A global analysis of deforestation due to biofuel development | Land Portal

Resource information

Date of publication: 
December 2011
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
handle:10568/20838
License of the resource: 

This report examines whether the recent increase in biofuel feedstock production is resulting in increased deforestation rates and magnitudes within tropical regions. It reviews several methodological challenges for undertaking this analysis, and presents a set of preliminary findings. The analysis is focused on three regions from a global perspective: Latin America, southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. The report deals only with agriculture-based feedstocks such as sugarcane, soya, palm oil and jatropha, known also as first generation biofuels, because second generation biofuels from wood or other lignocelullosic materials have not yet been produced on a commercial scale. The analysis centres on the years since 2000 due to the marked increase in biofuel production since then.

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

Gao, Y.
Skutsch, M.
Masera, O.
Pacheco, P.

Publisher(s): 
Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is a non-profit, scientific facility that conducts research on the most pressing challenges of forest and landscapes management around the world. With our global, multidisciplinary approach, we aim to improve human well-being, protect the environment, and increase equity. To do so, we help policymakers, practitioners and communities make decisions based on solid science about how they use and manage their forests and landscapes.


Data provider

CGIAR (CGIAR)

CGIAR is the only worldwide partnership addressing agricultural research for development, whose work contributes to the global effort to tackle poverty, hunger and major nutrition imbalances, and environmental degradation.


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