View source for Deforestation

{{short description|Conversion of forest to non-forest for human use}}
{{redirect|Forest clearing|a gap in a forest|Glade (geography)}}
{{redirect|Deforest|other uses|DeForest (disambiguation)}}
{{for|"deforestation" in computer science|Deforestation (computer science)}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
[[File:Operação Hymenaea, Julho-2016 (29399454651).jpg|thumb|[[Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest]] in Brazil's [[Maranhão]] state, 2016]]
[[File:Riau palm oil 2007.jpg|thumb|Deforestation in Riau province, Sumatra, [[Indonesia]] to make way for an [[oil palm]] plantation in 2007.]]
[[File:Hillside deforestation in Rio de Janeiro.jpg|thumb|Deforestation in the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil's [[Rio de Janeiro]] state, 2009]]

'''Deforestation''' or '''forest clearance''' is the removal and destruction of a [[forest]] or stand of trees from land that is then [[land conversion|converted]] to non-forest use.<ref>[http://dictionaryofforestry.org/dict/term/deforestation SAFnet Dictionary|Definition For [deforestation&#93;] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725234528/http://dictionaryofforestry.org/dict/term/deforestation|date=25 July 2011}}. Dictionary of forestry.org (29 July 2008). Retrieved 15 May 2011.</ref> Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to [[farm]]s, [[ranch]]es, or [[urban area|urban]] use. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by [[forest]]s at present.<ref>[http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation Deforestation|Threats|WWF]. Worldwildlife.org. Retrieved 13 November 2016.</ref> This is one-third less than the [[forest cover]] before the expansion of agriculture, with half of that loss occurring in the last century.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ritchie|first1=Hannah|author1-link=Hannah Ritchie |last2=Roser|first2=Max|author2-link=Max Roser |date=2021-02-09|title=Forests and Deforestation|url=https://ourworldindata.org/forest-area|journal=Our World in Data}}</ref> On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute.<ref>{{cite web|title=On Water|url=https://www.eib.org/en/essays/on-water|access-date=2020-10-13|website=European Investment Bank|language=en}}</ref> Estimates vary widely as to the extent of deforestation in the [[tropics]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In 2019, nearly a third of the overall tree cover loss, or 3.8 million hectares, occurred within humid tropical [[primary forests]]. These are areas of mature [[rainforest]] that are especially important for [[biodiversity]] and [[Carbon sequestration|carbon storage]].<ref name="Guy-2020" /><ref name=":2" />

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The direct cause of most deforestation is agriculture by far.<ref name="UNFCC-2007" /> More than 80% of deforestation was attributed to agriculture in 2012.<ref name="ScienceDaily-2018" /> Forests are being converted to plantations for [[coffee]], [[palm oil]], [[rubber]] and various other popular products.<ref name="WWF-2020" /> Livestock [[grazing]] also drives deforestation. Further drivers are the [[wood industry]] ([[logging]]), [[urbanization]] and [[mining]]. The [[effects of climate change]] are another cause via the increased risk of [[wildfire]]s (see [[deforestation and climate change]]).

<!--this para is about effects -->
Deforestation results in [[habitat destruction]] which in turn leads to [[biodiversity loss]]. Deforestation also leads to [[extinction]] of animals and plants, changes to the local climate, and displacement of [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous people]] who live in forests. Deforested regions often also suffer from other environmental problems such as [[desertification]] and [[soil erosion]].

<!--this para is about effects with regard to climate change -->
Another problem is that deforestation reduces the uptake of carbon dioxide ([[carbon sequestration]]) from the atmosphere. This reduces the potential of forests to assist with [[climate change mitigation]]. The role of forests in capturing and storing carbon and mitigating climate change is also important for the agricultural sector.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020">{{cite book|title=The State of the World's Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people – In brief|publisher=FAO & UNEP|year=2020|isbn=978-92-5-132707-4|location=Rome|doi=10.4060/ca8985en|s2cid=241416114}}</ref> The reason for this linkage is because the [[effects of climate change on agriculture]] pose new risks to global [[food system]]s.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" />

Since 1990, it is estimated that some [[orders of magnitude (area)#108 to 1014 square metres|420 million hectares]] of forest have been lost through [[land conversion|conversion]] to other [[land use]]s, although the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past three decades. Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year, down from 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s. The area of primary forest worldwide has decreased by over 80 million hectares since 1990. More than 100 million hectares of forests are adversely affected by forest fires, pests, diseases, [[invasive species]], [[drought]] and adverse weather events.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The State of the World's Forests 2020. In brief – Forests, biodiversity and people|publisher=FAO & UNEP|isbn=978-92-5-132707-4|location=Rome|pages=9–10}}</ref>

== Definition ==
[[File:Annual change in forest area, world map, OWID.png|alt=This screen shot shows a map that highlights countries based on their net change rate of forest area. Areas that appear more blue have a higher net change rate than areas that appear tan. Brown areas indicate a net loss of forest area.|thumb|Forest area net change rate per country in 2020]]
Deforestation is defined as the conversion of forest to other land uses (regardless of whether it is human-induced).<ref name="GFRA2020">{{cite web|title=Global Forest Resource Assessment 2020|url=http://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/2020/en/|access-date=20 September 2020|website=www.fao.org|language=en|archive-date=20 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520105408/http://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/2020/en}}</ref>

''Deforestation'' and ''forest area net change'' are not the same: the latter is the sum of all forest losses (deforestation) and all forest gains (forest expansion) in a given period. Net change, therefore, can be positive or negative, depending on whether gains exceed losses, or vice versa.<ref name="GFRA2020" />

== Current status by continent, region, country ==

[[File:Annual-deforestation.svg|thumb|Annual deforestation]]
[[File:Annual-change-forest-area.svg|thumb|Annual change in forest area]]

The FAO estimates that the global forest carbon stock has decreased 0.9%, and tree cover 4.2% between 1990 and 2020.<ref name="FAO-2020">{{cite web|author = FAO|title= Global Forest Resources Assessment|url = http://www.fao.org/3/ca9825en/CA9825EN.pdf|year = 2020}}</ref>{{rp|16, 52}}
{|class="wikitable"
|+Changes in forest carbon stock by region<br/>Figures in gigatons<ref name="FAO-2020" />{{rp|52, table 43}}

!Region!!1990!!2020
|-
|Europe (including Russia)||style="text-align:right;"|158.7||style="text-align:right;"|172.4
|-
|North America||style="text-align:right;"|136.6||style="text-align:right;"|140.0
|-
|Africa||style="text-align:right;"|94.3||style="text-align:right;"|80.9
|-
|South and Southeast Asia combined||style="text-align:right;"|45.8||style="text-align:right;"|41.5
|-
|Oceania||style="text-align:right;"|33.4||style="text-align:right;"|33.1
|-
|Central America||style="text-align:right;"|5.0||style="text-align:right;"|4.1
|-
|South America||style="text-align:right;"|161.8||style="text-align:right;"|144.8
|}
As of 2019 there is still disagreement about whether the global forest is shrinking or not: "While above-ground biomass carbon stocks are estimated to be declining in the tropics, they are increasing globally due to increasing stocks in temperate and boreal forest.<ref>{{cite web|title=Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. Chapter 4. Land Degradation.|author=IPCC|date=2019a|url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2019/11/07_Chapter-4.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220131010/https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2019/11/07_Chapter-4.pdf|archive-date=2019-12-20|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|385}}

[[Deforestation by region|Deforestation in many countries]]—both naturally occurring<ref>{{Cite web|title=The causes of deforestation|url=http://www.eniscuola.net/en/argomento/rain-forest/deforestation/the-causes-of-deforestation/|access-date=2020-08-06|website=Eniscuola}}</ref> and [[human impact on the environment|human-induced]]—is an ongoing issue.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-11-24|title=The five: areas of deforestation|url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/24/the-five-areas-of-deforestation-amazon-ethiopia-siberia-papua-south-sudan|access-date=2020-06-05|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> Between 2000 and 2012, {{convert|2.3|e6km2|mi2|abbr=off}} of forests around the world were cut down.<ref name="nature1">[http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainforests/rainforests-facts.xml "Facts About Rainforests"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022034531/http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainforests/rainforests-facts.xml|date=22 October 2015}}. [[The Nature Conservancy]]. Retrieved 19 October 2015.</ref> Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, which contributes significantly to the ongoing [[loss of biodiversity]].<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" />

[[File:Land-use-of-different-diets-Poore-Nemecek.png|thumb|right|The amount of globally needed agricultural land would be reduced by three quarters if the entire population adopted a [[Veganism|vegan]] diet.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Poore|first1=J.|last2=Nemecek|first2=T.|title=Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers|journal=Science|date=1 June 2018|volume=360|issue=6392|pages=987–992|doi=10.1126/science.aaq0216|pmid=29853680|bibcode=2018Sci...360..987P|doi-access=free|issn=0036-8075 }}</ref>]]

Deforestation is more extreme in tropical and subtropical forests in emerging economies. More than half of all plant and land animal species in the world live in [[tropical forest]]s.<ref name="Rainforest Facts">[http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainforests/rainforests-facts.xml Rainforest Facts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022034531/http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainforests/rainforests-facts.xml|date=22 October 2015}}. Nature.org (1 November 2016). Retrieved 13 November 2016.</ref> As a result of deforestation, only {{convert|6.2|e6km2|e6mi2|abbr=off}} remain of the original {{convert|16|e6km2|e6mi2|abbr=off|sigfig=1}} of tropical rainforest that formerly covered the Earth.<ref name="nature1" /> More than 3.6 million hectares of virgin tropical forest was lost in 2018.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life. Scientists reveal 1 million species at risk of extinction in damning UN report] 6 May 2019 Guardian [https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yd8l2v0u4jqptp3/AACpraYjOYWpTxAFv5H-2vrKa/1%20Global%20Assessment%20Summary%20for%20Policymakers?dl=0&preview=Summary+for+Policymakers+IPBES+Global+Assessment.pdf&subfolder_nav_tracking=1]</ref>

The global annual net loss of trees is estimated to be approximately 10 billion.<ref>{{cite news|date=2 September 2015|title=Earth has 3 trillion trees but they're falling at alarming rate|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-science-trees-idUSKCN0R21Z620150902|access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Carrington|first1=Damian|date=4 July 2019|title=Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/04/planting-billions-trees-best-tackle-climate-crisis-scientists-canopy-emissions|access-date=26 May 2020|website=The Guardian}}</ref> According to the [[Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA)|Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020]] the global average annual deforested land in the 2015–2020 demi-decade was 10 million hectares and the average annual forest area net loss in the 2000–2010 decade was 4.7 million hectares.<ref name="GFRA2020" /> The world has lost 178 million ha of forest since 1990, which is an area about the size of Libya.<ref name="GFRA2020" />

An analysis of global deforestation patterns in 2021 showed that patterns of trade, production, and consumption drive deforestation rates in complex ways. While the location of deforestation can be mapped, it does not always match where the commodity is consumed. For example, consumption patterns in [[G7 countries]] are estimated to cause an average loss of 3.9 trees per person per year. In other words, deforestation can be directly related to imports—for example, coffee.<ref>{{cite news|date=29 March 2021|title=Average westerner's eating habits lead to loss of four trees every year|language=en|work=the Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/29/average-westerners-eating-habits-lead-to-loss-of-four-trees-every-year|access-date=19 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hoang|first1=Nguyen Tien|last2=Kanemoto|first2=Keiichiro|date=29 March 2021|title=Mapping the deforestation footprint of nations reveals growing threat to tropical forests|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01417-z|journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution|language=en|volume=5|issue=6|pages=845–853|doi=10.1038/s41559-021-01417-z|issn=2397-334X|pmid=33782576|bibcode=2021NatEE...5..845H|s2cid=232420306|access-date=19 April 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 2023, the [[Global Forest Watch]] reported a 9% decline in tropical primary forest loss compared to the previous year, with significant regional reductions in [[Brazil]] and [[Colombia]] overshadowed by increases elsewhere, leading to a 3.2% rise in global deforestation. Massive wildfires in [[Canada]], exacerbated by [[climate change]], contributed to a 24% increase in global tree cover loss, highlighting the ongoing threats to forests essential for [[carbon storage]] and [[biodiversity]]. Despite some progress, the overall trends in forest destruction and climate impacts remain off track.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Spring|first=Jake|date=April 4, 2024|editor-last=Dunham|editor-first=Will|title=Tropical forest loss eased in 2023 but threats remain, analysis shows|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/tropical-forest-loss-eased-2023-threats-remain-analysis-shows-2024-04-04/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&utm_term=040424&user_email=6bc715b3fd56b766900ace1f93bf9c8b38d3b44d9557f041acbc54ed318c154f|access-date=4 April 2024|website=www.reuters.com}}</ref>

The [[IPCC Sixth Assessment Report]] stated in 2022: "Over 420 million ha of forest were lost to deforestation from 1990 to 2020; more than 90% of that loss took place in tropical areas (high confidence), threatening biodiversity, environmental services, livelihoods of forest communities and resilience to climate shocks (high confidence)."<ref>Ometto, J.P., K. Kalaba, G.Z. Anshari, N. Chacón, A. Farrell, S.A. Halim, H. Neufeldt, and R. Sukumar, 2022: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_CCP7.pdf CrossChapter Paper 7: Tropical Forests]. In: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/chapter/ccp7/ Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability]. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 2369–2410, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.024.</ref>

See also:
*[[Deforestation by continent]]
** {{in title|deforestation in}}
** {{in title|deforestation of}}
** {{in title|land clearing in}}

===Rates of deforestation===
{{multiple image
|total_width = 450
|image1 = 1700- Tropical rainforest and woodland loss - Int'l Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).svg
|caption1 = The period since 1950 has brought "the most rapid transformation of the human relationship with the natural world in the history of humankind".<ref name=IGBP_Steffen_2004>{{cite web|last1=Steffen|first1=Will|last2=Sanderson|first2=Angelina|last3=Tyson|first3=Peter|last4=Jäger|first4=Jill|last5=Matson|first5=Pamela|last6=Moore III|first6=Berrien|last7=Oldfield|first7=Frank|last8=Richardson|first8=Katherine|last9=Schellnhuber|first9=H. John|last10=Turner II|first10=B. L.|last11=Wasson|first11=Robert J.|display-authors=4|title=Global Change and the Climate System / A Planet Under Pressure|url=http://www.igbp.net/download/18.56b5e28e137d8d8c09380001694/1376383141875/SpringerIGBPSynthesisSteffenetal2004_web.pdf|publisher=International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319052247/http://www.igbp.net/download/18.56b5e28e137d8d8c09380001694/1376383141875/SpringerIGBPSynthesisSteffenetal2004_web.pdf|archive-date=19 March 2017|pages=131, 133|date=2004|quote=Fig. 3.67(j): loss of tropical rainforest and woodland, as estimated for tropical Africa, Latin America and South and Southeast Asia.|url-status=live}}</ref>
|image2= 8000 BCE+ Loss of forest and grassland to grazing and crops.svg|caption2= Through 2018, humans have reduced forest area by ~30% and grasslands/shrubs by ~68%, to make way for livestock grazing and crops for humans.<ref name=LandUseChange_8000BCE>{{cite web|title=Deforestation and Forest Loss / Humanity destroyed one third of the world's forests by expanding agricultural land|work=Our World in Data |date=4 February 2021 |url=https://ourworldindata.org/deforestation|publisher=Our World in Data (OWID)|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221107180838/https://ourworldindata.org/deforestation|archive-date=7 November 2022|quote=Data: Historical data on forests from Williams (2003) – Deforesting the Earth. Historical data on agriculture from The History Database of Global Environment (HYDE). Modern data from the FAO|url-status=live |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah }}</ref>
}}
Global deforestation<ref>Duke Press policy studies / Global deforestation and the nineteenth-century world economy / edited by Richard P. Tucker and J. F. Richards</ref> sharply accelerated around 1852.<ref name="Wilson">[[E. O. Wilson]], 2002, ''The Future of Life'', Vintage {{ISBN|0-679-76811-4}}.</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/jul/01/forests.conservation Map reveals extent of deforestation in tropical countries], guardian.co.uk, 1 July 2008.</ref> As of 1947, the planet had {{convert|15|to|16|e6km2|e6mi2|abbr=unit}} of mature [[tropical forest]]s,<ref name="worldbook">Maycock, Paul F. ''[http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/article?id=ar704660 Deforestation]{{Dead link|date=November 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}''. WorldBookOnline.</ref> but by 2015, it was estimated that about half of these had been destroyed.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nunez|first=Christina|date=7 February 2019|title=Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117004102/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/|archive-date=17 January 2017|access-date=2020-06-02|website=National Geographic|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Rainforest Facts" /><ref name="Nielsen">Ron Nielsen, ''The Little Green Handbook: Seven Trends Shaping the Future of Our Planet'', Picador, New York (2006) {{ISBN|978-0-312-42581-4}}.</ref> Total land coverage by tropical rainforests decreased from 14% to 6%. Much of this loss happened between 1960 and 1990, when 20% of all tropical rainforests were destroyed. At this rate, extinction of such forests is projected to occur by the mid-21st century.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

In the early 2000s, some scientists predicted that unless significant measures (such as seeking out and protecting old growth forests that have not been disturbed)<ref name="worldbook" /> are taken on a worldwide basis, by 2030 there will only be 10% remaining,<ref name="Wilson" /><ref name="Nielsen" /> with another 10% [[degraded forest|in a degraded condition]].<ref name="Wilson" /> 80% will have been lost, and with them hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable species.<ref name="Wilson" />

Estimates vary widely as to the extent of deforestation in the tropics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f-LfXBOL_7sC&pg=PA270|title=Tropical Rainforests and Agroforests Under Global Change|publisher=Springer|year=2010|isbn=978-3-642-00492-6|editor=Teja Tscharntke|pages=270–271|editor2=Christoph Leuschner|editor3=Edzo Veldkamp|editor4=Heiko Faust|editor5=Edi Guhardja}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite report|url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/land-use-land-use-change-and-forestry/|title=Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry|last1=Watson|first1=Robert T.|last2=Noble|first2=Ian R.|date=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|last3=Bolin|first3=Bert|last4=Ravindranath|first4=N. H.|last5=Verardo|first5=David J.|last6=Dokken|first6=David J.}}</ref> In 2019, the world lost nearly 12 million hectares of tree cover. Nearly a third of that loss, 3.8 million hectares, occurred within humid tropical primary forests, areas of mature rainforest that are especially important for biodiversity and carbon storage. This is equivalent to losing an area of primary forest the size of a football pitch every six seconds.<ref name="Guy-2020">{{Cite web|last1=Guy|first1=Jack|last2=Ehlinger|first2=Maija|date=2 June 2020|title=The world lost a football pitch-sized area of tropical forest every six seconds in 2019|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/world/tropical-forest-six-seconds-scli-intl/index.html|access-date=2020-06-02|website=CNN}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Weisse|first1=Mikaela|last2=Goldman|first2=Elizabeth Dow|date=2020-06-02|title=We Lost a Football Pitch of Primary Rainforest Every 6 Seconds in 2019|url=https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/06/global-tree-cover-loss-data-2019|language=en|access-date=2020-06-04|website=World Resources Institute}}</ref>

