainfall Vanishing species displaced indigenous tribes and more emissions stoking the climate crisis it's a nasty cycle as hotter drier conditions breed more forest fires and tree die-offs all right [Music] [Music] money money money money money money money money money money money [Music] [Music] illegal logging it sounds harmless enough just cutting down some trees without permission but this criminal Timber trade is decimating forests worldwide lining the pockets of corrupt officials and organized crime Networks experts say 15 to 30 percent of

all Timber sold globally is illegally harvested we're talking 30 to 100 billion dollars worth of illegal Timber every year and in places like the Amazon and Southeast Asia illegal logging makes up fifty even 90 percent of the Timber industry [Music] what's driving this crisis massive profits for one weak laws and enforcement in producing countries and ongoing demand from major importers like the U.S EU China and Japan [Music] there are solutions out there certification programs to verify legal Supply chains International cooperation to crack down on the criminal networks behind illegal logging educating consumers to stop buying

dodgy Timber Products some countries have made progress but in many regions illegal logging continues to run rampant destroying pristine forests and critical wildlife habitats [Music] this is so bizarre [Music] with agricultural expansion also putting pressure on forests experts warn illegal logging remains a grave threat more must be done to strengthen governance and enforcement worldwide [Applause]