Signal Nearly 90 percent of deforestation followed by farming

Summary

The causes of deforestation differ widely by place, and historically forests were cleared not only for farming but also for timber, settlements and hunting grounds. Satellite data show that close to 90 percent of direct deforestation between 2000 and 2018 was followed by farm expansion, about 52 percent for crops and 38 percent for grazing. Cropland growth is the main driver of forest loss in Africa and Asia, whereas livestock grazing dominates in the Americas and Oceania. The report points out, however, that the reason a forest is first cleared often differs from how the land is used later. In the Amazon especially, clearing frequently starts with illegal logging tied to criminal networks engaged in land grabbing and illegal timber trade. Once the valuable trees are gone the land is sold or turned to cattle ranching, so the report describes grazing as the last step in a destructive sequence rather than its root cause.