==== Rates of change ====
[[File:1990- Average annual forest area net change, globally, and by region and decade.svg|thumb|In decades since 1990, South America and Africa have shown the greatest loss of forest area, with global net loss in the 2010s still about 60% of the 1990s value.<ref name=FAO_2020>{{cite book |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment / 2020 / Key findings|url=https://www.fao.org/3/ca8753en/ca8753en.pdf |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |pages=2, 3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922053533/https://www.fao.org/3/ca8753en/ca8753en.pdf |archive-date=22 September 2023 |doi=10.4060/ca8753en |date=2020 |isbn=978-92-5-132581-0 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
{{multiple image
|align = right
|direction = horizontal
|total_width = 450
|image1 = 20210331 Global tree cover loss - World Resources Institute.svg
|caption1 = The rate of global tree cover loss has approximately doubled since 2001, to an annual loss approaching an area the size of Italy.<ref name=Mongabay_WRI>{{cite news|last1=Butler|first1=Rhett A.|title=Global forest loss increases in 2020|url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/global-forest-loss-increases-in-2020-but-pandemics-impact-unclear/|work=Mongabay|date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401022404/https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/global-forest-loss-increases-in-2020-but-pandemics-impact-unclear/|archive-date=1 April 2021|url-status=live}} ● Data from {{cite web |title=Indicators of Forest Extent / Forest Loss |url=https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-extent-indicators/forest-loss |publisher=World Resources Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527180607/https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-extent-indicators/forest-loss |archive-date=27 May 2024  |date=4 April 2024 |url-status=live }} Chart in section titled "Annual rates of global tree cover loss have risen since 2000".</ref>
|image2 = 2002- Tropical primary forest loss - annual - World Resources Institute.svg
|caption2 = Loss of [[Old-growth forest|primary (old-growth)]] forest in the tropics has continued its upward trend, with fire-related losses contributing an increasing portion.<ref name=WRI_thru2024>{{cite web|title=Fires Drove Record-breaking Tropical Forest Loss in 2024 |url=https://gfr.wri.org/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends |website=WRI.org |publisher=World Resources Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250523062047/https://gfr.wri.org/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends |archive-date=23 May 2025 |date=21 May 2025 |url-status=live }} ● 2022 Global Forest Watch data quoted by {{cite news |last1=McGrath |first1=Matt |last2=Poynting |first2=Mark |title=Climate change: Deforestation surges despite pledges |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66013854 |agency=BBC |date=27 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629065610/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66013854 |archive-date=29 June 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

A 2002 analysis of satellite imagery suggested that the rate of deforestation in the humid tropics (approximately 5.8 million hectares per year) was roughly 23% lower than the most commonly quoted rates.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Achard|first1=F|last2=Eva|first2=H. D.|last3=Stibig|first3=H. J.|last4=Mayaux|first4=P|last5=Gallego|first5=J|last6=Richards|first6=T|last7=Malingreau|first7=J. P.|year=2002|title=Determination of deforestation rates of the world's humid tropical forests|url=http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC23428|journal=Science|volume=297|issue=5583|pages=999–1003|bibcode=2002Sci...297..999A|doi=10.1126/science.1070656|pmid=12169731|s2cid=46315941}}</ref> A 2005 report by the United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO) estimated that although the Earth's total forest area continued to decrease at about 13 million hectares per year, the global rate of deforestation had been slowing.<ref name="pantropical">{{cite web|title=Pan-tropical Survey of Forest Cover Changes 1980–2000|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y1997e/y1997e1f.htm|work=Forest Resources Assessment|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)|location=Rome, Italy}}</ref><ref>[http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/MEETING/003/X9591E.HTM Committee On Forestry]. FAO (16 March 2001). Retrieved 29 August 2010.</ref> On the other hand, a 2005 analysis of satellite images reveals that [[deforestation of the Amazon rainforest]] is twice as fast as scientists previously estimated.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jha|first=Alok|date=21 October 2005|title=Amazon rainforest vanishing at twice rate of previous estimates|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2005/oct/21/brazil.conservationandendangeredspecies}}</ref><ref>[https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1021/p04s01-sten.html Satellite images reveal Amazon forest shrinking faster], csmonitor.com, 21 October 2005.</ref>

From 2010 to 2015, worldwide forest area decreased by 3.3 million ha per year, according to [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]]. During this five-year period, the biggest forest area loss occurred in the tropics, particularly in South America and Africa. Per capita forest area decline was also greatest in the tropics and subtropics but is occurring in every climatic domain (except in the temperate) as populations increase.<ref>FAO. 2016. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015. How are the world's forests changing?</ref>

An estimated 420 million ha of forest has been lost worldwide through deforestation since 1990, but the rate of forest loss has declined substantially. In the most recent five-year period (2015–2020), the annual rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million ha, down from 12 million ha in 2010–2015.<ref name="GFRA2020" />

{{multiple image
|align = right
|direction = horizontal
|total_width = 450
|image3 = 2021 Top ten countries for tropical primary forest loss - World Resources Institute.svg
|caption3 = Home to much of the [[Amazon rainforest]], Brazil's tropical [[Old-growth forest|primary (old-growth)]] forest loss greatly exceeds that of other countries.<ref name=WRI_20240404>● 2021 data: {{cite web|title=Forest Pulse: The Latest on the World's Forests|url=https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends |website=WRI.org |publisher=World Resources Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627150528/https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends|archive-date=27 June 2023 |date=June 2023 |url-status=live}}<br />● 2022 and 2023 data: {{cite web |title=Forest Pulse: The Latest on the World's Forests |url=https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends |publisher=World Resources Institute / Global Forest Review |website=WRI.org |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240404205336/https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends |archive-date=4 April 2024 |date=4 April 2024 |url-status=live}}<br />● 2024 data: {{cite web |last1=Goldman |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Carter |first2=Sarah |last3=Sims |first3=Michelle |title=Fires Drove Record-breaking Tropical Forest Loss in 2024 |url=https://gfr.wri.org/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends |publisher=World Resources Institute |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250526220032/https://gfr.wri.org/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends |archive-date=26 May 2025 |date=21 May 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|image4 = 20220910 Amazon deforestation and degradation, by country - Amazon Watch.svg
|caption4 = Overall, 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been "transformed" (deforested) and another 6% has been "highly degraded", causing Amazon Watch to warn that the Amazonia is in the midst of a tipping point crisis.<ref name=AmazonWatch_202209>{{cite web|title=Amazon Against the Clock: A Regional Assessment on Where and How to Protect 80% by 2025|url=https://amazonwatch.org/assets/files/2022-amazonia-against-the-clock-executive-summary.pdf|website=Amazon Watch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910025229/https://amazonwatch.org/assets/files/2022-amazonia-against-the-clock-executive-summary.pdf|archive-date=10 September 2022|page=8|date=September 2022|quote=Graphic 2: Current State of the Amazon by country, by percentage / Source: RAISG (Red Amazónica de Información Socioambiental Georreferenciada) Elaborated by authors.|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

Africa had the largest annual rate of net forest loss in 2010–2020, at 3.9 million ha, followed by South America, at 2.6 million ha. The rate of net forest loss has increased in Africa in each of the three decades since 1990. It has declined substantially in South America, however, to about half the rate in 2010–2020 compared with 2000–2010. Asia had the highest net gain of forest area in 2010–2020, followed by Oceania and Europe. Nevertheless, both Europe and Asia recorded substantially lower rates of net gain in 2010–2020 than in 2000–2010. Oceania experienced net losses of forest area in the decades 1990–2000 and 2000–2010.<ref name="GFRA2020" />

Some claim that rainforests are being destroyed at an ever-quickening pace.<ref>[http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4521 Worldwatch: Wood Production and Deforestation Increase & Recent Content] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025184730/http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4521|date=25 October 2008}}, [[Worldwatch Institute]]</ref> The London-based Rainforest Foundation notes that "the UN figure is based on a definition of forest as being an area with as little as 10% actual tree cover, which would therefore include areas that are actually savanna-like ecosystems and badly damaged forests".<ref name="Butler">{{cite web|author=Butler, Rhett A.|date=16 November 2005|title=World deforestation rates and forest cover statistics, 2000–2005|url=http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1115-forests.html|work=mongabay.com}}</ref> Other critics of the FAO data point out that they do not distinguish between forest types,<ref>The fear is that highly diverse habitats, such as tropical rainforest, are vanishing at a faster rate that is partly masked by the slower deforestation of less biodiverse, dry, open forests. Because of this omission, the most harmful impacts of deforestation (such as habitat loss) could be increasing despite a possible decline in the global rate of deforestation.</ref> and that they are based largely on reporting from [[forestry]] departments of individual countries,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Remote sensing versus self-reporting|url=http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0629-deforestation.html}}</ref> which do not take into account unofficial activities like illegal logging.<ref>The World Bank estimates that 80% of logging operations are illegal in [[Bolivia]] and 42% in [[Colombia]], while in [[Peru]], illegal logging accounts for 80% of all logging activities. (World Bank (2004). ''Forest Law Enforcement''.) (The Peruvian Environmental Law Society (2003). ''Case Study on the Development and Implementation of Guidelines for the Control of Illegal Logging with a View to Sustainable Forest Management in Peru''.)</ref> Despite these uncertainties, there is agreement that destruction of rainforests remains a significant environmental problem.

The rate of net forest loss declined from 7.8 million ha per year in the decade 1990–2000 to 5.2 million ha per year in 2000–2010 and 4.7 million ha per year in 2010–2020. The rate of decline of net forest loss slowed in the most recent decade due to a reduction in the rate of forest expansion.<ref name="GFRA2020" />

==== Reforestation and afforestation ====
{{Main|Reforestation|Afforestation}}

In many parts of the world, especially in East Asian countries, [[reforestation]] and [[afforestation]] are increasing the area of forested lands.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Foley|first1=J. A.|last2=Defries|first2=R|last3=Asner|first3=G. P.|last4=Barford|first4=C|last5=Bonan|first5=G|last6=Carpenter|first6=S. R.|last7=Chapin|first7=F. S.|last8=Coe|first8=M. T.|last9=Daily|first9=G. C.|last10=Gibbs|first10=H. K.|last11=Helkowski|first11=J. H.|last12=Holloway|first12=T|last13=Howard|first13=E. A.|last14=Kucharik|first14=C. J.|last15=Monfreda|first15=C|year=2005|title=Global Consequences of Land Use|url=http://rcin.org.pl/Content/31092|journal=Science|volume=309|issue=5734|pages=570–574|bibcode=2005Sci...309..570F|doi=10.1126/science.1111772|pmid=16040698|s2cid=5711915|last16=Patz|first16=J. A.|last17=Prentice|first17=I. C.|last18=Ramankutty|first18=N|last19=Snyder|first19=P. K.}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> The amount of forest has increased in 22 of the world's 50 most forested nations. Asia as a whole gained 1 million [[hectare]]s of forest between 2000 and 2005. Tropical forest in El Salvador expanded more than 20% between 1992 and 2001. Based on these trends, one study projects that global forestation will increase by 10%—an area the size of India—by 2050.<ref name="Owen">James Owen, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170907212622/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/061113-forests.html "World's Forests Rebounding, Study Suggests"]. ''National Geographic News'', 13 November 2006.</ref> 36% of globally planted forest area is in [[East Asia]] – around 950,000 square kilometers. From those 87% are in China.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Abbasi|first1=Akane O.|last2=Tang|first2=Xiaolu|last3=Harris|first3=Nancy L.|last4=Goldman|first4=Elizabeth D.|last5=Gamarra|first5=Javier G. P.|last6=Herold|first6=Martin|last7=Kim|first7=Hyun Seok|last8=Luo|first8=Weixue|last9=Silva|first9=Carlos Alberto|last10=Tchebakova|first10=Nadezhda M.|last11=Mitra|first11=Ankita|last12=Finegold|first12=Yelena|last13=Jahanshahi|first13=Mohammad Reza|last14=Alvarez|first14=Cesar Ivan|last15=Kim|first15=Tae Kyung|date=22 July 2023|title=Spatial database of planted forests in East Asia|journal=Scientific Data|volume=10|issue=1|page=480|doi=10.1038/s41597-023-02383-w|pmc=10363164|pmid=37481639|last16=Ryu|first16=Daun|last17=Liang|first17=Jingjing|bibcode=2023NatSD..10..480A}}</ref>

=== Status by region ===
{{Main|Deforestation by continent}}

Rates of deforestation vary around the world. Up to 90% of [[West Africa]]'s coastal rainforests have disappeared since 1900.<ref>{{cite web|title=Forest Holocaust|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestation/effect.html|work=National Geographic|access-date=16 October 2008|archive-date=22 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422132805/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestation/effect.html}}</ref> [[Madagascar]] has lost 90% of its eastern rainforests.<ref>[http://www.iucn.org/where/global/index.cfm?uNewsID=87 IUCN – Three new sites inscribed on World Heritage List] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114052147/http://www.iucn.org/where/global/index.cfm?uNewsID=87|date=14 January 2009}}, 27 June 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Madagascar's rainforest map|url=https://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/1717/17173001.jpg|work=New Scientist|access-date=26 August 2017|archive-date=20 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920083715/https://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/1717/17173001.jpg}}</ref> In [[South Asia]], about 88% of the rainforests have been lost.<ref>{{cite web|title=THE SIZE OF THE RAINFORESTS|url=http://www.csupomona.edu/~admckettrick/projects/ag101_project/html/size.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930064512/http://www.csupomona.edu/~admckettrick/projects/ag101_project/html/size.html|archive-date=30 September 2012|publisher=csupomona.edu}}</ref>

[[Mexico]], [[India]], the [[Philippines]], [[Deforestation in Indonesia|Indonesia]], [[Thailand]], [[Myanmar|Burma]], [[Deforestation in Malaysia|Malaysia]], [[Bangladesh]], China, [[Deforestation in Sri Lanka|Sri Lanka]], [[Laos]], [[Nigeria]], the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Liberia]], [[Guinea]], [[Ghana]] and the [[Ivory Coast]], have lost large areas of their rainforest.<ref>[http://www.mongabay.com/deforestation_rate_tables.htm Chart – Tropical Deforestation by Country & Region]. Mongabay.com. Retrieved 4 December 2011.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090205200836/http://rainforestweb.org/Rainforest_Destruction/ Rainforest Destruction]. rainforestweb.org</ref>
[[File:Amazon fire satellite image.png|thumb|[[Earth observation satellite#Environmental monitoring|Satellite imagery]] of locations of the [[2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires]] as detected by [[MODIS]] from August 15 to August 22, 2019]]
[[File:Pichincha1a.jpg|thumb|Deforestation in [[Ecuador]].]]

Much of what remains of the world's rainforests is in the [[Amazon basin]], where the [[Amazon rainforest]] covers approximately 4 million square kilometres.<ref>[https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A925913 The Amazon Rainforest], BBC, 14 February 2003.</ref> Some 80% of the deforestation of the Amazon can be attributed to cattle ranching,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Schlanger|first1=Zoë|last2=Wolfe|first2=Daniel|date=21 August 2019|title=The fires in the Amazon were likely set intentionally|work=[[Quartz (publication)|Quartz]]|url=https://qz.com/1692804/fires-in-the-amazon-rainforests-were-likely-intentional|access-date=22 August 2019}}</ref> as Brazil is the largest exporter of beef in the world.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mackintosh|first=Eliza|date=23 August 2019|title=The Amazon is burning because the world eats so much meat|work=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/23/americas/brazil-beef-amazon-rainforest-fire-intl/index.html|access-date=23 August 2019}}</ref> The Amazon region has become one of the largest cattle ranching territories in the world.<ref>{{cite news|last=Liotta|first=Edoardo|date=23 August 2019|title=Feeling Sad About the Amazon Fires? Stop Eating Meat|work=[[Vice Media|Vice]]|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/feeling-sad-about-the-amazon-fires-stop-eating-meat/|access-date=30 August 2019}}</ref> The regions with the highest tropical deforestation rate between 2000 and 2005 were [[Central America]]—which lost 1.3% of its forests each year—and tropical Asia.<ref name="Butler" /> In [[Central America]], two-thirds of lowland tropical forests have been turned into pasture since 1950 and 40% of all the rainforests have been lost in the last 40 years.<ref name="ru.org">{{cite web|author=Revington, John|title=The Causes of Tropical Deforestation|url=http://www.ru.org/ecology-and-environment/the-causes-of-tropical-deforestation.html|work=New Renaissance Magazine|access-date=17 October 2008|archive-date=27 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627031547/http://www.ru.org/ecology-and-environment/the-causes-of-tropical-deforestation.html}}</ref> [[Brazil]] has lost 90–95% of its [[Mata Atlântica]] forest.<ref>{{cite web|title=What is Deforestation?|url=http://kids.mongabay.com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/deforestation.html|work=kids.mongabay.com}}</ref> [[Deforestation in Brazil]] increased by 88% for the month of June 2019, as compared with the previous year.<ref>{{cite news|date=3 July 2019|title=Brazil registers huge spike in Amazon deforestation|work=Deutsche Welle|url=https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-registers-huge-spike-in-amazon-deforestation/a-49462773}}</ref> However, Brazil still destroyed 1.3 million hectares in 2019.<ref name="Guy-2020" /> [[Deforestation in Brazil|Brazil]] is one of several countries that have declared their deforestation a national emergency.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/environment/2008-01-24-brazil-amazon_N.htm Amazon deforestation rises sharply in 2007], USATODAY.com, 24 January 2008.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Vidal|first=John|date=31 May 2005|title=Rainforest loss shocks Brazil|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/brazil/story/0,,1488468,00.html|access-date=1 April 2010}}</ref> 
[[Paraguay]] was losing its natural semi-humid forests in the country's western regions at a rate of 15,000 hectares at a randomly studied 2-month period in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=Paraguay es principal deforestador del Chaco|url=http://www.abc.com.py/nota/103480-Paraguay-es-principal-deforestador-del-Chaco|access-date=13 August 2011|work=ABC Color newspaper, Paraguay}}{{Dead link|date=August 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> In 2009, Paraguay's parliament refused to pass a law that would have stopped cutting of natural forests altogether.<ref>{{cite web|title=Paraguay farmland|url=http://www.ventacamposparaguay.com/farmland.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918031615/http://www.ventacamposparaguay.com/farmland.html|archive-date=18 September 2012|access-date=13 August 2011}}</ref>

As of 2007, [[Deforestation in Haiti|less than 50% of Haiti's forests remained]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Haiti Is Covered with Trees|url=http://www.envirosociety.org/2016/05/haiti-is-covered-with-trees/|access-date=14 November 2016|website=EnviroSociety|date=19 May 2016|publisher=Tarter, Andrew}}</ref>

From 2015 to 2019, the rate of [[deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo|deforestation]] in the Democratic Republic of the Congo doubled.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49679883|title=World 'losing battle against deforestation'|last=Kinver|first=Mark|date=2019-09-12|work=BBC News}}</ref> In 2021, deforestation of the [[Congolian rainforests|Congolese rainforest]] increased by 5%.<ref>{{cite news|title=Analysis: The next Amazon? Congo Basin faces rising deforestation threat|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/next-amazon-congo-basin-faces-rising-deforestation-threat-2022-11-11/|work=Reuters|date=11 November 2022}}</ref>

The [[World Wildlife Fund]]'s [[ecoregion]] project catalogues habitat types throughout the world, including habitat loss such as deforestation, showing for example that even in the rich forests of parts of [[Canada]] such as the [[Mid-Continental Canadian forests]] of the prairie provinces half of the forest cover has been lost or altered.

