How agriculture drives deforestation

Deforestation is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use, and agriculture is by far its direct cause. The lessons answer how agriculture drives forest destruction and help readers understand the relationship between farming and the loss of forests. They connect agricultural practices with the wider environmental effects of forest conversion.

2 articles, 1 book · about 1 hr 37 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   deforestation · Wikipedia · 60+ min read

   Beef production is the primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon, with around 80% of all converted land used to rear cattle. 91% of Amazon land deforested since 1970 has been converted to cattle ranching. Slash-and-burn agriculture, a method of deforestation, cuts and burns small plots of forest land, which are then converted into agricultural zones. Farmers exploit nutrients in the ashes of the burned plants. Rural roads promote economic development but also facilitate deforestation: about 90% of the deforestation has occurred within 100 km of roads in most parts of the Amazon.

2. Read
   

   UN report: Five charts showing how global deforestation is declining - Carbon Brief · Carbon Brief · 8 min read

   Agriculture has historically been the leading cause of deforestation around the world, but the report notes that wildfires, climate change-fueled extreme weather, insects and diseases increasingly pose a threat. Since 1990, the area of forest destroyed each year has halved in South America, although it still remains the region with the highest amount of deforestation.

3. Book
   

   The Overstory · Bookshop.org

   The Overstory by Richard Powers follows five characters who form a group that engages in eco-terrorism by burning logging equipment; the novel's wider story follows nine Americans whose experiences with trees bring them together to address forest destruction.

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