{"id":727,"date":"2021-03-17T11:09:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T11:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/?p=727"},"modified":"2022-07-01T10:35:17","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T10:35:17","slug":"10-causes-of-deforestation-the-roots-of-forest-degradation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/10-causes-of-deforestation-the-roots-of-forest-degradation\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Causes of Deforestation: The Roots of Forest Degradation"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
Removing trees from an area of forest and converting the land for other purposes is known as deforestation<\/a>. The planet loses about 10 million hectares of forest every year.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This is an area larger than South Korea.<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> There is rarely a single direct cause of deforestation. Instead, multiple processes tend to conflate and result in deforestation.<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Deforestation is a key part of the climate change problem. Trees play a critical role in the carbon cycle. This is because they absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) through photosynthesis.<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Clearing forests prevents them from removing this greenhouse gas from the Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Cutting trees down, burning them or leaving them to rot also releases the carbon they have stored in their biomass.<\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Deforestation produces about 10 per cent of all annual anthropogenic emissions. Therefore, reducing the causes of deforestation is fundamental to tackle global warming.<\/span>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Converting forest to arable land is a more recent cause of deforestation. Agriculture as a whole accounts for at least 80 per cent of all deforestation, though this includes livestock as well.<\/span>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In South America, deforestation to make space for soybean production is extremely common. Argentina and Brazil grow almost half of the world\u2019s soy. 90 per cent of it ends up as animal feed. This has resulted in great swathes of forest lost in the Gran Chaco and the Cerrado.<\/span>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Similarly, palm oil in Southeast Asia has driven deforestation in Indonesia, Malaysia and other rainforests.<\/span>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Half of all supermarket products contain palm oil.<\/span>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span> It is an extremely efficient crop in terms of applicability and yield, but it requires high humidity and temperatures to grow.<\/span>12<\/sup><\/a><\/span> More than 27 million hectares of palm oil plantations now cover the Earth\u2019s surface to supply this important vegetable oil.<\/span>13<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The land required to provide the global demand for meat is enormous. 60 per cent of all mammals on Earth are livestock, mostly cattle and pigs.<\/span>14<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Cows are particularly space-hungry, requiring acres upon acres of grazing land.<\/span>15<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This has led to cattle and livestock ranching becoming the greatest driver of deforestation in the Amazon.<\/span>16<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Despite promises to eradicate deforestation from their supply lines, the beef and dairy industry is contaminated by cattle laundering and other issues. This means that supermarkets and slaughterhouses \u2013 selling products from Amazon countries \u2013 cannot guarantee that they are free of deforestation and other illegal activities.<\/span>17<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Another major cause of deforestation is illegal logging. Harvesting timber from protected areas or without a license can be extremely lucrative. The global trade in products originating from illegal logging is estimated at USD $152 billion per year. It attracts some of the world’s biggest organised crime groups.<\/span>18<\/sup><\/a><\/span> But, it also damages the economic wellbeing of local communities, responsible companies and governments trying to prevent the practice.<\/span>19<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Illegal deforestation comprises a large proportion of all logging in the tropics. For example, it accounts for 60-80 per cent of all logging in the Brazilian Amazon, 90 per cent in Indonesia<\/span>20<\/sup><\/a><\/span> and 65 per cent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<\/span>21<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The nefarious practice clears forest, which is then occupied by farmers who take advantage of the open space to plant crops or graze cattle.<\/span>22<\/sup><\/a><\/span> It leads to important habitats being destroyed with resultant loss of biodiversity and soil erosion.<\/span>23<\/sup><\/a><\/span> It can also contribute to conflicts with indigenous people, sparking violence and leading to human rights abuses.<\/span>24<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Mining has a damaging impact on the environment and is a leading cause of deforestation. For mining to take place, trees and vegetation must be razed so that bulldozers and excavators can extract metals and minerals from the soil.<\/span>25<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Between 2005 and 2015, nearly 10 per cent of Brazil’s Amazonian deforestation was due to mining activities<\/a>.<\/span>26<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Small-scale mining also degrades forests and pollutes the local area. Miners use toxic chemicals, such as cyanide, mercury and methylmercury.<\/span>27<\/sup><\/a><\/span> They are frequently discharged into rivers, streams, bays and oceans, where they contaminate the water and kill living organisms.<\/span>28<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Gold mining sites have been found to resist any regrowth, even three to four years later due to the pollution and topsoil erosion it causes.<\/span>29<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Fire is the natural enemy of wood, and forest fires are on the rise thanks to humans. Fire seasons are becoming longer and more extreme as forests are degraded and the global temperature increases.<\/span>30<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In 2019, more than one million hectares of forest were burned, and fires affected woodland from Siberia to the Amazon.<\/span>31<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In that year alone, the Amazon witnessed at least 76,000 fires burning. Humans started the majority. It was the worst year for forest fires since 2010, which had experienced a particularly bad drought. But 2019\u2019s forests were not the accidental result of drought. They were deliberately set to remove vegetation from land to open it up for crops or cattle.<\/span>32<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n10 causes of deforestation<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
1. Agriculture for arable land<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Palm oil plantations<\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
2. Agriculture for livestock<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
3. Illegal logging<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Effects of deforestation<\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
4. Mining<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
5. Fires<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n