In 2011, [[Conservation International]] listed the top 10 most endangered forests, characterized by having all lost 90% or more of their original [[habitat]], and each harboring at least 1500 [[Endemism|endemic]] plant species (species found nowhere else in the world).<ref name="ci2011">{{cite web|date=February 2, 2011|title=The World's 10 Most Threatened Forest Hotspots|url=http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/The-Worlds-10-Most-Threatened-Forest-Hotspots.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205040801/http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/The-Worlds-10-Most-Threatened-Forest-Hotspots.aspx|archive-date=February 5, 2011|website=Conservation.org|publisher=Conservation International}}</ref>

{{As of|2015}}, it is estimated that 70% of the world's forests are within one kilometer of a forest edge, where they are most prone to human interference and destruction.<ref name="IPCC_AR6" /><ref name="Haddad2015">{{cite journal|doi=10.1126/sciadv.1500052|title=Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth's ecosystems|author1=Nick M. Haddad|author2=Lars A. Brudvig|author3=Jean Clobert|display-authors=et al.|date=2015|journal=Science Advances|volume=1|issue=2|article-number=e1500052|pmid=26601154|pmc=4643828|bibcode=2015SciA....1E0052H}}</ref>

:{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Top 10 Most Endangered Forests in 2011<ref name="ci2011" />
|-
! Endangered forest
! Region
! Remaining habitat
! Predominate vegetation type
! Notes
|-
|[[Indo-Burma]]
|Asia-Pacific
|5%
|[[Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests]]
|Rivers, floodplain wetlands, mangrove forests. [[Myanmar|Burma]], [[Thailand]], [[Laos]], [[Vietnam]], [[Deforestation in Cambodia|Cambodia]], [[India]].<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/indo_burma/Pages/default.aspx Indo-Burma], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[New Caledonia]]
|Asia-Pacific
|5%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|See note for region covered.<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/new_caledonia/Pages/default.aspx New Caledonia], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Sundaland]]
|Asia-Pacific
|7%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|Western half of the Indo-Malayan archipelago including southern [[Deforestation in Borneo|Borneo]] and [[Sumatra]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070714080542/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/sundaland/Pages/default.aspx Sundaland], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Philippines]]
|Asia-Pacific
|7%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|Forests over the entire country including 7,100 islands.<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/philippines/Pages/default.aspx Philippines], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Atlantic Forest]]
|South America
|8%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|Forests along [[Brazil]]'s Atlantic coast, extends to parts of [[Paraguay]], [[Argentina]] and [[Uruguay]].<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/atlantic_forest/Pages/default.aspx Atlantic Forest] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111212005601/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/atlantic_forest/Pages/default.aspx|date=12 December 2011}}, Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|Mountains of Southwest China
|Asia-Pacific
|8%
|[[Temperate coniferous forest]]
|See note for region covered.<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/china/Pages/default.aspx Mountains of Southwest China], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[California Floristic Province]]
|North America
|10%
|[[Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests]]
|See note for region covered.<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/california_floristic/Pages/default.aspx California Floristic Province] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414053932/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/california_floristic/Pages/default.aspx|date=14 April 2011}}, Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa]]
|Africa
|10%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|[[Mozambique]], [[Tanzania]], [[Kenya]], [[Somalia]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070714051028/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/coastal_forests/Pages/default.aspx Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Madagascar]] & Indian Ocean Islands
|Africa
|10%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
|[[Madagascar]], [[Mauritius]], [[Reunion (island)|Reunion]], [[Seychelles]], [[Comoros]].<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/madagascar/Pages/default.aspx Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands], Conservation International.</ref>
|-
|[[Eastern Afromontane]]
|Africa
|11%
|Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests<br />[[Montane grasslands and shrublands]]
|Forests scattered along the eastern edge of Africa, from [[Saudi Arabia]] in the north to [[Zimbabwe]] in the south.<ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/afromontane/Pages/default.aspx Eastern Afromontane], Conservation International.</ref>
|}

===By country===
Deforestation in particular countries:

{{World topic|Deforestation in|title=Deforestation by country|noredlinks=yes|state=expanded}}

==Causes==
{{See also|Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest#Causes of deforestation|Deforestation in Brazil#Causes}}
[[File:Drivers of deforestation and forest degradation by region, 2000–2010.svg|thumb|Drivers of deforestation and forest degradation by region, 2000–2010<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" />]]
[[File:Drivers of tropical deforestration.png|thumb|Drivers of tropical deforestration]]
[[File:Riau deforestation 2006.jpg|thumb|The last batch of sawnwood from the [[Peat swamp forest|peat forest]] in [[Indragiri Hulu]], [[Sumatra]], [[Deforestation in Indonesia|Indonesia]]. Deforestation for [[Elaeis guineensis|oil palm]] plantation.]][[Agricultural expansion]] continues to be the main driver of deforestation and forest fragmentation and the associated loss of forest biodiversity.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" /> Large-scale commercial agriculture (primarily cattle ranching and cultivation of soya bean and oil palm) accounted for 40 percent of tropical deforestation between 2000 and 2010, and local subsistence agriculture for another 33 percent.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" /> Trees are cut down for use as building material, timber or sold as fuel (sometimes in the form of [[charcoal]] or [[timber]]), while cleared land is used as [[pasture]] for [[livestock]] and agricultural crops.

The vast majority of agricultural activity resulting in deforestation is [[Agricultural subsidy|subsidized by government tax revenue]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 3, 2015|title=Government Subsidies for Agriculture May Exacerbate Deforestation, says new UN report|url=https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2015/09/government-subsidies-for-agriculture-may-exacerbate-deforestation-says-new-un-report/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803153015/http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2015/09/government-subsidies-for-agriculture-may-exacerbate-deforestation-says-new-un-report/|archive-date=3 August 2016|access-date=2021-07-10|website=United Nations Sustainable Development|language=en-US}}</ref> Disregard of ascribed value, lax [[forest management]], and deficient environmental laws are some of the factors that lead to large-scale deforestation.

The types of drivers vary greatly depending on the region in which they take place. The regions with the greatest amount of deforestation for livestock and row crop agriculture are Central and South America, while commodity crop deforestation was found mainly in Southeast Asia. The region with the greatest forest loss due to shifting agriculture was sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Curtis|first1=Philip G.|last2=Slay|first2=Christy M.|last3=Harris|first3=Nancy L.|last4=Tyukavina|first4=Alexandra|last5=Hansen|first5=Matthew C.|date=2018-09-14|title=Classifying drivers of global forest loss|journal=Science|language=en|volume=361|issue=6407|pages=1108–1111|bibcode=2018Sci...361.1108C|doi=10.1126/science.aau3445|issn=0036-8075|pmid=30213911|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Agriculture ===
{{further|Agricultural expansion}}

The overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture.<ref name="UNFCC-2007" /> [[Subsistence farming]] is responsible for 48% of deforestation; [[commercial agriculture]] is responsible for 32%; [[logging]] is responsible for 14%, and fuel wood removals make up 5%.<ref name="UNFCC-2007">{{cite web|url=http://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/background_publications_htmlpdf/application/pdf/pub_07_financial_flows.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510090003/http://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/background_publications_htmlpdf/application/pdf/pub_07_financial_flows.pdf|archive-date=2008-05-10|url-status=live|title=Investment and financial flows to address climate change|work=unfccc.int|publisher=UNFCCC|page=81|year=2007}}</ref>

More than 80% of deforestation was attributed to agriculture in 2018.<ref name="ScienceDaily-2018">{{Cite news|title=Agriculture is the direct driver for worldwide deforestation|language=en|work=ScienceDaily|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120925091608.htm|access-date=2018-04-29}}</ref> Forests are being converted to plantations for coffee, tea, [[palm oil]], rice, [[rubber]], and various other popular products.<ref name="WWF-2020">{{Cite news|title=Forest Conversion|work=WWF|url=https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/our_focus/forests_practice/deforestation_causes2/forest_conversion/|access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> The rising demand for certain products and global trade arrangements causes [[forest conversion]]s, which ultimately leads to [[soil erosion]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Starkel|first=Leszek|date=2018|title=Role Of Climatic And Anthropogenic Factors Accelerating Soil Erosion And Fluvial Activity In Central Europe|url=http://www.studia.quaternaria.pan.pl/pdfs/sq22/s_27_33.pdf|journal=Studia Quaternaria|volume=22}}</ref> The [[top soil]] oftentimes erodes after forests are cleared which leads to sediment increase in rivers and streams.
[[File:Anthropogenic_Biomes_of_the_World,_Version_2,_2000_Global_(13603947015).jpg|thumb|Anthropogenic biomes of the world]]
Most deforestation also occurs in tropical regions. The estimated amount of total land mass used by agriculture is around 38%.<ref name="Longobardi-2016">{{Cite journal|last=Longobardi|first=Patrick|date=April 21, 2016|title=Deforestation induced Climate Change: Effects of Spatial Scale|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=11|issue=4|article-number=e0153357|bibcode=2016PLoSO..1153357L|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0153357|pmc=4839769|pmid=27100667|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Since 1960, roughly 15% of the [[Amazon rainforest|Amazon]] has been removed with the intention of replacing the land with agricultural practices.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cattle ranching in the Amazon rainforest|url=http://www.fao.org/3/XII/0568-B1.htm#P10_167|access-date=2020-02-25|website=www.fao.org}}</ref> It is no coincidence that Brazil has recently become the world's largest beef exporter at the same time that the [[Amazon rainforest]] is being clear cut.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-08-23|title=Growth of Brazil's Beef Industry Fueling Fires Destroying Amazon Rainforest|url=https://ktla.com/2019/08/23/growth-of-brazils-beef-industry-fueling-fires-destroying-amazon-rainforest/|access-date=2020-02-25|website=KTLA|language=en|archive-date=25 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225044405/https://ktla.com/2019/08/23/growth-of-brazils-beef-industry-fueling-fires-destroying-amazon-rainforest/}}</ref>

Another prevalent method of agricultural deforestation is [[Slash-and-burn|slash-and-burn agriculture]], which was primarily used by subsistence farmers in tropical regions but has now become increasingly less sustainable. The method does not leave land for continuous agricultural production but instead cuts and burns small plots of forest land which are then converted into agricultural zones. The farmers then exploit the nutrients in the ashes of the burned plants.<ref>{{Cite web|title=slash-and-burn agriculture {{!}} Definition & Impacts|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/slash-and-burn-agriculture|access-date=2020-04-28|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=What is Slash and Burn Agriculture|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-slash-and-burn-agriculture.html|access-date=2020-04-28|website=World Atlas|language=en}}</ref> As well as, intentionally set fires can possibly lead to devastating measures when unintentionally spreading fire to more land, which can result in the destruction of the protective canopy.<ref>{{cite web|title=Deforestation and Climate Change|work=Climate Institute |url=http://climate.org/deforestation-and-climate-change/|access-date=28 September 2023|archive-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315141809/http://climate.org/deforestation-and-climate-change/}}</ref>

The repeated cycle of low yields and shortened fallow periods eventually results in less vegetation being able to grow on once burned lands and a decrease in average soil biomass.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Houghton|first=R.A|date=December 2012|title=Carbon emissions and the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics|journal=Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability|volume=4|issue=6|pages=597–603|bibcode=2012COES....4..597H|doi=10.1016/j.cosust.2012.06.006|issn=1877-3435}}</ref> In small local plots sustainability is not an issue because of longer fallow periods and lesser overall deforestation. The relatively small size of the plots allowed for no net input of {{CO2}} to be released.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tinker|first1=P. Bernard|last2=Ingram|first2=John S. I.|last3=Struwe|first3=Sten|date=1996-06-01|title=Effects of slash-and-burn agriculture and deforestation on climate change|journal=Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment|language=en|volume=58|issue=1|pages=13–22|doi=10.1016/0167-8809(95)00651-6|bibcode=1996AgEE...58...13T|issn=0167-8809}}</ref>

==== Livestock ranching ====
[[Beef#Environmental impact|Consumption and production of beef is the primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon]], with around 80% of all converted land being used to rear cattle.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wang|first=George C.|date=9 April 2017|title=Go vegan, save the planet|work=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/08/opinions/go-vegan-save-the-planet-wang/|access-date=25 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Liotta|first=Edoardo|date=23 August 2019|title=Feeling Sad About the Amazon Fires? Stop Eating Meat|work=[[Vice Media|Vice]]|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/feeling-sad-about-the-amazon-fires-stop-eating-meat/|access-date=25 August 2019}}</ref> 91% of Amazon land deforested since 1970 has been converted to cattle ranching.<ref name="fao">{{cite book|author1=Steinfeld, Henning|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.htm|title=Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options|author2=Gerber, Pierre|author3=Wassenaar, T. D.|author4=Castel, Vincent|publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations]]|year=2006|isbn=978-92-5-105571-7|access-date=19 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Margulis|first=Sergio|url=http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2004/02/02/000090341_20040202130625/Rendered/PDF/277150PAPER0wbwp0no1022.pdf|title=Causes of Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon|series=World Bank Working Paper No. 22|publisher=The World Bank|year=2004|isbn=0-8213-5691-7|location=Washington D.C.|page=9|access-date=4 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910042549/http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2004/02/02/000090341_20040202130625/Rendered/PDF/277150PAPER0wbwp0no1022.pdf|archive-date=10 September 2008|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Livestock]] [[ranch]]ing requires large portions of land to raise herds of animals and livestock crops for consumer needs. According to the [[World Wildlife Fund]], "Extensive cattle ranching is the number one culprit of deforestation in virtually every Amazon country, and it accounts for 80% of current deforestation."<ref>{{cite web|title=Unsustainable Cattle Ranching|url=https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/amazon/amazon_threats/unsustainable_cattle_ranching/|access-date=22 October 2022|publisher=World Wildlife Fund}}</ref>

The cattle industry is responsible for a significant amount of [[methane emissions]] since 60% of all mammals on earth are livestock cows.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2009-01-31|title=How cattle ranches are chewing up the Amazon rainforest {{!}} Greenpeace UK|language=en-GB|work=Greenpeace UK|url=https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/how-cattle-ranching-chewing-amazon-rainforest-20090129/|access-date=2018-04-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Carrington|first=Damian|date=2018-05-21|title=Humans just 0.01% of all life but have destroyed 83% of wild mammals – study|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/21/human-race-just-001-of-all-life-but-has-destroyed-over-80-of-wild-mammals-study|access-date=2020-04-28|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Replacing forest land with pastures creates a loss of [[Stocking (forestry)|forest stock]], which leads to the implication of increased greenhouse gas emissions by burning agriculture methodologies and [[land-use change]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sanquetta|first1=Carlos R.|last2=Bastos|first2=Alexis De S.|last3=Sanquetta|first3=Mateus N. I.|last4=Barberena|first4=Iara M.|last5=Corte|first5=Ana P. Dalla|last6=Queiroz|first6=Alexandre|last7=Almeida|first7=Luiz Felipe P. U.|date=2022-08-05|title=Assessing the carbon stock of cultivated pastures in Rondônia, southwestern Brazilian Amazon|journal=Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências|language=en|volume=94|issue=4|article-number=e20210262|doi=10.1590/0001-3765202220210262|issn=0001-3765|pmid=35946750|s2cid=251429424|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Junk Mail ===
{{Main|Advertising mail}}

Over 100 million trees per year are cut down for the purpose of junk mail.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Rubenstein | first1=Steve | title=SAN FRANCISCO / Artist reminds us: Junk mail grows from trees / Credit card offers, ads form sculpture for recycling center | work=SFGate | url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/san-francisco-artist-reminds-us-junk-mail-2505817.php }}</ref> A major reason for the United States allowing this deforestation practice is to fund the [[United States Postal Service]].<ref>{{cite web | title=How Junk Mail is Helping to Prop up the Postal Service | url=https://stateimpact.npr.org/new-hampshire/2011/09/27/how-junk-mail-is-helping-to-prop-up-the-postal-service/ }}</ref>

=== Wood industry ===
{{further|Wood industry}}

A large contributing factor to deforestation is the [[Wood industry|lumber industry]]. A total of almost {{convert|4|e6ha|e6acre|abbr=off}} of timber,<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|title=Rates of Deforestation & Reforestation in the U.S.|url=http://education.seattlepi.com/rates-deforestation-reforestation-us-3804.html|access-date=2018-04-11|archive-date=11 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811114546/https://education.seattlepi.com/rates-deforestation-reforestation-us-3804.html}}</ref> or about 1.3% of all forest land, is harvested each year. In addition, the increasing demand for low-cost timber products only supports the lumber company to continue logging.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Logging {{!}} Global Forest Atlas|url=https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/forest-use-logging/logging|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605190507/https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/forest-use-logging/logging|archive-date=2019-06-05|access-date=2020-04-28|website=globalforestatlas.yale.edu}}</ref>

Experts do not agree on whether industrial logging is an important contributor to global deforestation.<ref name="causesof">{{cite journal|url=https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/wbrobs/v14y1999i1p73-98.html|author1=Angelsen, Arild|author2=Kaimowitz, David|title=Rethinking the causes of deforestation: Lessons from economic models|pmid=12322119|doi=10.1093/wbro/14.1.73|jstor=3986539|journal=The World Bank Research Observer|volume= 14|issue=1|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=73–98|date=February 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://studentresearch.wcp.muohio.edu/BiogeogDiversityDisturbance/ReflectionsDeforestCrisis.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908032336/http://studentresearch.wcp.muohio.edu/BiogeogDiversityDisturbance/ReflectionsDeforestCrisis.pdf|archive-date=8 September 2006|first=William F.|last=Laurance|title=Reflections on the tropical deforestation crisis|journal=Biological Conservation|volume=91|issue=2–3|date=December 1999|pages=109–117|doi=10.1016/S0006-3207(99)00088-9|bibcode=1999BCons..91..109L}}</ref> Some argue that poor people are more likely to clear forest because they have no alternatives, others that the poor lack the ability to pay for the materials and labour needed to clear forest.<ref name="causesof" />

=== Economic development ===
Other causes of contemporary deforestation may include [[Political corruption|corruption]] of government institutions,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=110193|title=Corruption blamed for deforestation|first=T.J.|last=Burgonio|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=3 January 2008}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin/74/Uganda.html|title=WRM Bulletin Number 74|publisher=World Rainforest Movement|date=September 2003|access-date=17 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004225352/http://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin/74/Uganda.html|archive-date=4 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cozma|first1=Adeline-Cristina|last2=Cotoc|first2=Corina-Narcisa (Bodescu)|last3=Vaidean|first3=Viorela Ligia|last4=Achim|first4=Monica Violeta|date=2021|title=Corruption, Shadow Economy and Deforestation: Friends or Strangers?|url=https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jrisks/v9y2021i9p153-d621556.html|journal=Risks|language=en|volume=9|issue=9|page=153|doi=10.3390/risks9090153|doi-access=free|hdl=10419/258237|hdl-access=free}}</ref> the [[international inequality|inequitable distribution of wealth and power]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/deforest/deforest.html|title=Global Deforestation|work=Global Change Curriculum|publisher=University of Michigan Global Change Program|date=4 January 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615044847/http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/deforest/deforest.html|archive-date=15 June 2011}}</ref> [[population growth]]<ref name="population1">{{cite web|author=Marcoux, Alain|date=August 2000|title=Population and deforestation|url=http://www.fao.org/sd/WPdirect/WPan0050.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628184520/http://www.fao.org/sd/WPdirect/WPan0050.htm|archive-date=28 June 2011|work=SD Dimensions|publisher=Sustainable Development Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)}}</ref> and [[Human overpopulation|overpopulation]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0816.htm|title=Impact of Population and Poverty on Rainforests|first=Rhett A|last=Butler|work=Mongabay.com / A Place Out of Time: Tropical Rainforests and the Perils They Face|access-date=13 May 2009}}</ref><ref name=r1>{{cite web|url=http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/deforestation.htm|title=The Choice: Doomsday or Arbor Day|author1=Stock, Jocelyn|author2=Rochen, Andy|work=umich.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416161300/http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/deforestation.htm|archive-date=16 April 2009}}</ref> and [[urbanization]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/0/7/4/8/p107488_index.html|title=Demographics, Democracy, Development, Disparity and Deforestation: A Crossnational Assessment of the Social Causes of Deforestation|author=Ehrhardt-Martinez, Karen|work=Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Atlanta Hilton Hotel, Atlanta, GA, 16 August 2003|access-date=13 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210160729/http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/0/7/4/8/p107488_index.html|archive-date=10 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Urbanisation {{!}} DEFORESTATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA|url=https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/hp3203-1718-s2-04/causes/urbanisation/|access-date=2022-11-01|website=blogs.ntu.edu.sg}}</ref> The impact of population growth on deforestation has been contested. One study found that population increases due to high fertility rates were a primary driver of tropical deforestation in only 8% of cases.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Geist|first1=Helmut J.|last2=Lambin|first2=Eric F.|date=February 2002|title=Proximate Causes and Underlying Driving Forces of Tropical Deforestation|journal=BioScience|volume=52|issue=2|pages=143–150|doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2002)052[0143:PCAUDF]2.0.CO;2|doi-access=free}}</ref> In 2000 the United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO) found that "the role of population dynamics in a local setting may vary from decisive to negligible", and that deforestation can result from "a combination of [[population pressure]] and stagnating economic, social and technological conditions".<ref name="population1" />

[[Globalization]] is often viewed as another root cause of deforestation,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9366|title=The Double Edge of Globalization|publisher=Yale University Press|date=June 2007|work=YaleGlobal Online|access-date=17 October 2008|archive-date=10 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410154645/http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9366}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0805.htm|title=Human Threats to Rainforests—Economic Restructuring|first=Rhett A|last=Butler|work=Mongabay.com / A Place Out of Time: Tropical Rainforests and the Perils They Face|access-date=13 May 2009}}</ref> though there are cases in which the impacts of globalization (new flows of labor, capital, commodities, and ideas) have promoted localized forest recovery.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.spa.ucla.edu/cgpr/docs/sdarticle1.pdf|title=Globalization, Forest Resurgence, and Environmental Politics in El Salvador|journal=World Development|volume=34|issue=2|pages=308–323|year=2006|doi=10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.09.005|last1=Hecht|first1=Susanna B.|last2=Kandel|first2=Susan|last3=Gomes|first3=Ileana|last4=Cuellar|first4=Nelson|last5=Rosa|first5=Herman|access-date=17 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029090622/http://www.spa.ucla.edu/cgpr/docs/sdarticle1.pdf|archive-date=29 October 2008}}</ref>

[[File:Garimpo de ouro ilegal na Amazônia em Madre de Dios, Perú.jpg|thumb|[[Illegal mining|Illegal]] gold mining in Madre de Dios, [[Peru]].]]

