Why are rainforests being destroyed?

Deforestation for palm oil in Sumatra

Every year an area of rainforest the size of New Jersey is cut down and destroyed. The plants and animals that used to live in these forests either die or must find a new forest to call their home. Why are rainforests being destroyed?

Humans are the main cause of rainforest destruction. We are cutting down rainforests for many reasons, including:

  • wood for both timber and making fires;
  • agriculture for both small and large farms;
  • land for poor farmers who don’t have anywhere else to live;
  • grazing land for cattle;
  • pulp for making paper;
  • road construction; and
  • extraction of minerals and energy.
Bar chart showing the countries with the highest area of primary forest loss between 2002 and 2019 according to Hansen / WRI 2020.
Bar chart showing the regions with the highest area of primary forest loss between 2002 and 2019 according to Hansen / WRI 2020.

Rainforests are also threatened by climate change, which is contributing to droughts in parts of the Amazon and Southeast Asia. Drought causes die-offs of trees and dries out leaf litter, increasing the risk of forest fires, which are often set by land developers, ranchers, plantation owners, speculators, and loggers.

In 2005, 2010, and 2015 the Amazon experienced the worst droughts ever recorded. Rivers dried up, isolating communities, and millions of acres burned. The smoke caused widespread health problems, interfered with transportation, and blocked the formation of rain clouds, while the burning contributed huge amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, worsening the effects of climate change.

Meanwhile, Indonesia has experienced several severe droughts in recent decades. The worst occurred in 1982-1983, 1997-1998, and 2015 when millions of acres of forest burned.

Logging and timber harvesting in the rainforest

One of the leading causes of rainforest destruction is logging. Many types of wood used for furniture, flooring, and construction are harvested from tropical forests in Africa, Asia, and South America. By buying certain wood products, people in places like the United States and Europe are directly contributing to the destruction of rainforests.

While logging can be carried out in a manner that reduces damage to the environment, most logging in the rainforest is very destructive. Large trees are cut down and dragged through the forest, while access roads open up remote forest areas to agriculture by poor farmers. In Africa logging workers often rely on “bushmeat” for protein. They hunt wildlife like gorillas, deer, and chimpanzees for food.

Research has found that the number of species found in logged rainforest is much lower than the number found in untouched or “primary” rainforest. Many rainforest animals cannot survive in the changed environment.

Local people often rely on harvesting wood from rainforests for firewood and building materials. In the past such practices were not particularly damaging to the ecosystem because there were relatively few people. Today, however, in areas with large human populations the sheer number of people collecting wood from a rainforest can be extremely damaging. In the 1990s, for example, the forests around the refugee camps in Central Africa (Rwanda and Congo) were virtually stripped of all trees in some areas.

Agriculture in the rainforest

Every year thousands of miles of rainforest are destroyed for agricultural use. The two groups chiefly responsible for converting rainforest into farmland are poor farmers and corporations.

Poor farmers in many parts of the world rely on clearing rainforest to feed their families. Without access to better agricultural lands, these people use slash-and-burn to clear patches of forest for short-term use. Typically, they farm the cleared land for a couple of years before the soil is exhausted of nutrients, and they must move on to clear a new patch of forest.

Agricultural companies are clearing more rainforest than ever before, especially in the Amazon where large tracts of rainforest are being converted into cattle pasture and soybean farms. South America has an area of farmland that exceeds that of the American Midwest — much of this farmland has come at the expense of the Amazon rainforest.

In Asia, especially Malaysia and Indonesia, large areas of rainforest are being cleared for oil palm plantations to produce palm oil, which is used widely in processed food, cosmetics, and soap. Today palm oil is found in some 50 percent of packaged snack foods, a proportion that is growing because palm oil is the cheapest type of vegetable oil. Unfortunately, the forests that are being destroyed for palm oil production are home to many endangered species, including orangutans, pygmy elephants, Sumatran tigers, and Sumatran rhinos.

Why are biofuels bad for rainforests? | Why is palm oil bad for rainforests? | Why is soy bad for the Amazon rainforest

Why are biofuels bad for rainforests?

