Overview
- Africa’s woody biomass changed from a net annual gain of about 439 million tonnes (2007–2010) to a net loss of roughly 106 million tonnes (2011–2017), according to Scientific Reports.
- The analysis identifies the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and parts of West Africa as hotspots where losses surged due to clearing, fires and degradation.
- The authors report wide uncertainty ranges and say they have no publishable, continent‑wide dataset after 2017, though Global Forest Watch indicates rising deforestation in the DRC.
- The study combines LIDAR, radar and optical satellite data with ground measurements to deliver the most detailed continent‑wide biomass assessment to date.
- Related monitoring shows heavy ongoing tropical forest loss globally and evidence that parts of the southern Amazon now emit more CO2 than they absorb, prompting calls to scale up forest‑protection finance such as the new TFFF.