The degradation of forest ecosystems has also been traced to economic incentives that make forest conversion appear more profitable than forest conservation.<ref name=economicvalue>{{cite journal|url=http://www.cbd.int/doc/external/academic/forest-es-2003-en.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511061430/https://www.cbd.int/doc/external/academic/forest-es-2003-en.pdf|archive-date=2008-05-11|url-status=live|last=Pearce|first=David W|title=The Economic Value of Forest Ecosystems|journal=Ecosystem Health|volume= 7|issue=4|date=December 2001|pages=284–296|doi=10.1046/j.1526-0992.2001.01037.x}}</ref> Many important forest functions have no markets, and hence, no economic value that is readily apparent to the forests' owners or the communities that rely on forests for their well-being.<ref name=economicvalue />

Some commentators have noted a shift in the drivers of deforestation over the past 30 years.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://news.mongabay.com/Butler_and_Laurance-TREE.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211082735/http://news.mongabay.com/Butler_and_Laurance-TREE.pdf|archive-date=2009-12-11|url-status=live|author1=Butler, Rhett A.|author2=Laurance, William F.|title=New strategies for conserving tropical forests|date=August 2008|journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution|volume= 23|issue= 9|pages=469–472|doi=10.1016/j.tree.2008.05.006|pmid=18656280|bibcode=2008TEcoE..23..469B}}</ref> Whereas deforestation was primarily driven by subsistence activities and government-sponsored development projects like [[transmigration program|transmigration]] in countries like [[Indonesia]] and [[colonization]] in [[Latin America]], [[India]], [[Java]], and so on, during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, by the 1990s the majority of deforestation was caused by industrial factors, including extractive industries, large-scale cattle ranching, and extensive agriculture.<ref name=rud>Rudel, T.K. (2005) [https://books.google.com/books?id=j4AvOb_R9h8C ''Tropical Forests: Regional Paths of Destruction and Regeneration in the Late 20th Century'']. Columbia University Press {{ISBN|0-231-13195-X}}</ref> Since 2001, commodity-driven deforestation, which is more likely to be permanent, has accounted for about a quarter of all forest disturbance, and this loss has been concentrated in South America and Southeast Asia.<ref name="CurtisSlay2018">{{cite journal|last1= Curtis|first1=P. G.|last2= Slay|first2=C. M.|last3= Harris|first3=N. L.|last4= Tyukavina|first4= A.|last5= Hansen|first5=M. C.|s2cid=52273353|title= Classifying drivers of global forest loss|journal= Science|volume= 361|issue= 6407|year= 2018|pages= 1108–1111|doi= 10.1126/science.aau3445|pmid=30213911|bibcode=2018Sci...361.1108C|doi-access= free}}</ref>

As the human population grows, new homes, communities, and expansions of cities will occur, leading to an increase in roads to connect these communities. Rural roads promote economic development but also facilitate deforestation.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|author1=Chomitz, Kenneth|author2=Gray, David A.|year=1999|title=Roads, lands, markets, and deforestation: a spatial model of land use in Belize|url=http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/1995/04/01/000009265_3970311121720/Rendered/PDF/multi_page.pdf|url-status=live|series=Policy Research Working Papers|doi=10.1596/1813-9450-1444|doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 |s2cid=129453055|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815065239/http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/1995/04/01/000009265_3970311121720/Rendered/PDF/multi_page.pdf|archive-date=2017-08-15}}</ref> About 90% of the deforestation has occurred within 100&nbsp;km of roads in most parts of the Amazon.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite journal|last1=Ferraz|first1=Silvio Frosini de Barros|last2=Vettorazzi|first2=Carlos Alberto|last3=Theobald|first3=David M.|year=2009|title=Using indicators of deforestation and land-use dynamics to support conservation strategies: A case study of central Rondônia, Brazil|journal=Forest Ecology and Management|volume=257|issue=7|pages=1586–1595|doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2009.01.013|bibcode=2009ForEM.257.1586F}}</ref>

=== Mining ===
The importance of [[mining]] as a cause of deforestation increased quickly in the beginning the 21st century, among other because of increased demand for minerals. The direct impact of mining is relatively small, but the indirect impacts are much more significant. More than a third of the earth's forests are possibly impacted, at some level and in the years 2001–2021, "755,861 km<sup>2</sup>... ...had been deforested by causes indirectly related to mining activities alongside other deforestation drivers (based on data from WWF)"<ref>{{cite book|title=EXTRACTED FORESTS UNEARTHING THE ROLE OF MINING-RELATED DEFORESTATION AS A DRIVER OF GLOBAL DEFORESTATION|date=2023|publisher=World Wildlife Fund|pages=3, 6, 7, 22|url=https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/Wald/WWF-Studie-Extracted-Forests.pdf|access-date=23 April 2023}}</ref>

In the year 2023, mining, including for the elements needed for the [[energy transition]] strongly contributed to deforestation. Mining is a particular threat to biodiversity: "in 2019, 79 percent of global metal ore extraction originated from five of the six most species-rich biomes".<ref>{{cite book |title=Forests under fire: Tracking progress on 2030 forest goals. |date=October 2024 |publisher=Forest Declaration Assessment Partners |pages=8, 14, 15, 19, 57, 58 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024ForestDeclarationAssessment.pdf |access-date=29 October 2024}}</ref>

=== Climate change ===
{{multiple image | total_width=450
| image1= 2001- Forests net absorption of greenhouse gases - global.svg |caption1= Globally, [[wildfire]]s and deforestation have reduced forests' net absorption of [[greenhouse gas]]es, reducing their effectiveness at mitigating climate change.<ref name=WRI_Forest_Updake_20250724>{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Nancy |last2=Rose |first2=Melissa |title=World's Forest Carbon Sink Shrank to its Lowest Point in at Least 2 Decades, Due to Fires and Persistent Deforestation |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/forest-carbon-sink-shrinking-fires-deforestation |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=24 July 2025 }} Chart: "Net Forest Carbon Sink (Gt CO2e/yr)"</ref> Global warming increases forest fires that release more greenhouse gases, creating a [[Positive feedback|feedback loop]] that causes more warming.<ref name=NYTimes_20250724>{{cite news |last1=Mulkey |first1=Sachi Kitajima |last2=Stevens |first2=Harry |title=For 1st Time, Fires Are Biggest Threat to Forests' Climate-Fighting Superpower |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/climate/wildfires-forest-carbon-sequestration.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250725072642/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/climate/wildfires-forest-carbon-sequestration.html |archive-date=25 July 2025 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| image2= 2002- Area of forest damage due to fire.svg |caption2= Over recent decades, "forest disturbance" (damage) by fire has increased in most of the planet's forest zones.<ref name=PNAS_20250721/> The increase in area, frequency, and severity of forest fires creates a [[positive feedback]] that increases global warming.<ref name=PNAS_20250721>{{cite journal |last1=Potapov |first1=Peter |last2=Tyukavina |first2=Alexandra |last3=Turubanova |first3=Svetlana |last4=Hansen |first4=Matthew C. |last5=Giglio |first5=Louis |last6=Hernandez-Serna |first6=Andres |last7=Lima |first7=André |last8=Harris |first8=Nancy |last9=Stolle |first9=Fred |display-authors=4 |title=Unprecedentedly high global forest disturbance due to fire in 2023 and 2024 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=21 July 2025 |volume=122 |issue=30 |article-number=e2505418122 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2505418122 |pmid=40690667 |pmc=12318170 |bibcode=2025PNAS..12205418P }} Fig. 1A.</ref>
}}
Another cause of deforestation is due to the [[effects of climate change]]: More [[wildfire]]s,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Heidari|first1=Hadi|last2=Arabi|first2=Mazdak|last3=Warziniack|first3=Travis|date=August 2021|title=Effects of Climate Change on Natural-Caused Fire Activity in Western U.S. National Forests|journal=Atmosphere|language=en|volume=12|issue=8|page=981|bibcode=2021Atmos..12..981H|doi=10.3390/atmos12080981|doi-access=free}}</ref> insect outbreaks, [[Climate change and invasive species|invasive species]], and more frequent [[extreme weather]] events (such as storms) are factors that increase deforestation.<ref name="Seymour-2019">{{Cite journal|last1=Seymour|first1=Frances|last2=Gibbs|first2=David|date=2019-08-08|title=Forests in the IPCC Special Report on Land Use: 7 Things to Know|url=https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/08/forests-ipcc-special-report-land-use-7-things-know|language=en|access-date=2020-03-20|website=World Resources Institute}}</ref>

A study suggests that "tropical, arid and temperate forests are experiencing a significant decline in resilience, probably related to increased water limitations and climate variability" which may shift ecosystems towards [[critical transition]]s and [[ecosystem collapse]]s.<ref name="10.1038/s41586-022-04959-9">{{cite journal |last1=Forzieri |first1=Giovanni |last2=Dakos |first2=Vasilis |last3=McDowell |first3=Nate G. |last4=Ramdane |first4=Alkama |last5=Cescatti |first5=Alessandro |date=August 2022 |title=Emerging signals of declining forest resilience under climate change |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=608 |issue=7923 |pages=534–539 |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-04959-9 |issn=1476-4687 |pmc=9385496 |pmid=35831499 |doi-access=free}}

* News article: {{cite news |title=Forests are becoming less resilient because of climate change |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2328268-forests-are-becoming-less-resilient-because-of-climate-change/ |access-date=21 August 2022 |work=New Scientist}}</ref> By contrast, "boreal forests show divergent local patterns with an average increasing trend in resilience, probably benefiting from warming and {{CO2}} fertilization, which may outweigh the adverse effects of climate change".<ref name="10.1038/s41586-022-04959-9" /> It has been proposed that a loss of resilience in forests "can be detected from the increased temporal autocorrelation (TAC) in the state of the system, reflecting a decline in recovery rates due to the critical slowing down (CSD) of system processes that occur at thresholds".<ref name="10.1038/s41586-022-04959-9" />

23% of tree cover losses result from wildfires and climate change increase their frequency and power.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Harris|first1=Nancy|last2=Dow Goldman|first2=Elizabeth|last3=Weisse|first3=Mikaela|last4=Barrett|first4=Alyssa|date=13 September 2018|title=When a Tree Falls, Is It Deforestation?|url=https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/09/when-tree-falls-it-deforestation|access-date=30 August 2019|website=World Resources Institute}}</ref> The rising temperatures cause massive wildfires especially in the [[Boreal forest]]s. One possible effect is the change of the forest composition.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dapcevich|first1=Madison|date=28 August 2019|title=Disastrous Wildfires Sweeping Through Alaska Could Permanently Alter Forest Composition|agency=Ecowatch|url=https://www.ecowatch.com/alaska-wildfires-forests-trees-2640081853.html|access-date=30 August 2019}}</ref> Deforestation can also cause forests to become more fire prone through mechanisms such as logging.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Woods|first=Paul|date=1989|title=Effects of Logging, Drought, and Fire on Structure and Composition of Tropical Forests in Sabah, Malaysia|journal=Biotropica|volume=21|issue=4|pages=290–298|doi=10.2307/2388278|issn=0006-3606|jstor=2388278|bibcode=1989Biotr..21..290W}}</ref>

=== Military causes ===
{{See also|Environmental impact of war}}
[[File:US-Huey-helicopter-spraying-Agent-Orange-in-Vietnam.jpg|thumb|[[U.S. Army]] [[Bell UH-1 Iroquois|Huey helicopter]] spraying [[Agent Orange]] during the [[Vietnam War]]]]
Operations in [[war]] can also cause deforestation. For example, in the 1945 [[Battle of Okinawa]], [[bombardment]] and other [[Military operation|combat operations]] reduced a lush tropical landscape into "a vast field of mud, lead, decay and maggots".<ref>Higa, Takejiro. [http://nisei.hawaii.edu/object/11_takejiro.html Battle of Okinawa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720144740/http://nisei.hawaii.edu/object/11_takejiro.html|date=20 July 2011}}, The Hawaii Nisei Project</ref>

Deforestation can also result from the intentional [[military tactics|tactics]] of [[military forces]]. [[clearing (geography)|Clearing]] forests became an element in the Russian Empire's successful [[Caucasian War|conquest of the Caucasus]] in the mid-19th century.<ref>
{{cite book|last1=Arreguín-Toft|first1=Ivan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbweTAoZ_3YC|title=How the Weak Win Wars: A Theory of Asymmetric Conflict|date=8 December 2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-83976-1|series=Cambridge Studies in International Relations|volume=99|location=Cambridge|page=61|quote=[...] Voronzov [...] then set about organizing a more methodical destruction of Shamil and the subsequent conquest of the Caucasus. Over the next decade, this involved nothing more complicated or less deadly than the deforestation of Chechnia.|access-date=17 June 2018}}
</ref>
The British (during the [[Malayan Emergency]]) and the United States (in the [[Korean War]]<ref>{{Cite news|date=29 May 2011|title=DEFOLIANT DEVELOPED BY US WAS FOR KOREAN WAR|work=States News Services}}</ref> and in the [[Vietnam War]]) used [[defoliant]]s (like [[Agent Orange]] or others).<ref>{{cite book|title=Pesticide Dilemma in the Third World: A Case Study of Malaysia|publisher=Phoenix Press|year=1984|page=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse|title=Encyclopedia of World Environmental History|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=978-0-415-93732-0|editor-last=Krech III|editor-first=Shepard|editor2-last=Merchant|editor2-first=Carolyn|editor3-last=McNeill|editor3-first=John Robert}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book|author=Marchak, M. Patricia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oi-xLllDK8oC&pg=PA157|title=Logging the globe|date=18 September 1995|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP|isbn=978-0-7735-1346-4|pages=157–|access-date=4 December 2011}}
</ref>{{request quotation|date=June 2018}} The destruction of forests in Vietnam War is one of the most commonly used examples of [[ecocide]], including by Swedish Prime Minister [[Olof Palme]], lawyers, historians and other academics.<ref name="Zierler-2011">{{Cite book|last=Zierler|first=David|title=The invention of ecocide: agent orange, Vietnam, and the scientists who changed the way we think about the environment|date=2011|publisher=Univ. of Georgia Press|isbn=978-0-8203-3827-9|location=Athens, Ga.}}</ref><ref name="Falk-1973">{{Cite journal|last=Falk|first=Richard A.|date=1973|title=Environmental Warfare and Ecocide — Facts, Appraisal, and Proposals|journal=Bulletin of Peace Proposals|volume=4|issue=1|pages=80–96|doi=10.1177/096701067300400105|issn=0007-5035|jstor=44480206|s2cid=144885326}}</ref><ref name="Giovanni-2022">{{Cite journal|last=Giovanni|first=Chiarini|date=2022-04-01|title=Ecocide: From the Vietnam War to International Criminal Jurisdiction? Procedural Issues In-Between Environmental Science, Climate Change, and Law|url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4072727|journal=Cork Online Law Review|language=en|ssrn=4072727}}</ref>

== Impacts ==

=== On atmosphere and climate ===
{{further|Deforestation and climate change}}
[[File:Biophysical Effects on Global Temperature From Deforestation by 10° Latitude Band.jpg|thumb|Biophysical mechanisms by which forests influence climate.<ref name="10.3389/ffgc.2022.756115/full">{{cite journal|last1=Lawrence|first1=Deborah|last2=Coe|first2=Michael|last3=Walker|first3=Wayne|last4=Verchot|first4=Louis|last5=Vandecar|first5=Karen|date=2022|title=The Unseen Effects of Deforestation: Biophysical Effects on Climate|journal=Frontiers in Forests and Global Change|volume=5|article-number=756115 |doi=10.3389/ffgc.2022.756115|bibcode=2022FrFGC...5.6115L|issn=2624-893X|doi-access=free|hdl=10568/119219|hdl-access=free}}</ref>]]
[[File:Per capita CO2 emissions from deforestation for food production, OWID.svg|thumb|Per capita {{CO2}} emissions from deforestation for food production]]
[[File:Manantenina bushfire.jpg|thumb|Illegal "[[slash-and-burn]]" practice in [[Madagascar]], 2010]]
[[File:Spatial pattern of forest carbon loss across the tropics.webp|thumb|Mean annual carbon loss from tropical deforestation.<ref name="10.1038/s41893-022-00854-3">{{cite journal|last1=Feng|first1=Yu|last2=Zeng|first2=Zhenzhong|last3=Searchinger|first3=Timothy D.|last4=Ziegler|first4=Alan D.|last5=Wu|first5=Jie|last6=Wang|first6=Dashan|last7=He|first7=Xinyue|last8=Elsen|first8=Paul R.|last9=Ciais|first9=Philippe|last10=Xu|first10=Rongrong|last11=Guo|first11=Zhilin|last12=Peng|first12=Liqing|last13=Tao|first13=Yiheng|last14=Spracklen|first14=Dominick V.|last15=Holden|first15=Joseph|date=28 February 2022|title=Doubling of annual forest carbon loss over the tropics during the early twenty-first century|journal=Nature Sustainability|language=en|volume=5|issue=5|pages=444–451|doi=10.1038/s41893-022-00854-3|issn=2398-9629|s2cid=247160560|doi-access=free|last16=Liu|first16=Xiaoping|last17=Zheng|first17=Yi|last18=Xu|first18=Peng|last19=Chen|first19=Ji|last20=Jiang|first20=Xin|last21=Song|first21=Xiao-Peng|last22=Lakshmi|first22=Venkataraman|last23=Wood|first23=Eric F.|last24=Zheng|first24=Chunmiao|bibcode=2022NatSu...5..444F|hdl=2346/92751|hdl-access=free}}</ref>]]
Deforestation is a major contributor to [[climate change]].<ref>[http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000385/index.html Deforestation causes global warming] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805131750/http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000385/index.html|date=5 August 2009}}, [[FAO]]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Tropical Deforestation and Global Warming {{!}} Union of Concerned Scientists|url=https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/tropical-deforestation-and-global-warming|access-date=2022-11-01|website=www.ucsusa.org|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ripple|first1=William J.|author-link1=William J. Ripple|last2=Wolf|first2=Christopher|last3= van Vuuren|first3=Detlef P.|last4=Gregg|first4= Jillian W.|last5=Lenzen|first5=Manfred|date=January 9, 2024|title=An environmental and socially just climate mitigation pathway for a planet in peril|journal=[[Environmental Research Letters]]|volume=19|issue=2|page=021001|doi=10.1088/1748-9326/ad059e|quote= ...land use change, particularly deforestation (driven by agricultural land expansion and wood demand), has also been one of the major contributors to climate change.|doi-access=free|bibcode=2024ERL....19b1001R}}</ref> It is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced [[greenhouse effect]]. Recent calculations suggest that {{CO2}} emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (excluding [[peatland]] emissions) contribute about 12% of total anthropogenic {{CO2}} emissions, with a range from 6% to 17%.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Van Der Werf|first1=G. R.|last2=Morton|first2=D. C.|last3=Defries|first3=R. S.|last4=Olivier|first4=J. G. J.|last5=Kasibhatla|first5=P. S.|last6=Jackson|first6=R. B.|last7=Collatz|first7=G. J.|last8=Randerson|first8=J. T.|year=2009|title=CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from forest loss|journal=Nature Geoscience|volume=2|issue=11|pages=737–738|bibcode=2009NatGe...2..737V|doi=10.1038/ngeo671|s2cid=129188479}}</ref> A 2022 study shows annual carbon emissions from tropical deforestation have doubled during the last two decades and continue to increase: by 0.97 ± 0.16 PgC ([[petagram]]s of carbon, i.e. billions of tons) per year in 2001–2005 to 1.99 ± 0.13 PgC per year in 2015–2019.<ref>{{cite news|date=28 February 2022|title=Deforestation emissions far higher than previously thought, study finds|language=en|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/28/deforestation-emissions-far-higher-than-previously-thought-study-finds-aoe|access-date=16 March 2022}}</ref><ref name="10.1038/s41893-022-00854-3" />

