23/10/2026
Global deforestation has fallen ... but not by enough
It is worth celebrating that deforestation is down by 15%. However, that number should be much higher. In fact, the gap between what was promised and what has been delivered is equal to a landmass the size of Iceland. Further, the 2026 Forest Declaration Assessment has highlighted that only 0.3% of global climate finance is spent on forest protection and restoration.
John Constable painted this oak-filled landscape in 1832 at the request of the owner of Englefield estate in Berkshire. Two centuries later, it is the site from which Anya Gallaccio selected felled oak trees for her site-specific sculpture at Tate Britain. Both artists understood the consequences of deforestation, and that the time to act was yesterday. Today is the second-best option.
Detail from John Constable's 'Englefield House' (1832)
Anya Gallaccio's 'As long as there were any roads to amnesia and anaesthesia still to be explored' (2002)
