Editing Deforestation (section)

==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|pages=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/|url-status=dead}}</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|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/|url-status=dead}}</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|pages=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> 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> 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}}</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|url-status=dead|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|url-status=dead|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|url-status=dead}}</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|url-status=dead|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|url-status=dead|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|url-status=dead|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|url-status=dead}}</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|url-status=dead}}</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|url-status=dead}}</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=3 April 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 ===
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|pages=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|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2388278|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=9780521839761|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|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44480206|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>