According to a review, north of 50°N, large scale deforestation leads to an overall net global cooling; but deforestation in the tropics leads to substantial warming: not just due to {{CO2}} impacts, but also due to other biophysical mechanisms (making carbon-centric metrics inadequate). Moreover, it suggests that standing tropical forests help cool the average global temperature by more than 1&nbsp;°C.<ref>{{cite news|date=24 March 2022|title=Forests help reduce global warming in more ways than one|work=Science News|url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/forest-trees-reduce-global-warming-climate-cooling-carbon|access-date=19 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="10.3389/ffgc.2022.756115/full" /> According to a later study, deforestation in northern latitudes can also increase warming, while the conclusion about cooling from deforestation in these areas made by previous studies results from the failure of models to properly capture the effects of evapotranspiration.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=M. Makarieva |first1=Anastassia |last2=V. Nefiodov |first2=Andrei |last3=Rammig |first3=Anja |last4=Donato Nobre |first4=Antonio |title=Re-appraisal of the global climatic role of natural forests for improved climate projections and policies |journal=Frontiers in Forests and Global Change |date=20 July 2023 |volume=6 |article-number=1150191 |doi=10.3389/ffgc.2023.1150191 |doi-access=free |arxiv=2301.09998 |bibcode=2023FrFGC...650191M }}</ref>

The incineration and burning of forest plants to clear land releases large amounts of {{CO2}}, which contributes to global warming.<ref name="Fearnidel">{{cite journal|last1=Fearnside|first1=Philip M.|last2=Laurance|first2=William F.|year=2004|title=Tropical Deforestation and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions|journal=Ecological Applications|volume=14|issue=4|page=982|doi=10.1890/03-5225|bibcode=2004EcoAp..14..982F}}</ref> Scientists also state that tropical deforestation releases 1.5 billion tons of carbon each year into the atmosphere.<ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite journal|last1=Defries|first1=Ruth|last2=Achard|first2=Frédéric|last3=Brown|first3=Sandra|last4=Herold|first4=Martin|last5=Murdiyarso|first5=Daniel|last6=Schlamadinger|first6=Bernhard|last7=De Souza|first7=Carlos|year=2007|title=Earth observations for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in developing countries|url=http://www.gofc-gold.uni-jena.de/documents/other/EO_for_GHG_emissions.pdf|journal=Environmental Science Policy|volume=10|issue=4|pages=385–394|doi=10.1016/j.envsci.2007.01.010|bibcode=2007ESPol..10..385D|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118225748/http://www.gofc-gold.uni-jena.de/documents/other/EO_for_GHG_emissions.pdf|archive-date=18 January 2012}}</ref>

==== Carbon sink or source ====
{{See also|Carbon sequestration|Carbon sink|Biomass (energy)#Climate impacts}}
A study suggests logged and structurally degraded tropical forests are [[Carbon cycle|carbon sources]] for at least a decade – even when recovering{{clarify|date=February 2023|reason=does this include reforestation like the news article suggests?}} – due to larger carbon losses [[soil carbon|from soil organic matter]] and deadwood, indicating that the tropical forest [[carbon sink]] (at least in South Asia) "may be much smaller than previously estimated", <!--with potential implications on offsetting, the importance of deforestation prevention, and contemporary e.g. logging-and-reforestation practices-->contradicting that "recovering logged and degraded tropical forests are net carbon sinks".<!--https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000142385381/nachwachsender-regenwald-gibt-mehr-co2-frei-als-er-bindet--><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mills|first1=Maria B.|last2=Malhi|first2=Yadvinder|last3=Ewers|first3=Robert M.|last4=Kho|first4=Lip Khoon|last5=Teh|first5=Yit Arn|last6=Both|first6=Sabine|last7=Burslem|first7=David F. R. P.|last8=Majalap|first8=Noreen|last9=Nilus|first9=Reuben|last10=Huaraca Huasco|first10=Walter|last11=Cruz|first11=Rudi|last12=Pillco|first12=Milenka M.|last13=Turner|first13=Edgar C.|last14=Reynolds|first14=Glen|last15=Riutta|first15=Terhi|date=17 January 2023|title=Tropical forests post-logging are a persistent net carbon source to the atmosphere|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=120|issue=3|article-number=e2214462120|bibcode=2023PNAS..12014462M|doi=10.1073/pnas.2214462120|issn=0027-8424|pmc=9934015|pmid=36623189|doi-access=free}}</ref>[[File:SouthEast Asia fires Oct 2006.jpg|thumb|[[Deforestation in Borneo|Fires on Borneo and Sumatra]], 2006. People use [[slash-and-burn]] deforestation to clear land for agriculture.]]

{{excerpt|Carbon sequestration#Forestry}}

=== On the environment ===
According to a 2020 study, if deforestation continues at current rates it can trigger a total or almost total [[Human extinction|extinction of humanity]] in the next 20 to 40 years. They conclude that "from a statistical point of view... the probability that our civilisation survives itself is less than 10% in the most optimistic scenario." To avoid this collapse, humanity should pass from a civilization dominated by the economy to "cultural society" that "privileges the interest of the ecosystem above the individual interest of its components, but eventually in accordance with the overall communal interest."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nafeez|first1=Ahmed|date=28 July 2020|title=Theoretical Physicists Say 90% Chance of Societal Collapse Within Several Decades|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/theoretical-physicists-say-90-chance-of-societal-collapse-within-several-decades/|access-date=9 August 2020|website=Vice}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bologna|first1=M.|last2=Aquino|first2=G.|date=2020|title=Deforestation and world population sustainability: a quantitative analysis|url=|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=10|issue=7631|page=7631|arxiv=2006.12202|bibcode=2020NatSR..10.7631B|doi=10.1038/s41598-020-63657-6|pmc=7203172|pmid=32376879}}</ref>

==== Changes to the water cycle ====
The [[water cycle]] is also affected by deforestation. Trees extract [[groundwater]] through their roots and release it into the atmosphere. When part of a forest is removed, the trees no longer transpire this water, resulting in a much [[dry climate|drier climate]]. Deforestation reduces the content of water in the soil and groundwater as well as atmospheric moisture. The dry soil leads to lower water intake for the trees to extract.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrm.org.uy/deforestation/UNreport.html|title=Underlying Causes of Deforestation|work=UN Secretary-General's Report|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010411092448/http://wrm.org.uy/deforestation/UNreport.html|archive-date=11 April 2001}}</ref> Deforestation reduces soil cohesion, so that [[Soil erosion|erosion]], flooding and [[landslide]]s ensue.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.uwec.edu/jolhm/eh2/rogge/index.htm|author=Rogge, Daniel|work=University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire|title=Deforestation and Landslides in Southwestern Washington}}</ref><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/413717.stm China's floods: Is deforestation to blame?] BBC News. 6 August 1999.</ref>

Shrinking [[forest cover]] lessens the landscape's capacity to intercept, retain and [[Transpiration|transpire]] precipitation. Instead of trapping precipitation, which then percolates to groundwater systems, deforested areas become sources of surface water runoff, which moves much faster than subsurface flows. Forests return most of the water that falls as precipitation to the atmosphere by transpiration. In contrast, when an area is deforested, almost all precipitation is lost as run-off.<ref>Raven, P. H. and Berg, L. R. (2006) ''Environment'', 5th ed, John Wiley & Sons. p. 406. {{ISBN|0471704385}}.</ref> That quicker transport of surface water can translate into [[flash flood]]ing and more localized floods than would occur with the forest cover. Deforestation also contributes to decreased [[evapotranspiration]], which lessens atmospheric moisture which in some cases affects precipitation levels downwind from the deforested area, as water is not recycled to downwind forests, but is lost in runoff and returns directly to the oceans. According to one study, in deforested north and northwest China, the average annual precipitation decreased by one third between the 1950s and the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Economic Costs of China's Environmental Degradation: Project on Environmental Scarcities, State Capacity, and Civil Violence, a Joint Project of the University of Toronto and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences|chapter-url = http://www.library.utoronto.ca/pcs/state/chinaeco/forest.htm|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091230071928/http://www.library.utoronto.ca/pcs/state/chinaeco/forest.htm|archive-date = 30 December 2009|publisher = Committee on Internat. Security Studies, American Acad. of Arts and Sciences|date = 1 January 1998|first = Wang|last = Hongchang|chapter = Deforestation and Desiccation in China A Preliminary Study|editor-last = Schwartz|editor-first = Jonathan Matthew}}</ref>

[[File:Madagascar highland plateau.jpg|thumb|Deforestation of the [[Central Highlands (Madagascar)|Highland Plateau]] in Madagascar has led to extensive [[siltation]] and unstable flows of western rivers.]]
Trees, and plants in general, affect the [[water cycle]] significantly:<ref name="Mishra-2010" />
* their canopies intercept a proportion of [[precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]], which is then evaporated back to the atmosphere ([[Interception (water)|canopy interception]]);
* their litter, stems and trunks slow down [[surface runoff]];
* their roots create [[macropore]]s – large conduits – in the soil that increase [[infiltration (hydrology)|infiltration]] of water;
* they contribute to terrestrial evaporation and reduce [[Water content|soil moisture]] via [[transpiration]];
* their [[plant litter|litter]] and other organic residue change soil properties that affect the capacity of soil to store water.
* their leaves control the [[humidity]] of the atmosphere by [[transpiration|transpiring]]. 99% of the water absorbed by the roots moves up to the leaves and is transpired.<ref>[http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ageng/irrigate/eb66w.htm "Soil, Water and Plant Characteristics Important to Irrigation".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121125074838/http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ageng/irrigate/eb66w.htm |date=25 November 2012 }} North Dakota State University.</ref>
As a result, the presence or absence of trees can change the quantity of water on the surface, in the soil or groundwater, or in the atmosphere. This in turn changes erosion rates and the availability of water for either ecosystem functions or human services. Deforestation on lowland plains moves cloud formation and rainfall to higher elevations.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ray|first1=Deepak K.|last2=Nair|first2=Udaysankar S.|last3=Lawton|first3=Robert O.|last4=Welch|first4=Ronald M.|last5=Pielke|first5=Roger A.|title=Impact of land use on Costa Rican tropical montane cloud forests: Sensitivity of orographic cloud formation to deforestation in the plains|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research|date=2006|volume=111|issue=D2|pages=D02108|doi=10.1029/2005JD006096|bibcode=2006JGRD..111.2108R|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The forest may have little impact on flooding in the case of large rainfall events, which overwhelm the storage capacity of forest soil if the soils are at or close to saturation.

[[Tropical rainforest]]s produce about 30% of Earth's [[fresh water]].<ref name="The Times">{{Cite news|date=8 October 2006|title=How can you save the rain forest. 8 October 2006. Frank Field|work=The Times|location=London|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article664544.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517091952/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article664544.ece|archive-date=17 May 2008|access-date=1 April 2010}}</ref>

Deforestation disrupts normal weather patterns creating hotter and drier weather thus increasing drought, desertification, crop failures, melting of the polar ice caps, [[coastal flooding]] and displacement of major vegetation regimes.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Deforestation as a major threat|url=https://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/465873/Deforestation-as-a-major-threat|access-date=2022-02-26|work=Daily Sun|type=Opinion|language=en}}</ref>

==== Soil erosion ====
[[File:Erp - 20111006 (6).jpg|thumb|Deforestation in [[France]].]]
Due to surface [[plant litter]], forests that are undisturbed have a minimal rate of [[erosion]]. The rate of erosion occurs from deforestation, because it decreases the amount of litter cover, which provides protection from [[surface runoff]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Soil Erosion and Conservation|last=Morgan|first=R.P.C|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4051-4467-4|pages=343}}</ref> The rate of erosion is around 2 metric tons per square kilometre.<ref name="Homestead">{{Cite book|title=21st Century Homestead: Sustainable Agriculture III: Agricultural Practices|last=Henkel|first=Marlon|date=22 February 2015|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-312-93975-2|pages=110}}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}} This can be an advantage in excessively leached tropical rain forest soils. Forestry operations themselves also increase erosion through the [[road building|development of]] ([[forest road|forest]]) [[road]]s and the use of mechanized equipment.<ref name="IPCC_AR6" />

Deforestation in China's Loess Plateau many years ago has led to soil erosion; this erosion has led to valleys opening up. The increase of soil in the runoff causes the Yellow River to flood and makes it yellow-colored.<ref name="Homestead" />

Greater erosion is not always a consequence of deforestation, as observed in the southwestern regions of the US. In these areas, the loss of grass due to the presence of trees and other shrubbery leads to more erosion than when trees are removed.<ref name="Homestead" />

Soils are reinforced by the presence of trees, which secure the soil by binding their roots to soil bedrock. Due to deforestation, the removal of trees causes sloped lands to be more susceptible to [[Landslide|landslides.]]<ref name="Mishra-2010">{{Cite book|title=Fundamental Concept in Environmental Studies|last=Mishra|first=D.D.|publisher=S. Chand Publishing|year=2010|isbn=978-81-219-2937-0|pages=14–15}}</ref>

==== Other changes to the soil ====
Clearing forests changes the environment of the [[Soil biology|microbial communities within the soil]], and causes a [[loss of biodiversity]] in regards to the microbes since biodiversity is actually highly dependent on [[soil texture]].<ref name="YaleNews-2014">{{Cite news|date=2014-04-01|title=Deforestation of sandy soils a greater threat to climate change|language=en|work=YaleNews|url=https://news.yale.edu/2014/04/01/deforestation-sandy-soils-greater-threat-climate-change|access-date=2018-02-09}}</ref> Although the effect of deforestation has much more profound consequences on sandier soils compared to clay-like soils, the disruptions caused by deforestation ultimately reduces properties of soil such as [[hydraulic conductivity]] and water storage, thus reducing the efficiency of water and heat absorption.<ref name="YaleNews-2014" /><ref name="Shukla-1990">{{Cite journal|last1=Shukla|first1=J.|last2=Nobre|first2=C.|last3=Sellers|first3=P.|date=1990-03-16|title=Amazon Deforestation and Climate Change|journal=Science|language=en|volume=247|issue=4948|pages=1322–1325|bibcode=1990Sci...247.1322S|doi=10.1126/science.247.4948.1322|issn=0036-8075|pmid=17843795|s2cid=8361418|hdl-access=free|hdl=10535/2838}}</ref> In a simulation of the deforestation process in the Amazon, researchers found that surface and soil temperatures increased by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius demonstrating the loss of the soil's ability to absorb radiation and moisture.<ref name="Shukla-1990" /> Furthermore, soils that are rich in organic decay matter are more susceptible to fire, especially during long droughts.<ref name="YaleNews-2014" />

Changes in soil properties could turn the soil itself into a [[carbon source]] rather than a [[carbon sink]].<ref name="Rebecca-2007">{{Cite web|last=Rebecca|first=Lindsey|date=2007-03-30|title=Tropical Deforestation: Feature Articles|url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestation_update2.php|access-date=2018-02-09|website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov|language=en}}</ref>

==== Biodiversity loss ====
{{Further|Biodiversity loss}}
Deforestation on a human scale results in decline in [[biodiversity]],<ref>Nilsson, Sten (March 2001). [http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/nilsson.html Do We Have Enough Forests?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607205907/http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/nilsson.html|date=7 June 2019}}, American Institute of Biological Sciences.</ref> and on a natural global scale is known to cause the extinction of many species.<ref name="Benton">{{cite journal|author=Sahney, S.|author2=Benton, M.J.|author3=Falcon-Lang, H.J.|name-list-style=amp|year=2010|title=Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica|journal=Geology|volume=38|issue=12|pages=1079–1082|bibcode=2010Geo....38.1079S|doi=10.1130/G31182.1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=Sophie|date=September 9, 2020|title=Animal populations worldwide have declined by almost 70% in just 50 years, new report says|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biodiversity-endangered-species-animal-population-decline-world-wildlife-fund-report-2020-09-09/|work=[[CBS News]]|access-date=September 10, 2020|quote="The report points to land-use change — in particular, the destruction of habitats like rainforests for farming — as the key driver for loss of biodiversity, accounting for more than half of the loss in Europe, Central Asia, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean."}}</ref> The removal or destruction of areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced [[biodiversity]].<ref name="r1" /> Forests support biodiversity, providing habitat for [[wildlife]];<ref>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070808132022.htm Rainforest Biodiversity Shows Differing Patterns], ScienceDaily, 14 August 2007.</ref> moreover, forests foster [[medicinal plants|medicinal conservation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bmbf.de/en/12484.php|work=Research for Biodiversity Editorial Office|title=Medicine from the rainforest|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206015033/http://www.bmbf.de/en/12484.php|archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref> With forest [[biotope]]s being irreplaceable source of new drugs (such as [[Paclitaxel|taxol]]), deforestation can destroy [[Genetics|genetic]] variations (such as crop resistance) irretrievably.<ref>[http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/Single-largest-biodiversity-survey-says-primary-rainforest-is-irreplaceable-1218-1/ Single-largest biodiversity survey says primary rainforest is irreplaceable] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814233654/http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/Single-largest-biodiversity-survey-says-primary-rainforest-is-irreplaceable-1218-1/|date=14 August 2009}}, Bio-Medicine, 14 November 2007.</ref>
[[File:Illegal export of rosewood 001.jpg|thumb|[[Illegal logging in Madagascar]]. In 2009, the vast majority of the illegally obtained [[rosewood]] was exported to [[China]].]]
Since the tropical rainforests are the most diverse [[ecosystem]]s on Earth<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090302154517/http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/ecosystems/ecosystemsrainforestrev1.shtml Tropical rainforests – The tropical rainforest], BBC</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20000302033338/http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/trforest.htm Tropical Rain Forest]. thinkquest.org</ref> and about 80% of the world's known [[biodiversity]] can be found in tropical rainforests,<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-biodiversity-idUSMAN18800220080620 U.N. calls on Asian nations to end deforestation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924134044/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/06/20/us-philippines-biodiversity-idUSMAN18800220080620|date=24 September 2015}}, Reuters, 20 June 2008.</ref> removal or destruction of significant areas of forest cover has resulted in a [[Soil degradation|degraded]]<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/ecosystems/ecosystemsrainforestrev4.shtml Tropical rainforests – Rainforest water and nutrient cycles] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213160024/http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/ecosystems/ecosystemsrainforestrev4.shtml|date=13 February 2009}}, BBC</ref> environment with reduced biodiversity.<ref name="Benton" /><ref>Butler, Rhett A. (2 July 2007) [http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0702-gardner.html Primary rainforest richer in species than plantations, secondary forests], mongabay.com,</ref> Road construction and development of adjacent land, which greatly reduces the area of intact wilderness and causes soil erosion, is a major contributing factor to the loss of biodiversity in tropical regions.<ref name="IPCC_AR6">{{cite report|url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_Chapter07.pdf|chapter=Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU)|author1=Nabuurs, G-J.|author2=R. Mrabet|author3=A. Abu Hatab|author4=M. Bustamante|author5= H. Clark|author6=P. Havlík|author7=J. House|author8=C. Mbow|author9=K.N. Ninan|author10=A. Popp|author11=S. Roe|author12=B. Sohngen|author13=S. Towprayoon|title= Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|date=2022|publisher= Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/9781009157926.009|pages=768–769|isbn=978-1-009-15792-6}}</ref> A study in [[Rondônia]], Brazil, has shown that deforestation also removes the microbial community which is involved in the recycling of nutrients, the production of clean water and the removal of pollutants.<ref name="ro">{{cite web|last=Flowers|first=April|title=Deforestation in the Amazon Affects Microbial Life As Well As Ecosystems|url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112753888/amazon-deforestation-microbial-communities-122512/|work=Science News|date=25 December 2012 |publisher=Redorbit.com|access-date=12 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502223155/http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112753888/amazon-deforestation-microbial-communities-122512/|archive-date=2 May 2013}}</ref>

