Tropical Deforestation:
A Serious and
Daunting
Problem
Tropical forests occupy 10.4
percent of the world’s land.
Not all tropical forests are wet.
The tropical rainforests
comprise a little less than onehalf the world’s tropical forests
and cover an area roughly the
size of the contiguous United
States.
Some forests within the
tropical regions receive
relatively little rainfall and are
classified as dry tropical
forests.
More than one-half of the world’s
intact tropical forests are found in
just three countries:
•  Brazil
•  Indonesia
•  Democratic Republic of the
Congo (formerly Zaire)
Deforestation is a complete
change in land use from forest
to agriculture - including shifting
cultivation and pasture - or
urban use.
It does not include forest that
has been logged and left to
regrow, even if it was clearcut.
Worldwide Changes in Total Forest
Area – Gains and Losses, 1990-2000
(Millions of hectares per year)
Domain
Natural
Forest – Net
Chg
Forest
Plantations
– Net Chg
Total Forest
– Net Chg
Tropical
-14.2
+1.9
-12.3
Temperate
& Boreal
+1.7
+1.7
+3.4
Global
-12.5
+3.6
-8.9
Source: FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2005.
Worldwide Changes in Total Forest
Area – Gains and Losses, 2000-2005
(Millions of hectares per year)
Domain
Global
1990-2000
Global
2000-2005
Natural
Forest – Net
Chg
Forest
Plantations
– Net Chg
Total Forest
– Net Chg
-12.5
+3.6
-8.9
-13.0
+5.7
-7.3
Source: FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2005.
The rate of tropical
deforestation appears to have
declined slightly since the
decade of the 1980s, and
when plantations are taken
into account the loss of tree
cover is even less.
Many governments consider their
forest land “under-developed” and
will grant title to forest land to those
who will “improve it,” by clearing it
for pasture or plantation agriculture,
for example.
However, traditional land uses,
such as shifting cultivation and
collecting non-timber forest
products, do not usually qualify as
improvement, and local residents
can face eviction from lands long
used sustainably.
The inequitable distribution of
agricultural land is one of the
primary forces pushing landless
migrants into the forest - where
their slash and burn clearing for
subsistence agriculture is now a
leading cause of deforestation
worldwide.
In non-Amazonian Brazil, 81% of
the land is controlled by just 4.5%
of the landowners, whose holdings
are often vast and underused.
Deforestation of tropical
rainforests is the result of several
forces - all intricately interwoven.
Deforestation of tropical
rainforests is the result of several
forces - all intricately interwoven.
There is no “quick fix” for the
problem of tropical deforestation.
The number one underlying
cause of tropical deforestation is
population growth.
Causes of Tropical Deforestation:
•  Explosive population growth
(The population of the Brazilian
Amazon increased 3.14x between 1980
and 1991)
(The population of the world doubled
between 1960 and the present)
Causes of Tropical Deforestation:
•  Explosive population growth
•  Unemployment
Causes of Tropical Deforestation:
•  Explosive population growth
•  Unemployment
•  Poverty
•  Shifting and permanent agriculture
Causes of Tropical Deforestation:
•  Explosive population growth
•  Unemployment
•  Poverty
•  Shifting and permanent agriculture
“The choice is not between logging and
protected areas in Brazil. The choice is
between logging and soybeans.”
Friends of the Earth, Brazil
Conversion of land from forest to agriculture is by
far the leading cause of tropical deforestation. This
area in northern Malaysia is being used to grow tea.
Vast areas are cleared for
production of other agricultural
crops including bananas, coffee,
cocoa, and palm oil.
Causes of Tropical Deforestation:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
Explosive population growth
Unemployment
Poverty
Shifting and permanent agriculture
Cattle ranching
Needs for fuel wood
Needs for timber
Main Causes of Tropical Forest
Degradation
Cattle Ranching 8.3%
Infrastructure 1.0%
Fuelwood 7.9%
Permanent
Agriculture 16.8%
Forestry 5.6%
Subsistence
Farming
60.4%
Source: Murra, 1983; FAO, 1987
Agents of Tropical Forest
Destruction
Development/Infrastructure 5%
Fuelwood
20%
Settlement/Permanent
Agriculture 15%
Slash and Burn
Agriculture
45%
Industrial
Logging 15%
Source: U.S. Forest Service, 1992
Shifting and permanent
agriculture, including cattle
ranching, account for 60-85% of
tropical deforestation
worldwide.
Simply designating tropical
forests as parks or preserves,
without addressing underlying
causes of deforestation, is
unlikely to be effective in
halting forest destruction.
“Solutions need to involve the
very people who destroy the
forest. They need to be given
alternatives, they need to be
part of the process of
developing alternatives . . .”
Dr. Dietmar Rose