Causes of Deforestation

What are the Human Activities that Cause Deforestation?

  • Agriculture – small-scale and large-scale farming
  • Logging – cutting of trees for use as raw material
  • Mining and urban expansion – clearing of forest area for the construction of infrastructure.
  • According to the secretariat of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), agriculture is the root cause of 80% of deforestation. Logging accounts for another 14% and the cutting of trees for use as wood fuel account for 5%. A pie-chart detailing the driving cause of the deforestation of tropical forests between the years 2000 and 2005 is provided below.

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