When tropical forests disappear, there is rarely a single cause – a combination of closely related direct and indirect factors bring about deforestation and forest degradation. Complicating the picture further is the fact that the drivers behind forest destruction vary significantly from one continent to the other. While cattle and soy production are responsible for the deforestation of large areas of rainforest in the southern and eastern Amazon, the palm oil industry and logging are key drivers in Indonesia and Malaysia. In the Central Africa region, small scale agriculture has long been an important deforestation factor, while commercial logging is a major driver behind forest degradation.

Year: 2015

From collection: State of the Rainforest

Cartographer: GRID-Arendal