Tropical deforestation is now being lead by a global food hunt. A study outlined in environmental research web.org by Nature Geoscience concludes that deforestation is not slowing down but speeding up. There is growing pressure to feed burgeoning populations who have moved to the cities."The main drivers of tropical deforestation have shifted from small-scale landholders to domestic and international markets that are distant from the forests," said lead author Ruth DeFries, a professor at the Earth Institute's Center for Environmental Research and Conservation. "One line of thinking was that concentrating people in cities would leave a lot more room for nature. But those people in cities and the rest of the world need to be fed. That creates a demand for industrial-scale clearing."
DeFries and her colleagues analyzed remote-sensing images of forest cover across 41 nations in Latin America, Africa and Asia from 2000–2005, and combined these with population and economic trends. They showed that the highest forest losses were correlated with two factors: urban growth within countries; and, mainly in Asia, growth of agricultural exports to other countries.
Studies suggest that 2/3 of people will live in cities by 2050 and a growing affluent population will increase demand for global food sources.
Hot spots of deforestation to make way for palm plantations, soybeans, sugar, and meat production are in Brazil, Indonesia, and Cambodia. Ironically some of these food commodities are turned into bio-fuels.
As well, large swaths of land in Africa and satellite countries around China are being bought and leased for global agriculture.
Who can argue with the premise food for forests?
Photo: Earth's Heart and Lungs Dismembered