Recently there has been a lot of interest in using plants as fuels to replace fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel that contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, warming the planet.

These plant-based fuels, called biofuels, are typically produced from agricultural crops. The are two main types of biofuels: ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol is typically made from corn and sugar cane, while biodiesel is made from the fruit of palm trees (more about palm oil), soybeans (more about soy), and canola (also called rapeseed).

While biofuels produced from agricultural crops can generate less pollution and greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fossil fuels, in practice, scientists are finding that some are causing environmental problems. Biofuels may also be hurting the poor. The reason is largely economic.

Now that traditional food crops are being used for the production of energy, there is increased demand for such crops, translating to higher prices. While higher prices may be good for some farmers who receive more money for the crops they grow, consumers have to pay more for food. In poor countries, where people have very little money, it means that many go hungry. In 2007 and 2008 several countries saw protests and riots by people who could not afford to pay higher prices for food.

Higher prices for crops is also causing other problems. To take advantage of higher prices, farmers all over the world are converting land for crop production. With most of the land in North America and Europe already used for farming, agriculture is expanding in tropical places, especially in Brazil and Indonesia, where there are still large areas suitable for new agricultural land. The trouble is that some of this land is currently covered by tropical rainforests. When farmers cut down rainforests for farms and ranches, the dead trees release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (just like when fossil fuels are burned). Further the destruction of rainforests displaces indigenous people and kills wildlife. Therefore biofuels are having a significant impact on the environment.

Some biofuels are less bad than others. When crops are grown on abandoned agriculture lands and in areas that are not covered by natural ecosystems, they can have a low impact on the environment provided that fertilizers and pesticides are not over-used. In the future, new types of biofuels will produce even less greenhouse gas emissions and may actually help the environment. For example, the use of native grasses for biofuel production in the United States could offer higher biofuel yields and generate less pollution than corn-based ethanol. At the same time, these grasses can enhance soil fertility and do not drain the water table.

Why is palm oil bad for rainforests?

Certain types of palm trees produce large red fruit which are rich with oil. After refining, this oil, known as palm oil, can be used to produce all sorts of products, including oils used in foods like chocolates and cookies, cosmetics like makeup, and even biodiesel, a fuel that can be used in cars instead of diesel (gasoline).

Oil palms, as these trees are called, have very high oil yields — some of the highest of any crop used for biofuel (plant-based fuel) production. A single hectare (2.5 acres) can produce up to 7 tons of oil, many times what would be produced from the same area of corn, soy, or canola.

Given its high yield and the many uses for its oil, it may seem that oil palm is a great solution to dwindling supplies of fossil fuels and concerns about global warming (the burning of fossil fuels is a major contributor of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere). However, there are problems is some places where palm oil is being produced, specifically the tropical rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia.

About 88 percent of global palm oil production was in Malaysia and Indonesia in 2007. Although much of this production took place on land long ago established for agriculture, some of it occurred in areas that were newly cleared specifically for oil palm cultivation.

Why is palm oil bad for orangutans?

The most threatened ecosystems by expansion of oil palm plantations are rainforests and peatlands. Peatlands are swampy areas where the soils are made of peat — decomposed vegetation. Peat acts as a sponge, soaking up water and helping prevent floods. It also stores large amounts of carbon.

When peatlands are drained, the stored carbon reacts with air to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, increasing concentrations of the greenhouse gas. The dry peat then becomes highly flammable, increasing the risk of large-scale fires when plantation developers use fire to clear land and burn agricultural waste.

Greenhouse gas emissions also result when rainforest is cleared for oil palm plantations. Worse, oil palm plantations support very low levels of biodiversity, meaning most of the plants and animals once found in the rainforest must either move or perish. Oil palm plantations are not good for wildlife and endangered species like the orangutan, the Sumatran rhino, the pygmy elephant of Borneo, and the Sumatran tiger are all threatened by development for oil palm.

What can I do?

The first thing you can do is be aware of palm oil and its impact on the environment. Look at the labels of household products and packaged foods to see if they contain palm oil (however palm oil is often not labeled as an ingredient). You may soon see that palm oil is all around us.

