Editing Deforestation (section)

=== 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>