It has been estimated that 137 plant, animal and insect species go extinct every day due to rainforest deforestation, which equates to 50,000 species a year.<ref name="rain-tree.com">[http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm Rainforest Facts]. Rain-tree.com (20 March 2010). Retrieved 29 August 2010.</ref> Others state that tropical rainforest deforestation is contributing to the ongoing [[Holocene mass extinction]].<ref>Leakey, Richard and Roger Lewin, 1996, ''The Sixth Extinction : Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind'', Anchor, {{ISBN|0-385-46809-1}}.</ref><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-great-rainforest-tragedy-542135.html The great rainforest tragedy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912071556/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-great-rainforest-tragedy-542135.html|date=12 September 2011}}, The Independent, 28 June 2003.</ref> The known extinction rates from deforestation rates are very low, approximately one species per year from mammals and birds, which extrapolates to approximately 23,000 species per year for all species. Predictions have been made that more than 40% of the animal and [[Flora|plant species]] in [[Southeast Asia]] could be wiped out in the 21st century.<ref>[https://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/endangered-species/dn3973 Biodiversity wipeout facing South East Asia], New Scientist, 23 July 2003.</ref> Such predictions were called into question by 1995 data that show that within regions of Southeast Asia much of the original forest has been converted to monospecific plantations, but that potentially endangered species are few and tree flora remains widespread and stable.<ref name="ReferenceB" />
[[File:Rain forest location map.png|thumb|300px|World map of [[rainforest]]s{{legend|#005c00|[[Tropical rainforest]]}}{{legend|#047f05|[[Temperate rainforest|Temperate/subtropical rainforest]]}}]]
Scientific understanding of the process of extinction is insufficient to accurately make predictions about the impact of deforestation on biodiversity.<ref>{{cite journal|year = 1995|title = The future of biodiversity|journal = Science|volume = 269|issue = 5222|pages = 347–50|doi = 10.1126/science.269.5222.347|pmid=17841251|last1 = Pimm|first1 = S. L.|last2 = Russell|first2 = G. J.|last3 = Gittleman|first3 = J. L.|last4 = Brooks|first4 = T. M.|bibcode = 1995Sci...269..347P|s2cid = 35154695}}</ref> Most predictions of forestry related biodiversity loss are based on species-area models, with an underlying assumption that as the forest declines species diversity will decline similarly.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book|author1=Whitmore, Timothy Charles|author2=Sayer, Jeffrey|author3=International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. General Assembly|author4=IUCN Forest Conservation Programme|title=Tropical deforestation and species extinction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Et4opq8dn4MC|date=15 February 1992|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-412-45520-9}}</ref> However, many such models have been proven to be wrong and [[loss of habitat]] does not necessarily lead to large scale loss of species.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Species-area models are known to overpredict the number of species known to be threatened in areas where actual deforestation is ongoing, and greatly overpredict the number of threatened species that are widespread.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite journal|doi=10.1126/science.269.5222.347|title=The Future of Biodiversity|year=1995|last1=Pimm|first1=S. L.|last2=Russell|first2=G. J.|last3=Gittleman|first3=J. L.|last4=Brooks|first4=T. M.|journal=Science|volume=269|issue=5222|pages=347–350|pmid=17841251|bibcode=1995Sci...269..347P|s2cid=35154695}}</ref>

In 2012, a study of the Brazilian Amazon predicts that despite a lack of extinctions thus far, up to 90 percent of predicted extinctions will finally occur in the next 40 years.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sohn|first=Emily|title=More extinctions expected in Amazon|work=Discovery|url=http://news.discovery.com/earth/amazon-extinctions-to-come-120712.html|date=12 July 2012|access-date=13 July 2012|archive-date=7 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107175209/http://news.discovery.com/earth/amazon-extinctions-to-come-120712.html}}</ref>

==== Oxygen-supply misconception ====
Rainforests are widely believed by lay people to provide a significant amount of the world's [[oxygen]].<ref name="The Times" /> However, scientific research has found that rainforests contribute little net oxygen to the [[Earth's atmosphere]], so deforestation has only a minor effect on atmospheric oxygen levels.<ref>Broecker, Wallace S. (2006). [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/21stC/issue-2.1/broecker.htm "Breathing easy: Et tu, O<sub>2</sub>".] Columbia University</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Moran|first1=Emilio F.|year=1993|title=Deforestation and land use in the Brazilian Amazon|journal=Human Ecology|volume=21|issue=1 |pages=1–21|doi=10.1007/BF00890069|bibcode=1993HumEc..21....1M |s2cid=153481315}}</ref> In fact, about 50 percent of the Earth's oxygen is produced by [[algae]], mostly in the oceans.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chapman|first=Russell Leonard|date=2013-01-01|title=Algae: the world's most important "plants"—an introduction|journal=Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change|language=en|volume=18|issue=1|pages=5–12|doi=10.1007/s11027-010-9255-9|bibcode=2013MASGC..18....5C|issn=1573-1596|s2cid=85214078|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== On human health ===
Deforestation reduces safe working hours for millions of people in the tropics, especially for those performing heavy labour outdoors. Continued global heating and forest loss is expected to amplify these impacts, reducing work hours for vulnerable groups even more.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Quaglia |first=Sofia |date=2021-12-17 |title=Deforestation making outdoor work unsafe for millions, says study |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/17/deforestation-making-outdoor-work-unsafe-for-millions-says-study |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217163119/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/17/deforestation-making-outdoor-work-unsafe-for-millions-says-study |archive-date=17 December 2021 |access-date=2021-12-18 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> A study conducted from 2002 to 2018 also determined that the increase in temperature as a result of climate change, and the lack of shade due to deforestation, has increased the [[mortality rate]] of workers in [[Indonesia]].<ref name="Wolff-2021">{{Cite journal |last1=Wolff |first1=Nicholas H. |last2=Zeppetello |first2=Lucas R. Vargas |last3=Parsons |first3=Luke A. |last4=Aggraeni |first4=Ike |last5=Battisti |first5=David S. |last6=Ebi |first6=Kristie L. |last7=Game |first7=Edward T. |last8=Kroeger |first8=Timm |last9=Masuda |first9=Yuta J. |last10=Spector |first10=June T. |date=2021-12-01 |title=The effect of deforestation and climate change on all-cause mortality and unsafe work conditions due to heat exposure in Berau, Indonesia: a modelling study |journal=The Lancet Planetary Health |language=English |volume=5 |issue=12 |pages=e882–e892 |doi=10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00279-5 |issn=2542-5196 |pmid=34774222 |s2cid=244068407 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2021LanPH...5.e882W }}</ref> A 2025 pan-tropical analysis estimated that local warming from tropical deforestation (2001–2020) exposed ~345 million people and was associated with ~28,330 additional heat-related deaths per year, accounting for roughly one-third of heat-attributable mortality in areas of forest loss, with the highest rates in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Reddington |first1=C. L. |last2=Smith |first2=C. |last3=Butt |first3=E. W. |last4=Baker |first4=J. C. A. |last5=Oliveira |first5=B. F. A. |last6=Yamba |first6=E. I. |last7=Spracklen |first7=D. V. |date=2025-08-27 |title=Tropical deforestation is associated with considerable heat-related mortality |journal=Nature Climate Change |volume=15 |issue=9 |language=en |pages=992–999 |doi=10.1038/s41558-025-02411-0 |pmid=40933509 |pmc=12417208 |issn=1758-6798|doi-access=free |bibcode=2025NatCC..15..992R }}</ref>

==== Infectious diseases ====
Deforestation eliminates a great number of species of plants and animals which also often results in exposure of people to [[Zoonosis|zoonotic diseases]].<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration|url=https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Global emergence of infectious diseases: links with wild meat consumption, ecosystem disruption, habitat degradation and biodiversity loss|publisher=FAO|year=2020|isbn=978-92-5-132818-7|location=Rome|doi=10.4060/ca9456en|s2cid=240645073}}</ref> Forest-associated diseases include malaria, Chagas disease (also known as American trypanosomiasis), African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, HIV and Ebola.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" /> The majority of new infectious diseases affecting humans, including the [[SARS-CoV-2|SARS-CoV-2 virus]] that caused the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], are zoonotic and their emergence may be linked to habitat loss due to forest area change and the expansion of human populations into forest areas, which both increase human exposure to wildlife.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" />

Deforestation has been coupled with an increase in the occurrence of disease outbreaks. In [[Malaysia]], thousands of acres of forest have been cleared for pig farms. This has resulted in an increase in the spread of the [[Nipah virus]].<ref>[http://thebulletin.org/deforestation-and-emerging-diseases Deforestation and emerging diseases|Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]. Thebulletin.org (15 February 2011). Retrieved 13 November 2016.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lam|first1=Sai Kit|last2=Chua|first2=Kaw Bing|year=2002|title=Nipah Virus Encephalitis Outbreak in Malaysia|journal=Clinical Infectious Diseases|volume=34|pages=S48–51|doi=10.1086/338818|pmid=11938496|doi-access=free |bibcode=2002CliID..34S..48L }}</ref> In [[Kenya]], deforestation has led to an increase in malaria cases which is now the leading cause of morbidity and mortality the country.<ref>[http://www.african-politics.com/tag/environmental-impact-of-deforestation-in-kenya/ African Politics Portal|Tag Archive|Environmental impact of deforestation in Kenya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413022408/http://www.african-politics.com/tag/environmental-impact-of-deforestation-in-kenya/|date=13 April 2016}}. African-politics.com (28 May 2009). Retrieved 13 November 2016.</ref><ref>[http://kff.org/news-summary/2014-kenya-economic-survey-marks-malaria-as-countrys-leading-cause-of-death/ 2014 Kenya Economic Survey Marks Malaria As Country's Leading Cause Of Death|The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation]. Kff.org (1 May 2014). Retrieved 13 November 2016.</ref> A 2017 study found that deforestation substantially increased the incidence of malaria in Nigeria.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Julia|first1=Berazneva|last2=Byker|first2=Tanya S.|date=1 May 2017|title=Does Forest Loss Increase Human Disease? Evidence from Nigeria|journal=American Economic Review|language=en|volume=107|issue=5|pages=516–521|doi=10.1257/aer.p20171132|pmid=29557569|issn=0002-8282}}</ref>

Another pathway through which deforestation affects disease is the relocation and dispersion of disease-carrying hosts. This disease emergence pathway can be called "[[Colonisation (biology)|range expansion]]", whereby the host's range (and thereby the range of pathogens) expands to new geographic areas.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Range Expansion and Population Dynamics of an Invasive Species: The Eurasian Collared-Dove (''Streptopelia decaocto'')|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=9|issue=10|article-number=e111510|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0111510|pmid=25354270|year=2014|last1=Scheidt|first1=Spencer N.|last2=Hurlbert|first2=Allen H.|pmc=4213033|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9k1510S|doi-access=free}}</ref> Through deforestation, hosts and reservoir species are forced into neighboring habitats. Accompanying the reservoir species are pathogens that have the ability to find new hosts in previously unexposed regions. As these pathogens and species come into closer contact with humans, they are infected both directly and indirectly. Another example of range expansion due to deforestation and other [[Anthropogenic hazard|anthropogenic]] habitat impacts includes the [[Capybara]] rodent in [[Paraguay]].<ref>[http://news.mongabay.com/2010/12/deforestation-sparks-giant-rodent-invasions/ Deforestation sparks giant rodent invasions]. News.mongabay.com (15 December 2010). Retrieved 13 November 2016.</ref>

According to the [[World Economic Forum]], 31% of [[Emerging infectious disease|emerging diseases]] are linked to deforestation.<ref>{{cite book|title=Outbreak Readiness and Business Impact Protecting Lives and Livelihoods across the Global Economy|date=January 2019|publisher=World Economic Forum, Harvard Global Health Institute|page=7|url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF%20HGHI_Outbreak_Readiness_Business_Impact.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121175911/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF%20HGHI_Outbreak_Readiness_Business_Impact.pdf|archive-date=2019-01-21|url-status=live|access-date=12 March 2020}}</ref> A publication by the [[United Nations Environment Programme]] in 2016 found that deforestation, [[climate change]], and [[livestock]] agriculture are among the main causes that increase the risk of [[Zoonosis|zoonotic diseases]], that is diseases that pass from animals to humans.<ref name="UNEP-2016">{{cite book|title=UNEP Frontiers 2016 Report: Emerging Issues of Environmental Concern|date=2016|publisher=United Nations Environment Programme|location=Nairoby|isbn=978-92-807-3553-6|pages=18–32|url=https://environmentlive.unep.org/media/docs/assessments/UNEP_Frontiers_2016_report_emerging_issues_of_environmental_concern.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224140345/http://environmentlive.unep.org/media/docs/assessments/UNEP_Frontiers_2016_report_emerging_issues_of_environmental_concern.pdf|archive-date=2017-02-24|url-status=live|access-date=1 May 2020}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]</ref>

===== COVID-19 pandemic =====
{{See also|COVID-19 pandemic|Pandemic prevention#Environmental policy and economics}}

Scientists have linked the [[Coronavirus disease 2019|Coronavirus pandemic]] to the destruction of nature, especially to deforestation, [[habitat loss]] in general and [[wildlife trade]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Carrington|first1=Damian|title=Pandemics result from destruction of nature, say UN and WHO|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/17/pandemics-destruction-nature-un-who-legislation-trade-green-recovery|access-date=18 June 2020|agency=The Guardian|date=17 June 2020}}</ref> According to the [[United Nations Environment Programme]] (UNEP) the [[Coronavirus disease 2019]] is zoonotic, e.g., the virus passed from animals to humans. UNEP concludes that: "The most fundamental way to protect ourselves from zoonotic diseases is to prevent destruction of nature. Where ecosystems are healthy and biodiverse, they are resilient, adaptable and help to regulate diseases.<ref>{{cite web|title=Science points to causes of COVID-19|url=https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/science-points-causes-covid-19|website=United Nations Environmental Programm|date=22 May 2020|publisher=United Nations|access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref>

=== On the economy and agriculture ===
[[File:Malayasia iko 2002169.jpg|thumb|right|A satellite image showing [[Social and environmental impact of palm oil|deforestation for a palm oil plantation]] in Malaysia]]{{Update section|reason=cites are very old|date=June 2020}}

Economic losses due to [[deforestation in Brazil]] could reach around 317 billion dollars per year, approximately 7 times higher in comparison to the cost of all commodities produced through deforestation.<ref name="TheWorldBank">{{cite web|title=World Bank: Brazil faces $317 billion in annual losses to Amazon deforestation|url=https://8point9.com/world-bank-brazil-faces-317-billion-in-annual-losses-to-amazon-deforestation#:~:text=BRAZIL%20could%20face%20losses%20of,commodities%20taken%20from%20the%20rainforests.|access-date=30 May 2023|website=8.9ha.|date=24 May 2023|publisher=World Bank}}</ref>

The forest products industry is a large part of the economy in both developed and developing countries. Short-term economic gains made by conversion of forest to agriculture, or [[over-exploitation]] of wood products, typically leads to a loss of long-term income and long-term biological productivity. [[West Africa]], [[Madagascar]], [[Southeast Asia]] and many other regions have experienced lower revenue because of declining timber harvests. Illegal logging causes billions of dollars of losses to national economies annually.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0905.htm|work=rainforests.mongabay.com|title=Destruction of Renewable Resources}}</ref>

The resilience of human food systems and their capacity to adapt to future change is linked to biodiversity – including dryland-adapted shrub and tree species that help combat desertification, forest-dwelling insects, bats and bird species that pollinate crops, trees with extensive root systems in [[mountain ecosystems]] that prevent [[soil erosion]], and mangrove species that provide resilience against flooding in coastal areas.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" /> With climate change exacerbating the risks to food systems, the role of forests in capturing and storing carbon and mitigating climate change is important for the agricultural sector.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" />

[[File:Haiti deforestation.jpg|thumb|Satellite image of [[Haiti]]'s border with the [[Dominican Republic]] (right) shows the amount of [[deforestation in Haiti|deforestation on the Haitian side]]]]

[[File:Deforestation around Pakke Tiger Reserve, India.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|Deforestation around Pakke Tiger Reserve, India]]

== Monitoring ==
[[File:Terra Indígena Tenharim do Igarapé Preto, Amazonas (41737918674).jpg|thumb|Agents from IBAMA, [[Brazil]]'s environmental police, searching for illegal logging activity in [[Indigenous territory (Brazil)|Indigenous territory]] in the [[Amazon rainforest]], 2018]]
There are multiple methods that are appropriate and reliable for reducing and monitoring deforestation. One method is the "visual interpretation of aerial photos or satellite imagery that is labor-intensive but does not require high-level training in computer image processing or extensive computational resources".<ref name="autogenerated2" /> Another method includes hot-spot analysis (that is, locations of rapid change) using expert opinion or coarse resolution satellite data to identify locations for detailed digital analysis with high resolution satellite images.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> Deforestation is typically assessed by quantifying the amount of area deforested, measured at the present time.
From an environmental point of view, quantifying the damage and its possible consequences is a more important task, while conservation efforts are more focused on forested land protection and development of land-use alternatives to avoid continued deforestation.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> Deforestation rate and total area deforested have been widely used for monitoring deforestation in many regions, including the Brazilian Amazon deforestation monitoring by INPE.<ref name="ReferenceC" /> A global satellite view is available, an example of [[land change science]] monitoring of land cover over time.<ref>{{cite web|title=Global Forest Change – Google Crisis Map|url=https://earthenginepartners.appspot.com/science-2013-global-forest|access-date=12 October 2016|work=Google Crisis Map}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Popkin|first1=Gabriel|date=4 October 2016|title=Warning to forest destroyers: this scientist will catch you|journal=Nature News & Comment|volume=538|issue=7623|pages=24–26|bibcode=2016Natur.538...24P|doi=10.1038/538024a|pmid=27708330|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Satellite imaging has become crucial in obtaining data on levels of deforestation and reforestation. [[Landsat]] [[satellite]] data, for example, has been used to map tropical deforestation as part of [[NASA]]'s Landsat ''Pathfinder Humid Tropical Deforestation Project''. The project yielded deforestation maps for the [[Amazon Basin]], [[Central Africa]], and [[Southeast Asia]] for three periods in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.<ref>[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestation_update4.php Earth Observatory. NASA Tropical Deforestation Research.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123222113/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestation_update4.php|date=2009-11-23}} accessed 12 November 2009.</ref>

Greenpeace has mapped out the forests that are still intact<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090327183443/http://www.intactforests.org/publications/intactforests_poster_preview.pdf The world's last intact forest landscapes]. intactforests.org</ref> and published this information on the internet.<ref>{{cite web|title=World Intact Forests campaign by Greenpeace|url=http://www.intactforests.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228060648/http://www.intactforests.org/|archive-date=28 February 2009|access-date=10 July 2008|work=intactforests.org}}</ref> [[World Resources Institute]] in turn has made a simpler thematic map<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100724183523/http://www.wri.org/map/worlds-forests-restoration-perspective The World's Forests from a Restoration Perspective], WRI</ref> showing the amount of forests present just before the age of man (8000 years ago) and the current (reduced) levels of forest.<ref>{{cite web|title=Alternative thematic map by Howstuffworks; in pdf|url=http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/maps/pdf/WOR_THEM_Forests.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711004701/http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/maps/pdf/WOR_THEM_Forests.pdf|archive-date=11 July 2009|access-date=6 April 2009}}</ref>

== Control ==

===International, national and subnational policies===
[[File:Conceptual framework of a policy mix perspective on zero-deforestation governance.png|thumb|An incomplete concept of a framework of policy mix sequencing for zero-deforestation governance. Non-intervention in processes related to beef production via policies may be a main driver of tropical deforestation.]]
{{Further|Sustainable development|Universal basic income in Brazil}}

Policies for forest protection include information and education programs, economic measures to increase revenue returns from authorized activities and measures to increase effectiveness of "forest technicians and forest managers".<ref>{{cite web|title=29. Policies, strategies and technologies for forest resource protection – William B. Magrath* and Richard Grandalski**|url=http://www.fao.org/3/AC805E/ac805e0v.htm|website=www.fao.org|access-date=2 May 2021}}</ref> Poverty and agricultural rent were found to be principal factors leading to deforestation.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Poverty reduction saves forests sustainably: Lessons for deforestation policies|journal=World Development|date=1 March 2020|volume=127|article-number=104746|doi=10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104746|language=en|issn=0305-750X|doi-access=free|last1=Miyamoto|first1=Motoe |bibcode=2020WoDev.12704746M }}</ref> Contemporary domestic and foreign political decision-makers could possibly create and implement policies whose outcomes ensure that economic activities in critical forests are consistent with their scientifically ascribed value for [[ecosystem service]]s, climate change mitigation and other purposes.

