Like the carbon footprint, which quantifies the CO2 emissions linked to our consumption habits, the forest footprint calculates the surface area of the forest necessary to support our lifestyle. Knowing how to measure it also means knowing how to reduce it. 352 square meters: this is the average forest footprint of French people, calculated in 2018 by the association Envol vert. On the scale of France, this corresponds to 2.4 million hectares of forest deforested to meet our consumption habits (food, gasoline, clothing, etc.). To obtain this result, Envol vert focuses on the impact of eight raw materials (palm oil, soy, coffee, cocoa, rubber, wood, meat, paper, and cardboard). The forest footprint is measured from the average consumption of French people of products made from these raw materials, weighted with the surface area necessary for their production and the risk of deforestation of each. Soy, the main feed for European livestock, is (by far) the biggest contributor to the forest footprint of the French. 90% of deforestation is linked to agricultural expansion, warned the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2021. Out of the 352m2 of the forest footprint of the French, 206m2 are indirectly linked to the production of soya, which is used to feed European livestock. Next comes leather, then palm oil, used in fuels. "By becoming vegetarian, by halving your consumption of eggs and dairy products, by preferring responsible or local products, you can reduce your Forest Footprint by up to 88%". We can also limit our purchases of leather products, or favor their acquisition second-hand. ❓ What is your forest footprint? Read more and do the test: https://forest-footprint.org/quizz/