Causes of deforestation and forest degradation

The major problems are deforestation and degradation of the forest ecosystem, including fragmentation and biodiversity loss. These are caused by conversion of forest land to other uses and non-sustainable use of forests. Forest fires, always a natural force in forest ecosystems, have also become a major problem (see box).

Change in forested land 1990-2000 by sub-region: Latin America and the Caribbean
	total land area (million ha)	total forest 1990 (million ha)	total forest 2000 (million ha)	% of land forested in 2000	change 1990-2000 (million ha)	% change per year
Caribbean	22.9	5.6	5.7	25.0	0.1	0.3
Meso-America	241.9	82.7	73.0	30.2	-9.7	-1.2
South America	1 752.9	922.7	885.6	50.5	-37.1	-0.4
Latin America and the Caribbean	2 017.8	1 011.0	964.4	47.8	-46.7	-0.5
Source: compiled from FAO 2001a Note: numbers may not add due to rounding

The expansion of the agricultural frontier has been one of the main causes of deforestation (FAO 2001a). Commercial farmers have cleared large areas for soybean exports in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, for coffee in Brazil, and for bananas in Central America, Colombia, Ecuador and the Caribbean (Contreras- Hermosilla 2000). Small-scale farmers also cause deforestation by employing slash-and-burn practices to extend their agricultural lands into forests.

Land tenure regulations are part of the problem. In Amazonia and Central America, local communities own significant proportions of forests while in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay virtually all forests are privately owned. Elsewhere, the state is a major forest owner. When legal property rights over land are not clear, people tend to clear and build on areas to establish a claim to them. Forest cover may also be removed to keep areas accessible when forest communities fear that forests may be declared protected areas, limiting community rights to use the forest. This happened in Costa Rica when the government intended to expand its protected area system (Contreras-Hermosilla, 2000).

Deforestation has worsened in some countries because of policies designed to increase economic growth. Subsidies are a contributing factor. For example, subsidies directed towards improving the productivity of existing agricultural lands should ease the pressure for more land and therefore reduce the pressure for clearing more forests. However, agricultural incentives can result in higher land ownership and more mechanized, capital-intensive methods of production which displace farm workers. Unemployed workers have migrated into forests in the Amazon, in the Cerrados of Brazil, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and parts of Paraguay, causing further forest clearance (Contreras-Hermosilla 2000). Livestock expansion and mechanized agriculture account for more loss of forest cover than wood production, which is concentrated in relatively few countries.

Timber exploitation may also cause deforestation by opening up previously forested areas to small-scale farming. In addition, selective logging can eliminate certain tree species, changing forest composition. The construction of roads also contributes to loss of forest cover - 400-2000 ha of forest may be removed for each kilometre of new road built through it. In the Brazilian state of Pará, deforestation due to road construction increased from 0.6 per cent to 17.3 per cent of the state's area during 1972-1985 (Contreras- Hermosilla 2000). In Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, mining corporations and individual miners clear large areas of forests (MineWatch 1997, Miranda and others 1998). Additionally, biological phenomena such as the proliferation of pests are a cause of irreversible damage to some forests (Monge-Nájera 1997).