Such policies may use and organize the development of complementary technical and economic means – including for lower levels of beef production, sales and consumption (which would also have major benefits for [[climate change mitigation]]),<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Henders|first1=Sabine|last2=Persson|first2=U Martin|last3=Kastner|first3=Thomas|title=Trading forests: land-use change and carbon emissions embodied in production and exports of forest-risk commodities|journal=Environmental Research Letters|date=1 December 2015|volume=10|issue=12|article-number=125012|doi=10.1088/1748-9326/10/12/125012|bibcode=2015ERL....10l5012H|language=en|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pierrehumbert|first1=R T|last2=Eshel|first2=G|title=Climate impact of beef: an analysis considering multiple time scales and production methods without use of global warming potentials|journal=Environmental Research Letters|date=1 August 2015|volume=10|issue=8|article-number=085002|doi=10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/085002|bibcode=2015ERL....10h5002P|s2cid=152365403|language=en|issn=1748-9326|doi-access=free}}</ref> higher levels of specified other economic activities in such areas (such as reforestation, forest protection, [[sustainable agriculture]] for specific classes of food products and [[Quaternary sector of the economy|quaternary work]] in general), [[product information]] [[law-making|requirements]], practice- and product-certifications and [[eco-tariffs]], along with the required monitoring and [[traceability]]. [[Policy#Induction of policies|Inducing the creation and enforcement of such policies]] could, for instance, achieve a global phase-out of [[environmental impact of beef|deforestation-associated beef]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nepstad|first1=Daniel|last2=McGrath|first2=David|last3=Stickler|first3=Claudia|last4=Alencar|first4=Ane|last5=Azevedo|first5=Andrea|last6=Swette|first6=Briana|last7=Bezerra|first7=Tathiana|last8=DiGiano|first8=Maria|last9=Shimada|first9=João|last10=Seroa da Motta|first10=Ronaldo|last11=Armijo|first11=Eric|last12=Castello|first12=Leandro|last13=Brando|first13=Paulo|last14=Hansen|first14=Matt C.|last15=McGrath-Horn|first15=Max|last16=Carvalho|first16=Oswaldo|last17=Hess|first17=Laura|title=Slowing Amazon deforestation through public policy and interventions in beef and soy supply chains|journal=Science|date=6 June 2014|volume=344|issue=6188|pages=1118–1123|doi=10.1126/science.1248525|pmid=24904156|bibcode=2014Sci...344.1118N|s2cid=206553761}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nolte|first1=Christoph|last2=le Polain de Waroux|first2=Yann|last3=Munger|first3=Jacob|last4=Reis|first4=Tiago N. P.|last5=Lambin|first5=Eric F.|title=Conditions influencing the adoption of effective anti-deforestation policies in South America's commodity frontiers|journal=Global Environmental Change|date=1 March 2017|volume=43|pages=1–14|doi=10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.01.001|bibcode=2017GEC....43....1N|language=en|issn=0959-3780}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=McAlpine|first1=C. A.|last2=Etter|first2=A.|last3=Fearnside|first3=P. M.|last4=Seabrook|first4=L.|last5=Laurance|first5=W. F.|title=Increasing world consumption of beef as a driver of regional and global change: A call for policy action based on evidence from Queensland (Australia), Colombia and Brazil|journal=Global Environmental Change|date=1 February 2009|volume=19|issue=1|pages=21–33|doi=10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.10.008|bibcode=2009GEC....19...21M|language=en|issn=0959-3780|url=https://repositorio.unal.edu.co/handle/unal/79486}}</ref>{{additional citation needed|date=May 2021}} With complex polycentric governance measures, goals like sufficient climate change mitigation as decided with e.g. the [[Paris Agreement]] and a stoppage of deforestation by 2030 as decided at the [[2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference]] could be achieved.<ref name="10.1017/sus.2021.21">{{cite journal|last1=Furumo|first1=Paul R.|last2=Lambin|first2=Eric F.|title=Policy sequencing to reduce tropical deforestation|journal=Global Sustainability|date=27 October 2021|volume=4|article-number=e24 |doi=10.1017/sus.2021.21|bibcode=2021GlSus...4E..24F|s2cid=239890357|language=en|issn=2059-4798|doi-access=free|hdl=2078.1/255479|hdl-access=free}}</ref> A study has suggested higher income nations need to reduce [[international trade|imports]] of tropical forest-related products and help with theoretically forest-related socioeconomic development. Proactive government policies and international forest policies "revisit[ing] and redesign[ing] global forest trade" are needed as well.<ref>{{cite news|title=200 million acres of forest cover have been lost since 1960|url=https://grist.org/science/forest-cover-deforestation-logging-1960/|access-date=15 September 2022|work=Grist|date=5 August 2022|language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Estoque|first1=Ronald C|last2=Dasgupta|first2=Rajarshi|last3=Winkler|first3=Karina|last4=Avitabile|first4=Valerio|last5=Johnson|first5=Brian A|last6=Myint|first6=Soe W|last7=Gao|first7=Yan|last8=Ooba|first8=Makoto|last9=Murayama|first9=Yuji|last10=Lasco|first10=Rodel D|title=Spatiotemporal pattern of global forest change over the past 60 years and the forest transition theory|journal=Environmental Research Letters|date=1 August 2022|volume=17|issue=8|page=084022|doi=10.1088/1748-9326/ac7df5|bibcode=2022ERL....17h4022E|language=en|issn=1748-9326|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2022 the [[European Parliament|European parliament]] approved a bill aiming to stop the import linked with deforestation. This [[EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products]] (EUDR), may cause to Brazil, for example, to stop deforestation for agricultural production and begun to "increase productivity on existing agricultural land".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Schröder|first1=André|title=European bill passes to ban imports of deforestation-linked commodities|url=https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/european-bill-passes-to-ban-imports-of-deforestation-linked-commodities/|website=Mongabay|date=15 September 2022|access-date=18 September 2022}}</ref> The legislation was adopted with some changes by the [[European Council]] in May 2023 and is expected to enter into force several weeks after. The bill requires companies who want to import certain types of products to the European Union to prove the production of those commodities is not linked to areas deforested after 31 of December 2020. It prohibits also import of products linked with [[Human rights]] abuse. The list of products includes: [[palm oil]], [[cattle]], [[wood]], [[coffee]], [[Cocoa bean|cocoa]], [[rubber]] and [[Soybean|soy]]. Some derivatives of those products are also included: [[chocolate]], [[furniture]], [[Paper|printed paper]] and several palm oil based derivates.<ref>{{cite web|title=Council adopts new rules to cut deforestation worldwide|url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/05/16/council-adopts-new-rules-to-cut-deforestation-worldwide/|website=European Counsil|publisher=European Union|access-date=22 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Téllez Chávez|first1=Luciana|title=EU Approves Law for 'Deforestation-Free' Trade|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/16/eu-approves-law-deforestation-free-trade|website=Human Rights Watch|date=16 May 2023|access-date=22 May 2023}}</ref>

But unfortunately, as the report ''Bankrolling ecosystem destruction'' shows,<ref>[https://www.banktrack.org/download/bankrolling_ecosystem_destruction/bankrollingecosystemdestruction.pdf 'Bankrolling ecosystem destruction – The EU must stop the cash flow to businesses destroying nature']</ref> this regulation of product imports is not enough. The European financial sector is investing billions of euros in the destruction of nature. Banks do not respond positively to requests to stop this, which is why the report calls for European regulation in this area to be tightened and for banks to be banned from continuing to finance deforestation.<ref>[https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/63481/how-our-financial-system-is-bankrolling-extinction-and-what-governments-need-to-do-to-restore-nature/ Bankrolling nature destruction]</ref>

=== International pledges ===
In 2014, about 40 countries signed the [[New York Declaration on Forests]], a voluntary pledge to halve deforestation by 2020 and end it by 2030. The agreement was not legally binding, however, and some key countries, such as Brazil, China, and Russia, did not sign onto it. As a result, the effort failed, and deforestation increased from 2014 to 2020.<ref>{{cite news|date=2 November 2021|title=COP26: World leaders promise to end deforestation by 2030|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59088498}}</ref><ref name="Butlerb">{{cite news|author=Rhett A. Butler|date=5 November 2021|title=What countries are leaders in reducing deforestation? Which are not?|publisher=Mongabay|url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/glasgow-declaration-what-countries-are-leaders-in-reducing-deforestation/}}</ref>

In November 2021, 141 countries (with around 85% of the world's [[primary forest|primary]] [[tropical forest]]s and 90% of global [[tree cover]]) agreed at the [[2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference|COP26 climate summit in Glasgow]] to the ''Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use'', a pledge to end and reverse deforestation by 2030.<ref name="Butlerb" /><ref name="SpringJessop">{{cite news|author1=Jake Spring|author2=Simon Jessop|date=3 November 2021|title=Over 100 global leaders pledge to end deforestation by 2030|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/over-100-global-leaders-pledge-end-deforestation-by-2030-2021-11-01/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=November 12, 2021|title=Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use|publisher=[[2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference]]|url=https://ukcop26.org/glasgow-leaders-declaration-on-forests-and-land-use/1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114073626/https://ukcop26.org/glasgow-leaders-declaration-on-forests-and-land-use/|archive-date=November 14, 2021}}</ref> The agreement was accompanied by about $19.2 billion in associated funding commitments.<ref name="SpringJessop" />

The 2021 [[Glasgow Agreement|Glasgow agreement]] improved on the New York Declaration by now including Brazil and many other countries that did not sign the 2014 agreement.<ref name="Butlerb" /><ref name="SpringJessop" /> Some key nations with high rates of deforestation (including Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Paraguay, and Myanmar) have not signed the Glasgow Declaration.<ref name="SpringJessop" /> Like the earlier agreement, the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration was entered into outside the [[United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change|UN Framework Convention on Climate Change]] and is thus not legally binding.<ref name="SpringJessop" />

In November 2021, the EU executive outlined a draft law requiring companies to prove that the agricultural commodities beef, wood, palm oil, soy, [[Coffee bean|coffee]] and [[Cocoa bean|cocoa]] destined for the EU's 450 million consumers were not linked to deforestation.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rankin|first=Jennifer|date=2021-11-17|title=EU aims to curb deforestation with beef and coffee import ban|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/17/eu-deforestation-beef-coffee-import-ban-commodities-endangered-forests|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117131641/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/17/eu-deforestation-beef-coffee-import-ban-commodities-endangered-forests|archive-date=17 November 2021|access-date=2021-11-17|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> In September 2022, the EU Parliament supported and strengthened the plan from the EU's executive with 453 votes to 57.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Petrequin|first=Samuel|date=2022-09-13|title=EU lawmakers support ban of goods linked to deforestation|url=https://apnews.com/article/forests-european-union-deforestation-dfac73fb792f185df0b3b79a055abdbf|access-date=2022-09-14|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}</ref>

In 2018 the biggest palm oil trader, Wilmar, decided to control its suppliers to avoid deforestation<ref>{{cite web|last1=Holder|first1=Michael|date=10 December 2018|title='Potential breakthrough': Palm oil giant Wilmar steps up 'no deforestation' efforts|url=https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3067932/potential-breakthrough-palm-oil-giant-wilmar-steps-up-no-deforestation-efforts|access-date=11 December 2018|website=Business Green}}</ref>{{additional citation needed|date=August 2020}}

In 2021, over 100 world leaders, representing countries containing more than 85% of the world's forests, committed to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-11-02|title=Major shifts in private finance, trade and land rights to protect world's forests|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-shifts-in-private-finance-trade-and-land-rights-to-protect-worlds-forests|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102113309/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-shifts-in-private-finance-trade-and-land-rights-to-protect-worlds-forests|archive-date=2 November 2021|access-date=2021-11-07|website=GOV.UK|language=en}}</ref>

=== Land rights ===
[[File:Shennongjia virgin forest.jpg|thumb|Transferring [[land rights]] to indigenous inhabitants is argued to efficiently conserve forests.]]
Indigenous communities have long been the frontline of resistance against deforestation.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-02-06|title=Indigenous Peoples' Forest Tenure|url=https://drawdown.org/solutions/indigenous-peoples-forest-tenure|access-date=2020-09-13|website=Project Drawdown|language=en}}</ref> Transferring rights over land from public domain to its [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous inhabitants]] is argued to be a cost-effective strategy to conserve forests.<ref name="Guardian1">{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jul/22/india-follow-china-saving-forest-people-land-rights|title=India should follow China to find a way out of the woods on saving forest people|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=7 August 2016|date=22 July 2016}}</ref> This includes the protection of such rights entitled in existing laws, such as India's [[The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006|Forest Rights Act]].<ref name="Guardian1" /> The transferring of such rights in [[China]], perhaps the largest [[land reform]] in modern times, has been argued to have increased forest cover.<ref name="rightsandresources">{{cite web|url=http://rightsandresources.org/en/publication/view/chinas-forest-tenure-reforms-impacts-and-implications-for-choice-conservation-and-climate-change/|title=China's forest tenure reforms|publisher=rightsandresources.org|access-date=7 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923153921/http://rightsandresources.org/en/publication/view/chinas-forest-tenure-reforms-impacts-and-implications-for-choice-conservation-and-climate-change/|archive-date=23 September 2016}}</ref> In [[Brazil]], forested areas given tenure to indigenous groups have even lower rates of [[clearing (geography)|clearing]] than [[national park]]s.<ref name="rightsandresources" />

Community concessions in the [[Congolian rainforests]] have significantly less deforestation as communities are incentivized to manage the land sustainably, even reducing poverty.<ref>{{cite news|date=7 January 2021|title=The bold plan to save Africa's largest forest|newspaper=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210107-congo-basin-a-bold-plan-to-save-africas-largest-rainforest|access-date=16 September 2021}}</ref>

===Forest management===
{{Further|Forest management}}

In areas where "[[slash-and-burn]]" is practiced, switching to "[[slash-and-char]]" would prevent the rapid deforestation and subsequent degradation of soils. The [[biochar]] thus created, given back to the soil, is not only a durable [[carbon sequestration]] method, but it also is an extremely beneficial [[Soil conditioner|amendment]] to the soil. Mixed with [[biomass]] it brings the creation of [[terra preta]], one of the richest soils on the planet and the only one known to regenerate itself.[[File:Bamboo Feb09.jpg|thumb|Bamboo is advocated as a more sustainable alternative for cutting down wood for fuel.<ref name="bamboo">{{cite news|last=Rosenberg|first=Tina|date=13 March 2012|title=In Africa's vanishing forests, the benefits of bamboo|work=The New York Times|url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/in-africas-vanishing-forests-the-benefits-of-bamboo/?ref=global-home|access-date=26 July 2012}}</ref>]]
Certification, as provided by global certification systems such as [[Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification]] and [[Forest Stewardship Council]], contributes to tackling deforestation by creating market demand for timber from sustainably managed forests. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), "A major condition for the adoption of sustainable forest management is a demand for products that are produced sustainably and consumer willingness to pay for the higher costs entailed. [...] By promoting the positive attributes of forest products from sustainably managed forests, certification focuses on the demand side of environmental conservation."<ref>[http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0350e/i0350e00.HTM "State of the World's Forests 2009"]. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.</ref>

Brazil’s [[Amazon soy moratorium]], an agreement among commodities traders to not purchase from areas deforested after 2008, has contributed to the reduction in deforestion rates and less than 2% of the production land was non-compliant in 2018/19.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brazil's Amazon soy moratorium |url=https://forestsolutions.panda.org/case-studies/brazils-amazon-soy-moratorium |website=WWF Forest Solutions |publisher=[[World Wide Fund for Nature]] |access-date=14 December 2025}}</ref>

=== Financial compensations for reducing emissions from deforestation ===
{{Main|Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation}}

[[Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation|Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD)]] in developing countries has emerged as a new potential to complement ongoing climate policies. The idea consists in providing financial compensations for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation".<ref>{{cite web|author1=Wertz-Kanounnikoff, Sheila|last2=Alvarado|first2=Rubio|last3=Ximena|first3=Laura|title=Why are we seeing "REDD"?|url=http://www.iddri.org/Publications/Collections/Analyses/Why-are-we-seeing-REDD|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225042425/http://www.iddri.org/Publications/Collections/Analyses/Why-are-we-seeing-REDD|archive-date=25 December 2007|access-date=14 November 2016|publisher=Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations}}</ref> REDD can be seen as an alternative to the [[emissions trading]] system as in the latter, polluters must pay for permits for the right to emit certain pollutants (i.e. {{CO2}}).

