Deforestation is the destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses. The Earth loses 18.7 million acres of forests per year, which is equal to 27 football fields every minute, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Common methods of deforestation are clear cutting and burning of trees. These methods leave the land completely barren. Clear cutting is when large swaths of land are cut down all at once. This sudden change causes severe damage to the ecosystem.
Cause of deforestation
- A major contributor to deforestation is the practice of slash-and-burn technique of farming. Farmers clear forest by cutting down trees, burn them and then grow crops in the soils fertilized by the ashes. Typically, the land produces for only a few years. The farmers abandon the area and move on to a new patch of land and begin the process again.
- Grazing of livestock, mining and drilling are the other major causes.
- Trees are also cut to be used as fuel.
- Forests are also cleared for housing and urbanisation; for industries, dams and other infrastructural projects.
- Wood is used in the making of paper, furniture and the construction of buildings. Some of the loggers act illegally. They also build roads to access more and more remote forests, and this leads to further deforestation.
- Not all deforestation is intentional. Some are caused by a combination of human and natural factors such as wildfires, which may prevent the growth of young trees.
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