Back to Spotlight Tropical Rain Forests Humans already have destroyed half of this forest area, with most damage occurring in the last 200 years. With just 2.5 million square miles (647 million hectares) of tropical rain forest remaining, we continue to lose an estimated 93,000 square miles (150,000 square km) a year. It is not only quantity of life, but diversity as well, that makes rain forests so vital. Some of the strangest and most beautiful plants and animals are found in rain forests, and undoubtedly there are just as many we do not even know about. Rain forests are being eliminated for timber, minerals, agriculture, and human settlement. Other motives, such as the desire to conquer nature or to control unoccupied territory, also are factors in deforestation. Overpopulation and peasant agriculture is often cited as the cause of deforestation. This may be true of some African and Asian countries, but generally countries with the most tropical rain forest are those with the lowest human population densities. It is not population pressure but the inequitable distribution of land ownership that creates the most pressure on tropical forests. In many developing countries the government and a very small percentage of people own the majority of the land. Logging, mining, and other industrial activities are not driven primarily by local population pressures. Industrial development and settlement often go hand in hand because roads give access to cleared land. Most attempts to turn tropical forest into farmland have failed, resulting in damaged soil and disrupted water systems, leaving settlers even more desperate for land. | |
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