Main international organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank, have begun to develop programs aimed at curbing deforestation. The blanket term ''Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation'' (REDD) describes these sorts of programs, which use direct monetary or other incentives to encourage developing countries to limit and/or roll back deforestation. Funding has been an issue, but at the [[UN Framework Convention on Climate Change]] (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties-15 (COP-15) in Copenhagen in December 2009, an accord was reached with a collective commitment by developed countries for new and additional resources, including [[forestry]] and investments through international institutions, that will approach US$30 billion for the period 2010–2012.<ref>{{Cite news|year=2009|title=Copenhagen Accord of 18 December 2009|publisher=UNFCC|url=http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/application/pdf/cop15_cph_auv.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=28 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131004732/http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/application/pdf/cop15_cph_auv.pdf|archive-date=2010-01-31}}</ref>

Significant work is underway on tools for use in monitoring developing countries' adherence to their agreed REDD targets. These tools, which rely on remote forest monitoring using satellite imagery and other data sources, include the [[Center for Global Development]]'s FORMA (Forest Monitoring for Action) initiative<ref>[http://www.cgdev.org/section/initiatives/_active/forestmonitoringforactionforma Forest Monitoring for Action (FORMA) : Center for Global Development : Initiatives: Active]. Cgdev.org (23 November 2009). Retrieved 29 August 2010.</ref> and the [[Group on Earth Observations]]' Forest Carbon Tracking Portal.<ref>[http://portal.geo-fct.org/(-demonstrators/browser Browser – GEO FCT Portal]{{dead link|date=March 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}. Portal.geo-fct.org. Retrieved 29 August 2010.</ref> Methodological guidance for forest monitoring was also emphasized at COP-15.<ref>{{Cite news|year=2009|title=Methodological Guidance|publisher=UNFCC|url=http://unfccc.int/files/na/application/pdf/cop15_ddc_auv.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=28 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100119191332/http://unfccc.int/files/na/application/pdf/cop15_ddc_auv.pdf|archive-date=2010-01-19}}</ref> The environmental organization [[Avoided Deforestation Partners]] leads the campaign for development of REDD through funding from the U.S. government.<ref>[http://climateprogress.org/2009/12/16/sec-vilsack-1-billion-for-redd/ Agriculture Secretary Vilsack: $1 billion for REDD+ "Climate Progress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608214412/http://climateprogress.org/2009/12/16/sec-vilsack-1-billion-for-redd/|date=8 June 2010}}. Climateprogress.org (16 December 2009). Retrieved 29 August 2010.</ref>

== History ==
{{Further|Timeline of environmental history}}

===Prehistory===
The [[Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse]]<ref name="Benton" /> was an event that occurred 300 million years ago. Climate change devastated tropical rainforests causing the extinction of many plant and animal species. The change was abrupt, specifically, at this time climate became cooler and drier, conditions that are not favorable to the growth of rainforests and much of the biodiversity within them. Rainforests were fragmented forming shrinking 'islands' further and further apart. Populations such as the sub class [[Lissamphibia]] were devastated, whereas [[Reptile|Reptilia]] survived the collapse. The surviving organisms were better adapted to the drier environment left behind and served as legacies in succession after the collapse.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

[[File: Néolithique 0001.jpg|thumb|An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, ax heads, chisels, and polishing tools.]]
Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Leslie|url=https://archive.org/details/healingpowerofra00tayl|title=The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs: A Guide to Understanding and Using Herbal Medicinals|publisher=Square One|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7570-0144-4}}</ref>
Small scale deforestation was practiced by some societies for tens of thousands of years before the beginnings of civilization.<ref name="FutureEaters">{{Cite book|last=Flannery|first=T|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0730104877|title=The future eaters|publisher=Reed Books|year=1994|isbn=0-7301-0422-2|place=Melbourne}}</ref> The first evidence of deforestation appears in the [[Mesolithic period]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=Tony|year=1997|title=Clearances and Clearings: Deforestation in Mesolithic/Neolithic Britain|journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology|volume=16|issue=2|pages=133–146|doi=10.1111/1468-0092.00030}}</ref> It was probably used to convert closed forests into more open ecosystems favourable to game animals.<ref name="FutureEaters" /> With the advent of agriculture, larger areas began to be deforested, and fire became the prime tool to clear land for crops. In Europe there is little solid evidence before 7000 BC. Mesolithic [[hunter-gatherer|foragers]] used fire to create openings for [[red deer]] and [[wild boar]]. In Great Britain, shade-tolerant species such as [[oak]] and [[Ash tree|ash]] are replaced in the [[palynology|pollen record]] by [[hazel]]s, brambles, grasses and nettles. Removal of the forests led to decreased [[transpiration]], resulting in the formation of upland [[peat bog]]s. Widespread decrease in [[elm]] [[pollen]] across Europe between 8400 and 8300 BC and 7200–7000 BC, starting in southern Europe and gradually moving north to Great Britain, may represent land [[clearing (geography)|clearing]] by fire at the onset of [[Neolithic]] agriculture.

The [[Neolithic period]] saw extensive deforestation for [[Agriculture|farming land]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=hand tool: Neolithic tools|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/254115/hand-tool/39205/Neolithic-tools|date=19 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Neolithic Age from 4,000 BC to 2,200 BC or New Stone Age|url=http://www.archaeolink.co.uk/Neolithic-Age.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304122056/http://www.archaeolink.co.uk/Neolithic-Age.html|archive-date=4 March 2007|access-date=2 October 2008|website=www.archaeolink.co.uk}}</ref> Stone axes were being made from about 3000 BC not just from flint, but from a wide variety of hard rocks from across Britain and North America as well. They include the noted [[Langdale axe industry]] in the [[English Lake District]], quarries developed at [[Penmaenmawr]] in [[North Wales]] and numerous other locations. Rough-outs were made locally near the quarries, and some were polished locally to give a fine finish. This step not only increased the [[mechanical strength]] of the axe, but also made penetration of wood easier. [[Flint]] was still used from sources such as [[Grimes Graves]] but from many other mines across Europe.

Evidence of deforestation has been found in [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[Crete]]; for example the environs of the [[Palace of Knossos]] were severely deforested in the [[Bronze Age]].<ref>Hogan, C. Michael (22 December 2007). [http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes "Knossos fieldnotes"], ''The Modern Antiquarian''</ref>

===Pre-industrial history===
{{See also|Deforestation during the Roman period|Deforestation by continent}}
[[File:Rano Raraku quarry.jpg|thumb|[[Easter Island]], deforested. ]]

Just as archaeologists have shown that prehistoric farming societies had to cut or burn forests before planting, documents and artifacts from early civilizations often reveal histories of deforestation. Some of the most dramatic are eighth century BCE Assyrian [[Assyrian Timber Transportation relief|reliefs]] depicting logs being floated downstream from conquered areas to the less forested capital region as spoils of war. Ancient Chinese texts make clear that some areas of the Yellow River valley had already destroyed many of their forests over 2000 years ago and had to plant trees as crops or import them from long distances.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Ian M.|title=The Cultivated Forest: People and Woodlands in Asian History|last2=Davis|first2=Bradley C.|last3=Lander|first3=Brian|last4=Lee|first4=John|date=2022|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-75090-3|location=Seattle}}</ref> In South China much of the land came to be privately owned and used for the commercial growing of timber.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Ian M.|title=Fir and Empire: The Transformation of Forests in Early Modern China|date=2020|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-74733-0|location=Seattle}}</ref>

Three regional studies of historic erosion and alluviation in [[ancient Greece]] found that, wherever adequate evidence exists, a major phase of erosion follows the introduction of farming in the various regions of Greece by about 500–1,000 years, ranging from the later Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Van Andel|first1=Tjeerd H.|last2=Zangger|first2=Eberhard|last3=Demitrack|first3=Anne|year=2013|title=Land Use and Soil Erosion in Prehistoric and Historical Greece|url=http://www.esf.edu/cue/documents/vanAndel-etal_LandUse-HistoricGreece_1990.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Journal of Field Archaeology|volume=17|issue=4|pages=379–396|doi=10.1179/009346990791548628|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529055219/http://www.esf.edu/cue/documents/vanAndel-etal_LandUse-HistoricGreece_1990.pdf|archive-date=2013-05-29}}</ref> The thousand years following the mid-first millennium BC saw serious, intermittent pulses of soil erosion in numerous places. The historic [[silting]] of ports along the southern coasts of [[Asia Minor]] (''e.g.'' [[Clarus]], and the examples of [[Ephesus]], [[Priene]] and [[Miletus]], where harbors had to be abandoned because of the silt deposited by the Meander) and in coastal [[Syria]] during the last centuries BC.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Miletus|url=https://www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/miletus|access-date=2022-11-22|website=The Byzantine Legacy|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Miletus (Site)|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=Miletus&object=Site|access-date=2022-11-22|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

[[Easter Island]] has suffered from heavy [[soil erosion]] in recent centuries, aggravated by agriculture and deforestation.<ref>[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/The_Mystery_of_Easter_Island.html "The Mystery of Easter Island"], ''Smithsonian Magazine'', 1 April 2007.</ref> The disappearance of the island's trees seems to coincide with a decline of its civilization around the 17th and 18th century. Scholars have attributed the collapse to deforestation and over-exploitation of all resources.<ref>{{cite web|title=Historical Consequences of Deforestation: Easter Island (Diamond 1995)|url=http://www.mongabay.com/09easter_island.htm|publisher=mongabay.com|access-date=8 July 2008|archive-date=29 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429014142/http://mongabay.com/09easter_island.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Jared Diamond, Easter Island's End|url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/24/042.html|publisher=hartford-hwp.com}}</ref>

The famous silting up of the harbor for [[Bruges]], which moved port commerce to [[Antwerp]], also followed a period of increased settlement growth (and apparently of deforestation) in the upper river basins. In early medieval [[Riez]] in upper [[Provence]], alluvial silt from two small rivers raised the riverbeds and widened the floodplain, which slowly buried the Roman settlement in alluvium and gradually moved new construction to higher ground; concurrently the headwater valleys above Riez were being opened to pasturage.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Iyyer|first=Chaitanya|title=Land Management: Challenges & Strategies|publisher=Global India Publications|year=2009|isbn=978-93-80228-48-8|pages=11}}</ref>

A typical [[progress trap]] was that cities were often built in a forested area, which would provide wood for some industry (for example, construction, shipbuilding, pottery). When deforestation occurs without proper replanting, however; local wood supplies become difficult to obtain near enough to remain competitive, leading to the city's abandonment, as happened repeatedly in Ancient [[Asia Minor]]. Because of fuel needs, mining and metallurgy often led to deforestation and city abandonment.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chew|first=Sing C.|title=World Ecological Degradation|publisher=AltaMira Press|year=2001|location=Oxford, England|pages=69–70}}</ref>
[[File:Rugendas - Defrichement d une Foret.jpg|thumb|[[Slavery in Brazil|Slaves]] clearing the [[Atlantic Forest]] in Brazil, {{Circa|1820–1825}}]]
With most of the population remaining active in (or indirectly dependent on) the agricultural sector, the main pressure in most areas remained land [[clearing (geography)|clearing]] for crop and cattle farming. Enough wild green was usually left standing (and partially used, for example, to collect firewood, timber and fruits, or to graze pigs) for wildlife to remain viable. The elite's (nobility and higher clergy) protection of their own hunting privileges and game often protected significant woodland.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Major parts in the spread (and thus more durable growth) of the population were played by monastical 'pioneering' (especially by the [[Benedictine]] and [[commerce|Commercial]] orders) and some [[feudal]] lords' recruiting farmers to settle (and become tax payers) by offering relatively good legal and fiscal conditions. Even when speculators sought to encourage towns, settlers needed an agricultural belt around or sometimes within defensive walls. When populations were quickly decreased by causes such as the [[Black Death]], the [[European colonization of the Americas#Disease and indigenous population loss|colonization of the Americas]],<ref name="Brierley et al 2019">{{cite journal|last1=Koch|first1=Alexander|last2=Brierley|first2=Chris|last3=Maslin|first3=Mark M.|last4=Lewis|first4=Simon L.|year=2019|title=Earth system impacts of the European arrival and Great Dying in the Americas after 1492|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|volume=207|pages=13–36|bibcode=2019QSRv..207...13K|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.12.004|doi-access=free}}</ref> or devastating warfare (for example, [[Genghis Khan]]'s [[Mongol]] hordes in eastern and central Europe, [[Thirty Years' War]] in Germany), this could lead to settlements being abandoned. The land was reclaimed by nature, but the [[secondary forest]]s usually lacked the original [[biodiversity]]. The [[Mongol invasions and conquests]] alone resulted in the reduction of 700 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere by enabling the re-growth of carbon-absorbing forests on depopulated lands over a significant period of time.<ref>{{cite web|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=20 January 2011|title=War, Plague No Match For Deforestation in Driving CO2 Buildup|work=Carnegie Institution for Science |url=https://carnegiescience.edu/news/war-plague-no-match-deforestation-driving-co2-buildup|access-date=22 November 2019|publisher=[[Carnegie Institution for Science]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Q|Q106515792}}</ref>

[[File:Tropenmuseum Royal Tropical Institute Objectnumber 60009006 Goudwinning door middel van het afspo.jpg|thumb|Deforestation in [[Suriname]] {{Circa|1880–1900}}]]

From 1100 to 1500 AD, significant deforestation took place in [[Western Europe]] as a result of the [[Human overpopulation|expanding human population]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Groenewoudt|first1=Bert|last2=van Haaster|first2=Henk|last3=van Beek|first3=Roy|last4=Brinkkemper|first4=Otto|date=2007-01-01|title=Towards a reverse image. Botanical research into the landscape history of the eastern Netherlands (1100 B.C.—A.D. 1500)|journal=Landscape History|volume=29|issue=1|pages=17–33|doi=10.1080/01433768.2007.10594587|issn=0143-3768|s2cid=130658356}}</ref> The large-scale building of wooden sailing ships by European (coastal) naval owners since the 15th century for exploration, [[Colonialism|colonisation]], [[History of slavery|slave trade]], and other trade on the high seas, consumed many forest resources and became responsible for the introduction of numerous [[bubonic plague]] outbreaks in the 14th century. [[Piracy]] also contributed to the over harvesting of forests, as in Spain. This led to a weakening of the domestic economy after Columbus' discovery of America, as the economy became dependent on colonial activities (plundering, mining, cattle, plantations, trade, etc.){{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The massive use of [[charcoal]] on an industrial scale in [[Early Modern Europe]] was a new type of consumption of western forests.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Knapp|first1=Hannes|last2=Nelle|first2=Oliver|last3=Kirleis|first3=Wiebke|date=2015-04-24|title=Charcoal usage in medieval and modern times in the Harz Mountains Area, Central Germany: Wood selection and fast overexploitation of the woodlands|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618215000774|journal=Quaternary International|volume=366|pages=51–69|doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.01.053|bibcode=2015QuInt.366...51K|issn=1040-6182|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Each of Nelson's [[Royal Navy]] war ships at Trafalgar (1805) required 6,000 mature oaks for its construction.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} In France, [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert|Colbert]] planted [[oak]] forests to supply the French navy in the future. When the oak plantations matured in the mid-19th century, the masts were no longer required because shipping had changed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-05-19 |title=Make Wine Not War: The Story of Napoleon and France's Oak Forests |url=http://clustercrush.com/make-wine-not-war-the-story-of-napoleon-and-frances-oak-forests/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=Cluster Crush |language=en-US}}</ref>

Efforts to stop or slow deforestation have been attempted for many centuries because it has long been known that deforestation can cause environmental damage sufficient in some cases to cause societies to collapse. In [[Tonga]], paramount rulers developed policies designed to prevent conflicts between short-term gains from converting forest to farmland and long-term problems forest loss would cause,<ref>Diamond, Jared ''Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail or Succeed''; Viking Press 2004, pp. 301–302 {{ISBN|0-14-311700-9}}.</ref> while during the 17th and 18th centuries in [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]], Japan,<ref>Diamond, Jared ''Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail or Succeed''; Viking Press 2004, pp. 320–331 {{ISBN|0-14-311700-9}}.</ref> the shōguns developed a highly sophisticated system of long-term planning to stop and even reverse deforestation of the preceding centuries through substituting timber by other products and more efficient use of land that had been farmed for many centuries.

In 16th-century Germany, landowners also developed [[silviculture]] to deal with the problem of deforestation. However, these policies tend to be limited to environments with ''good rainfall'', ''no dry season'' and ''very young [[soil]]s'' (through [[volcano|volcanism]] or [[glaciation]]). This is because on older and less fertile soils trees grow too slowly for silviculture to be economic, whilst in areas with a strong dry season there is always a risk of forest fires destroying a tree crop before it matures.

=== 19th and 20th centuries ===
[[File:Burma024.jpg|thumb|Deforestation in Burma (now [[Myanmar]]) ''circa'' 1920, during the [[British rule in Burma|British colonial era]]]]{{See also|Deforestation by continent}}

==== Steamboats ====
In the 19th century, the introduction of [[steamboat]]s in the [[United States]] was the cause of deforestation of banks of major rivers, such as the [[Mississippi River]], with increased and more severe flooding one of the environmental results. The steamboat crews cut wood daily from the riverbanks to fuel the steam engines. Between [[St. Louis]] and the confluence with the [[Ohio River]] to the south, the Mississippi became broader and shallower and changed its channel laterally. Attempts to improve navigation by the use of [[Snagboat|snag pullers]] often resulted in crews' [[clearing (geography)|clearing]] large trees 100 to {{convert|200|ft|m}} back from the banks. Several French colonial towns of the [[Illinois Country]], such as [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]], [[Cahokia, Illinois|Cahokia]] and St. Philippe, [[Illinois]], were flooded and abandoned in the late 19th century, with a loss to the cultural record of their [[archeology]].<ref>Norris, F. Terry (1997) [https://books.google.com/books?id=HwH3kdOgvfAC&pg=PA73 "Where Did the Villages Go? Steamboats, Deforestation, and Archaeological Loss in the Mississippi Valley"], in ''Common Fields: an environmental history of St. Louis'', Andrew Hurley, ed., St. Louis, MO: Missouri Historical Society Press, pp. 73–89. {{ISBN|978-1-883982-15-7}}.</ref>

== Society and culture ==
Different cultures of different places in the world have different interpretations of the actions of the cutting down of trees. For example, in [[Meitei mythology]] and [[Meitei folklore]] of [[Manipur]] (India), deforestation is mentioned as one of the reasons to make [[mother nature]] weep and mourn for the death of her precious children.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Ch Manihar|url=|title=A History of Manipuri Literature|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]]|year=1996|isbn=978-81-260-0086-9|pages=16, 17|language=en, mni}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Datta|first1=Bīrendranātha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uRvaAAAAMAAJ|title=A Handbook of Folklore Material of North-East India|last2=Śarmā|first2=Nabīnacandra|publisher=Anundoram Borooah Institute of Language, Art & Culture, Assam|year=1994|location=India|page=356|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Barua|first=Lalit Kumar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoECgkZ0Wu0C|title=Oral Tradition and Folk Heritage of North East India|publisher=Spectrum Publications|year=1999|isbn=978-81-87502-02-9|location=India|page=71|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Clearcutting]]
* [[Clearing (geography)]] 
* [[Defaunation]]
* [[Forest transition]]
* [[Illegal logging]]
* [[International Year of Forests]]
* [[Land use, land-use change and forestry]]
* [[Mountaintop removal]]

{{div col end}}
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== Notes ==
{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name = IPCC-2019-367-a|«The trends of productivity shown by several remote-sensing studies (see previous section) are largely consistent with mapping of forest cover and change using a 34-year time series of coarse resolution satellite data (NOAA AVHRR) (Song et al. 2018). This study, based on a thematic classification of satellite data, suggests that (i) global tree canopy cover increased by 2.24 million km² between 1982 and 2016 (corresponding to +7.1%) but with regional differences that contribute a net loss in the tropics and a net gain at higher latitudes, and (ii) the fraction of bare ground decreased by 1.16 million km² (corresponding to {{hyphen}}3.1%), mainly in agricultural regions of Asia (Song et al. 2018), see Figure 4.5. Other tree or land cover datasets show opposite global net trends (Li et al. 2018b), but high agreement in terms of net losses in the tropics and large net gains in the temperate and boreal zones (Li et al. 2018b; Song et al. 2018; Hansen et al. 2013).» {{ harvnb|IPCC|2019a|p = 367}}.}}

}}-->

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{Free-content attribution
|title = Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings
|author = FAO
|publisher = FAO
|page numbers = 
|source = 
|documentURL = http://www.fao.org/3/CA8753EN/CA8753EN.pdf
|license statement URL = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Global_Forest_Resources_Assessment_2020_%E2%80%93_Key_findings.pdf
|license = CC BY-SA 3.0
}}

{{Free-content attribution
|title = The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people – In brief
|author = FAO & UNEP
|publisher = FAO & UNEP
|page numbers =
|source =
|documentURL = https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8985en
|license statement URL = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_State_of_the_World%E2%80%99s_Forests_2020._In_brief.pdf
|license = CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [https://earthenginepartners.appspot.com/science-2013-global-forest Global map of deforestation based on Landsat data]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131225223447/http://www.intactforests.org/world.map.html Old-growth forest zones within the remaining world forests]
* [http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/forests OneWorld Tropical Forests Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722152721/http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/forests|date=22 July 2011}}
* [http://www.effects-of-deforestation.com General info on deforestation effects] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418233540/http://www.effects-of-deforestation.com/|date=18 April 2021}}
* [http://www.rainforestfoundation.org/climate-change/ Deforestation and Climate Change]
* {{cite journal|url=https://ourworldindata.org/drivers-of-deforestation|title=Drivers of Deforestation|journal=[[Our World in Data]]|date=9 February 2021|last1=Ritchie|first1=Hannah|last2=Roser|first2=Max}}

{{Deforestation and desertification|state=expanded}}
{{Deforestation}}
{{Human impact on the environment}}
{{Portal bar|Environment|Ecology|Earth sciences|Biology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Deforestation| ]]
[[Category:World forestry]]
[[Category:Environmental issues with forests]]
[[Category:Forest pathology]]