Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests to make land available for other uses like agriculture, industry, and urban development. An estimated 18 million acres of forest, about the size of Panama, are lost each year. About half of the world's original tropical forests have been cleared, and forests currently cover around 30% of the world's land. The main causes of deforestation are agricultural expansion for food and fuel, logging for wood products, urbanization from population growth, and mining. Deforestation occurs globally but threatens tropical rainforests in particular.

1. DEFORESTATION

3. DEFORESTATION defined
Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in
order to make the land available for other uses.
In simple terms it means the felling and clearing of forest
cover or tree plantations in order to accommodate
agricultural, industrial and urban uses.

4. STATISTICS
An estimated 18 million
acres of forest
(roughly the size of Panama)
are lost each year.
Source: United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

5. Global map showing biodiversity hotspots and where
forest has been cleared
About half of the world's tropical forests have been cleared (FAO)

6. Forests currently cover about 30 percent of the world’s land mass
(National Geographic)

7. Deforestation occurs
• around the world, though tropical rainforests are particularly targeted.
• Countries with significant deforestation include Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, the
Democratic Republic of Congo and other parts of Africa, and parts of Eastern
Europe.

8. CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
1. AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES:
 Due to overgrowing demand for food products, huge
amount of trees are fell down to grow crops e.g. large scale
cash crops such as soy and palm oil and for cattle grazing.
 Agriculture alone accounts for over 70% of all deforestation
across tropical and sub-tropical countries, all in response to
unprecedented demands from a growing population on
forestlands for food, fuel, and fiber.

9. Logging: wood based industries like paper, match-sticks,
furniture etc. also need a substantial amount of wood supply as
a result countless trees are cut each year.
 Wood is used as fuel e.g. firewood and charcoal and trees
are chopped for supplies.
 Some of these industries thrive on illegal wood cutting and
felling of trees, they build roads to access more remote
forests—which leads to further deforestation.

10. Urbanization:
Overpopulation directly affects forest
covers. With the expansion of cities, more land
is needed to establish housing and settlements
as well as roads used for transportation.

11. Desertification of land: occurs due to land abuse e.g.
forest fires making it unfit for growth of trees.
 Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking
tree cover they quickly dry out. Without trees to fill these roles,
many forest lands can quickly become barren deserts.
 Many industries in
petrochemicals release
their waste into rivers which
results in soil erosion and
make it unfit to grow plants
and trees.

12. • Mining: Oil and coal mining require a considerable
amount of forest land. Apart from roads and
highways built to make way for trucks and other
equipment, the waste that comes out from mining
pollutes the environment and affects the nearby
species.
Mercury has destroyed 32,000 hectares of land in Peru

13. Fires:
 Hundreds of trees are lost each year due to forest
fires in various portions of the world. This happens
due to extreme warm summers and milder winters.
 Fires, whether caused by man or nature results in
huge loss of forest cover.

14. REFERENCES:
• http://www.livescience.com/27692-
deforestation.html
• http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/enviro
nment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/
• http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-
solutions-of-deforestation.php
• http://www.newsustainabilityinc.com/tag/united-nations-
council-on-sustainable-development/