Palm oil isn’t going to go away, but consumer pressure on the industry will help force the industry to reduce its impact on the environment. Already some industry leaders are working to develop “sustainable palm oil” that meets certain criteria to ensure that its production did not result in deforestation or hurt wildlife. Consumers can now choose products made from more environmentally-friendly palm oil, which is certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil or RSPO. These products should be supported to encourage the entire industry to shift towards “greener” palm oil.

Remember it is important to note that not all palm oil is bad for rainforests, so be sure to check whether palm oil in the products you buy is RSPO-certified or not.

Why is soy bad for the Amazon rainforest?

Soy production in Brazil is contributing to deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, both directly through forest clearing for new soy farms (usually giant in size) and by displacing small farmers who then move into forest areas for subsistence agriculture. Further pressure comes from the development of infrastructure (like roads and ports) to support soy expansion. This infrastructure attracts other developers (like loggers, ranchers, and colonists who have been displaced from elsewhere) who cut down the forest.

Why is soy expanding in the Amazon?

Soybean cultivation is expanding in the Amazon due to economics, including high prices for grains. These high prices are driven by increasing demand for meat in countries with a large and fast-growing middle class (especially India, Brazil, and China) and U.S. government subsidies for corn-based ethanol production. Such subsidies (essentially payments to farmers for growing certain crops) mean that American farmers are planting corn instead of soy. Less soy production in the United States, means that more production is needed in places like Brazil, which has large tracts of lands suitable for agriculture.

Since 1990 the area of land planted with soybeans in Amazonian states has expanded at the rate of 14.1 percent per year and now covers more than eight million hectares.

Cattle in the rainforest

Clearing for cattle pasture is the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon, especially in Brazil, which is the world’s largest cattle produer. Besides raising cattle for food, many landowners use cattle to expand their land holdings. By simply placing cattle on an area of forest land, landowners can gain ownership rights to that land.

Most of the beef produced by Brazil is consumed by Brazilians, but cattle products like leather is primarily exported to overseas markets.

The impact of cattle production is even greater than the rainforest cleared directly to establish pasture. Much of soy and other crops grown in deforested areas is used to feed livestock. That makes cattle production the single largest driver of tropical deforestation in the world.

Road construction in the rainforest

Road and highway construction in the rainforest opens up large areas to deforestation. In Brazil, the Trans-Amazonian highway resulted in the destruction of huge areas of forest by colonists, loggers, and land speculators. In Africa, logging roads give access to poachers who hunt endangered wildlife as “bushmeat” or meat sold to city dwellers. Some of the poached wildlife—especially rhinos, pangolin, and tigers—goes to Asia where it is used for traditional Chinese medicine.

Roads can also cause habitat fragmentation by breaking up tracts of forest into smaller areas. Habitat fragmentation can lead to forest die-off by altering forest conditions like humidity levels, wind, temperature, and exposure to invasive species and fire.

It is therefore important that when new roads are built in rainforest areas, they are carefully planned to minimize the environmental impacts. One way to reduce deforestation from road construction is to create protected areas on either side of the road.

Pulp and paper production from the rainforest

The production of pulp for the paper industry has been one of the biggest causes of deforestation in parts of Indonesia over the past 20 years. Vast areas of rainforest in Sumatra have been logged and converted into fast-growing plantations consisting of only a single species. These plantations are used to produce fiber for wood-pulp and paper, which is turned into cardboard packaging, fast-food wrappers, printer paper, and junk mail. Just think about how much paper we use on a daily basis: paper, in one form or another, comes with almost every product we buy. In some cases that paper is produced directly through the destruction of rainforests.

Consequently, pulp and paper production is now one of the biggest threats to the critically endangered Sumatran tiger in Indonesia.

Online shopping has not diminished demand for paper products given how much cardboard is now being used in shipping.

