The Causes of Deforestation

By: Nate Gould

What is deforestation?

• Deforestation is the process of clearing forests by….– Cutting down trees– Burning

Methods

• http://www.rappflow.org/maps/4_forests-and-streams.html

Digital Maps

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gisuser/39318847/

Economics• 120 households in Amerindian economies.• Factors were recorded such as

– Length of residence– Household wealth– Morbidity

Looking for a relationship between an areas wealth and rate of deforestation.

http://www.centrelink.org/curandero3.jpg http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~counter/Photos/AmerIndian%20village%20in%20Surin.jpg

Economics Cont…• Keeping an eye on our natural resources• Used 1990 census and digital maps to

determine cultivable land.• Tested:

– Soil quality– Precipitation– Infastructure– How much money are we losing by removing

these natural resources? http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/03/27/hartford.census/census.papers.jpg

Carbon

• Seems to be a correlation between deforestation and lower amounts of carbon.

• Carbon balance was watched over a two year period.

• Found the balance of carbon between the atmosphere and the biosphere.

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/03/11/us.cameroon/cameroon.yaounde.jpghttp://archive.greenpeace.org/forests/africa/images/rainForest_cameroon.jpg

Results• Found three main reasons for

deforestation.

Agriculture Wood use Roads

http://www.cia.org.uk/newsite/images/food_farming5.jpg http://www.gatodegrandesbotas.com/photoblog/images/wood_texture.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/veter/1922420753/

Agriculture

• Population Food

As our population increases, we need more land to grow crops and food to feed the people.

http://www.grazulis.com/northwest/images/forest.jpg•http://www.green.net.au/quoll/forests/after.jpg http://www.miamidade.gov/filmiami/gallery/farms_ranches/agriculture/Agriculture6952FE.jpg

Wood UseWood is used for

-fuel

-exporting

Trees are being cut down before they have time to grow back.

http://www.swpindustries.com/img/fireWoodBrochure.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bernbrad/360434518/

Roads• Roads are being built closer to forests.

• Need more land for people to live

• Need more roads to transport the products growing in the forests.

Even in Michiganhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/erichz/339166910/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/linenfabric/374921866/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loupiote/97129054/

How quick is deforestation happening?

                                                                    Source: UNEP, 2007. Rapid Response Assessment: The Last Stand of the Orangutan

Deforestation Trends in Borneo

Discussion

• We need more food (Agriculture)

• We need more fuel and firewood (Wood)• We need more roads and areas to live (Roads)

http://www.healthyweightkids.org/_borders/Food_pyramid_2.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve-brandon/251851277/

http://kevino.net/images/kevino.net/fullsize/l-3houses.jpg

What do we do?• If we want to save the forests, we have to find alternate

methods for– Food– Fuel – Roads and housing

Build up

Alternate fuel sources

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hudsonfamily/1281082191/http://www.flickr.com/photos/iirraa/129603827/

Works Cited• Allen, Julia C. Barnes, Douglas F. (1985). The Causes of Deforestation in

Developing Countries. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 75, 163-184.

• Barbier, Edward. B. (2003). The Political Ecology of Southeast Asian Forests. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters, 3, 215-234.

• Bondeau, Alberte. Cramer, Wolfgang. Lucht, Wolfgang. Schaphoff, Sibyll. Sitch, Stephen. Smith, Benjamin. (2004). Tropical Forests and the Global Carbon Cycle: Impacts of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Climate Change and Rate of Deforestation. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences. The Royal Society, 359, 331-343.

• Deininger, Klause. Minten, Bart. (2002). Determinants of Deforestation and the Economics of Protection: An Application to Mexico. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 84, 943-960.

• Geist, Helmut J. Lambin, Eric F. (2002). Proximate Causes and Underlying Driving Forces of Tropical Deforestation. BioScience, 52, 143-150.

• Godoy, Ricardo. Wilkie, David. (2002). The Effects of Markets on Neotropical Deforestation: A Comparative Study of Four Amerindian Societies. Current Anthropology, 38, 875-878

http://www.actnow.com.au/files/123/deforestation.jpg