Deforestation

Forests are generally defined by the amount of tree canopy cover; deforestation is removal of tree cover. Deforestation is the practice of removing tree cover and converting covered forested lands to nonforest uses, resulting in the permanent destruction of the forest. Deforestation accounted for an annual loss of 16 million hectares (39 million acres) of forest through the 1990s and dropped to 13 million hectares (32 million acres) annually in the first decade of the 21st century.

The Southern Hemisphere accounts for the majority of forest loss, with South America (4 million hectares [8.9 million acres]) and Africa (3.4 million hectares [8.4 million acres]) accounting for a little over half of global forest canopy loss. Forest utilization in the less-developed countries is a result of rapid urbanization, population growth, and economic demands for forest products. European forests have continued to expand, while those in North and Central America have remained stable. Australia has been losing forest since 2000 as a result of considerable drought-related issues and forest fires. The [Page 259]tropical areas are being deforested at a faster rate than other areas globally. For example, from 2000 to 2005, deforestation in tropical areas increased by 8.5 percent compared to the 1990s. During the same time, the loss of old-growth forest in Nigeria and Vietnam doubled, and it tripled in Peru. The largest forest in the world is the Amazon rainforest, covering 550 million hectares (1.3 billion acres). Sixty percent of the Amazon rainforest is located in Brazil, and the remaining 40 percent is located in the countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Over the past 40 years, Brazil has deforested 60 million hectares (148 million acres) of the Amazon, primarily for cattle ranching (more than 60 percent) and subsistence farming (30 percent). As a comparison, the United States has deforested 215,228 hectares (531,840 acres). Globally, the reasons for deforestation include agriculture production (i.e., fruit tree [banana], soybean, and palm oil plantations), clear-cutting (e.g., for pulpwood and charcoal), mining (e.g., open pit and large scale), the creation of livestock pastureland, human settlements, and infrastructural projects (dams, road systems). The most common reasons for converting deforestated land globally are subsistence farming (46 percent), commercial agriculture (32 percent), logging (14 percent), and for fuel products (5 percent), according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

A peat forest in Indragiri Hulu, Riau Province, Indonesia, is deforested to make way for an oil palm plantation, a highly lucrative venture and one in which Indonesia is now the leading supplier. According to the WorldWatch Institute, deforestation of peat bogs and native tropical forests to plant oil palm plantations creates numerous crises, such as species endangerment, the uprooting of local communities, and the release of methane gases that contribute to global warming.