9.3 Deforestation

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What is Deforestation?

Deforestation means the large-scale cutting down or clearing of forests so that the land can be used for something else. It is happening all over the world, but it is especially serious in tropical rainforests — the dense, wet forests found near the equator, such as the Amazon rainforest in South America and the Congo Basin in Africa.

Forests are incredibly important. They are home to millions of species of plants and animals, they store huge amounts of carbon, they protect the soil, and they influence the weather. When forests are destroyed, all of these benefits are lost.

PART 1: CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION

Cause 1: Timber Extraction and Logging

Timber extraction means cutting down trees to use the wood. Logging is the commercial (business-based) version of this — companies send workers and machinery into forests to cut down large numbers of trees.

• The wood (timber) is sold to make furniture, paper, building materials, and many other products.
• There are two types of logging:
  • Selective logging — only certain valuable trees are cut down. This is slightly less damaging but still causes harm because machinery and workers damage surrounding trees and soil when moving through the forest.
  • Clear-cutting — every single tree in an area is cut down at once. This is far more destructive because it completely removes the forest from that patch of land.
• High demand for wood products around the world, especially in wealthier countries, drives logging companies to cut down more and more forest.
• Once trees are removed, the land is often left bare and exposed, making it very difficult for the forest to grow back naturally.

Subsistence Farming

• Subsistence farming means growing just enough food to feed your own family — you are not selling it, just surviving on it.
• Poor families living near forests often clear small patches of trees to grow crops like cassava, maize, or rice.
• A common method is called slash and burn — farmers cut down trees and burn them. The ash acts as a fertiliser (something that adds nutrients to the soil), making the soil good for crops for a short time.
• However, after a few years, the nutrients in the soil run out (because the forest ecosystem is no longer recycling them). The farmer must then move on and clear another patch of forest. This is called shifting cultivation.
• Each family may clear only a small area, but with millions of families doing this across tropical countries, the total area lost is enormous.

Commercial Farming

• Commercial farming means growing crops or raising animals to sell for profit on a large scale.
• Huge areas of forest are cleared to make way for:
  • Cattle ranching — raising large herds of beef cattle (very common in the Amazon, where land is cleared for beef exports).
  • Soy plantations — growing soy beans, which are used as animal feed and in food products globally.
  • Palm oil plantations — growing oil palm trees to produce palm oil, which is used in cooking, cosmetics, and processed foods (major cause of deforestation in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia and Malaysia).
• These operations are often run by large corporations and can clear thousands of hectares (a hectare is roughly the size of a football pitch) of forest very quickly.