Did you know that importing wood from developing countries reduces biodiversity?

A study from Princeton University, unprecedentedly, confirms that importing wood from developing or “poor” countries, reduces biodiversity.

The research quantifies for the first time the extent to which nations contribute to this by transferring the environmental costs of their consumption abroad.

Importing wood and biodiversity loss

The loss of biodiversity accelerated at an alarming rate in recent decades, largely driven by human activities such as deforestation for farming or harvesting wood.

The consequences of importing wood.

Researchers analyzed the impact of 24 developed nations on 7593 species of forest-dependent birds, mammals, and reptiles between 2001 and 2015.

Using trade data, satellite maps of deforestation, and species distribution, they identified critical points of biodiversity loss. They also calculated what proportion of each species’ habitat destruction is due to the imports of each developed country.

“Tracking the impacts that countries have on the environment beyond their borders is challenging to do,” said lead author Alex Wiebe, a doctoral student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

“By combining satellite images with economic data and biodiversity data, we can now measure and map exactly where countries impact species worldwide for the first time,” he added.

The consequences of deforestation

The study revealed that consumption-driven deforestation in 24 developed countries was responsible for 13.3% of global vertebrate habitat loss dependent on forests.

On average, these countries caused an impact on international biodiversity 15 times greater than what they generated within their own borders.

Main contributors

The countries leading the list in terms of negative consequences in other nations are United States, Germany, France, Japan, and China.

Additionally, 18 of the 24 countries analyzed had a greater effect abroad than domestically.

The direct negative impact on biodiversity.

“By importing food and wood, these developed nations are essentially exporting extinction,” said David Wilcove, co-author of the study and professor of Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Public Affairs, in a statement.

“Global trade extends the environmental impacts of human consumption, in this case driving more developed nations to obtain their food from poorer nations with higher biodiversity in the tropics. Resulting in the loss of more species,” Wilcove emphasized.

The study’s results also revealed that countries tend to have the greatest impact on species in tropical regions closest to them. For example, the consumption of the United States had the most significant impact on wildlife in Central America.

While the consumption of China and Japan strongly affected species in the rainforest regions of Southeast Asia.