The world’s forests store enormous amounts of carbon, regulate rainfall, create freshwater and nutrient cycles, and are home to an incredible diversity of wildlife. Deforestation threatens these functions and causes habitat loss, which has ripple effects on all ecosystems. It disrupts the flow of life and exposes animals to new threats — they may be killed or injured by hunters, become roadkill, or lose access to their natural food sources. Deforestation also decreases biodiversity and causes soil erosion, water and air pollution, and climate change.
Across the globe, large-scale industrial agriculture is the main cause of deforestation. Farmers clear swaths of land to raise cattle for meat consumption and soy crops to produce animal feed and biofuels. These operations disproportionately affect rainforests, especially in tropical regions.
As they clear forest, industrial companies also release tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. This is because trees sequester carbon during photosynthesis, but when they are cleared this carbon is released into the atmosphere. In addition, clearing forest also changes evapotranspiration patterns and weather extremes, contributing to global warming. These impacts are exacerbated by the fact that deforestation interrupts wildlife migration routes and increases their vulnerability to predators. The good news is that we can help reduce deforestation by consuming less meat, shopping at sustainable companies, going paperless and recycling, and supporting organisations working to protect natural forests. But it’s not enough — governments must protect natural forests, set strict policies on industrial deforestation and put in place penalties for companies that do not follow them.