Jewel Middle School, Aurora

First, this is such an important topic. Even during this global pandemic we hear of how the planet is breathing and healing with many things that impact the environment and climate have had to slow down. Your project shows that the forest need a break to breathe and recover. Obviously, money is the top driver to deforestation and destruction. People need to make a living and the forests need to be healthy and survive. Replacing and planting trees as you mentioned is a start, but one won't do it I think. Maybe trying to shift to emphasizing the replanting even more than one tree would have some impact. Your data and graphs were stunning. They should be shared. The data would help in having people plant more trees. How long would it take to replace some of the forests? Perhaps some of the tree selling companies would be enlightened by seeing your presentation. Maybe you could convince them for every tree purchased, they offer a seedling to a forest in trouble. I would send your project in print and digital format to the presidents of the countries you featured. I might even suggest presenting at your local library with someone from the county forest preserve which is another place to share your work. Would be nice if they shared it on the forest preserve website too. Keep the topic alive. Maybe make a digital children's book and have it shared in your school district to educate students in your district. Maybe a local greenhouse would donate a tree to the class who reads the book. Keep your great project alive. Don't let it end now. Share it and the message will have impact. You have a great project. The data is stunning and shocking and not many people know. Thank you for this project. It's a job well done. Excellent!

Very informative and persuasive presentation, well done! Deforestation is a serious issue as it contributes to 17% of global carbon emission (IPCC, 2007), and it is a very complex one as it impact millions of people’s livelihoods, especially those in developing countries.

You provided a very comprehensive list of key forests in the world and their deforestation records, and most of those forests are tropical forests. The situation in temperate forest is different, as forest coverage has been increasing steadily. Maybe worth looking into that in more detail to see what have been done differently in those countries.

In terms of what we can do to stop tropical deforestation, never underestimate your power as individuals. For example, you can go and ask your favorite food  brands (on social media or just call their customer helpline) and ask what are they doing to stop deforestation in their supply chains, if you see  palm oil, soy, beef or any other commodity in their ingredient lists. More questions will lead to more pressure on those companies, and eventually more actions will be taken.  

Great presentation & well done!