Extraction of minerals and energy from the rainforest

Gold, copper, diamonds, and other precious metals and gemstones are important resources that are found in rainforests around the world. Extracting these natural resources is frequently a destructive activity that damages the rainforest ecosystem and causes problems for people living nearby and downstream from mining operations, especially from toxic runoff into river systems. There have been cases of mining companies–sometimes working with local police or authorities–forcibly displacing forest people from their lands in order to exploit mineral riches. Examples are gold mining in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon, rare earth mining in the Congo, and gold and copper mining in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Some of the world’s most promising oil and gas deposits lie deep in tropical rainforests. Oil and gas development often takes a heavy toll on the environment and local people, especially in rainforest areas where it can cause displacement of local people, air and water pollution, deforestation, and construction of roads that open previously inaccessible areas to deforestation. Interest in energy extraction in recent years has spurred exploration of rainforests for oil and gas. The western Amazon–including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil–has seen a lot of exploration activity. More than 70 percent of the Peruvian Amazon–including indigenous territories and conservation areas–is now under concession for oil and gas.

Dams are also a big threat to rainforests, particularly in the Amazon, the Mekong (Laos and Burma or Myanmar), and Malaysia. Dams disrupt river systems, flood rainforest, displace forest people, and support activities that cause more deforestation. In Sarawak, which is part of Malaysian Borneo, more than a dozen dams are being planned. These will force thousands of forest-dependent people to move and will inundate important rainforest areas. The power generated by the dams will be used for large-scale mining activities, causing further destruction. Similarly, in Brazil, Belo Monte dam disrupted the Xingu river, a tributary of the Amazon, flooding more than 100,000 acres of rainforest and displacing more than 15,000 people. Electricity from the project is powering mining and industrial agriculture that has increased rainforest destruction. Indigenous people, scientists, and environmentalists strongly opposed the project.

The role of poverty in deforestation

Poverty plays a major role in deforestation. Many of the world’s rainforests are found in the poorest areas on the planet. The people who live in and around rainforests rely on these ecosystems for their survival. They collect fruit and wood, hunt wildlife to put meat on the table, and are paid by companies that extract resources from forest lands.

Most rural poor never have the options that people in Western countries take for granted. These people almost never have a choice to go to college or become a doctor, factory worker, or secretary. They must live off the land that surrounds them and make use of whatever resources they can find. Their poverty costs the entire world through the loss of tropical rainforests and wildlife. Without providing for these people, rainforests cannot be saved.

However, people in the wealthier world, such as the U.S. and Europe, also play a large role in the destruction of rainforests, even if the forests are very far away.

Population and consumption

The underlying cause of most environmental problems is human population and over-consumption: both the population in the temperate region that relies on resources derived from tropical rainforests, and the expanding population of tropical nations, who exploit the rainforest for survival.

While it may seem hard to believe, people in rich countries like the United States have a disproportionate impact on the environment through our consumption patterns. We use far more resources than poor farmers in tropical countries. For example, the food we buy in grocery stores may be produced through deforestation for soy in the Amazon or palm oil in Indonesia. The materials and energy to build and power our mobile phones and laptops may come from the destruction of rainforests in the Congo and Colombia. The paper we use for printing, packaging, hygiene products and the books we read may be produced from the logging of rainforests in Indonesia. Only by reducing our environmental footprint at home can we ever hope to save rainforests and other wilderness areas.

Overpopulation is a major issue. As more people are added to the planet, there are fewer resources to share. Crowded conditions and scarcity of resources often lead to conflict or other problems like disease outbreaks. Animals lose habitat to cities and expanding farm lands.

Chapter review questions

  • Why are reasons for deforestation?
  • How does climate change affect rainforests?
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  • Who are are the two groups primarily responsible for deforestation for agriculture?
  • Why do poor farmers chop down rainforests?
  • What are examples of crops produced at the expense of rainforests?
  • How does cattle ranching affect rainforests?
  • Where is cattle ranching the biggest cause of deforestation?
  • How do roads affect rainforests?
  • What is habitat fragmentation?
  • How does paper and cardboard production affect rainforests?
  • What is an example or where pulp and paper production has had a major impact on the rainforest?
  • How does mining affect the rainforest?
  • What are some consequences of gold mining in the rainforest?
  • How do dams affect rainforests?
  • How do people in rich countries contribute to deforestation in the tropics?
  • What role does poverty play in deforestation?
  • How does consumption affect deforestation?

Additional resources