The global warming consequences – from greenhouse gas emissions and a reduction in the capacity of forests to absorb and store carbon – are grave, and likely to be especially acute in tropical regions themselves. Forest loss
also leads to the breakdown of critical ecosystem services, such as water provision, and interferes with regional climatic patterns, with serious knockon effects for agriculture and food security. The drivers of deforestation and degradation are dynamic and inter-linked. Attempts to deal with them have tended to be specific, yet because of the many variables and feedback loops, they need to be addressed holistically. In particular, it can be argued that the causes and consequences of tropical forest degradation have been given too little attention, with the science now pointing toward degradation being a very significant component both of greenhouse gas emissions and the weakening of forest ecosystems. Solutions such as REDD+ need to reflect these realities, but although much progress has been made, this has not in the main yet been at the spatial level where action matters most: the landscape.