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Forest loss by driver and region. The Dominican Center for Agricultural and Forest Development [7] lists the following causes of forest degradation: Excessive extraction of forest products like timber, charcoal or resin. Road building: after it has been built, the road favours soil erosion.
Soil erosion is the main factor for soil degradation and is due to several mechanisms: water erosion, wind erosion, chemical degradation and physical degradation. Erosion can be influenced by human activity. For example, roads which increase impermeable surfaces lead to streaming and ground loss.
Soil erosion may be a slow process that continues relatively unnoticed, or it may occur at an alarming rate causing a serious loss of topsoil. The loss of soil from farmland may be reflected in reduced crop production potential, lower surface water quality and damaged drainage networks. Soil erosion could also cause sinkholes.
Deforestation, [30] with resulting desertification, water resource degradation, and soil loss has affected approximately 94% of Madagascar's previously biologically productive lands. Since the arrival of humans 2000 years ago, Madagascar has lost more than 90% of its original forest. [ 31 ]
The more trees that are removed equals larger effects of climate change which, in turn, results in the loss of more trees. [13] Forests cover 31% of the land area on Earth. Every year, 75,700 square kilometers (18.7 million acres) of the forest is lost. [14] There was a 12% increase in the loss of primary tropical forests from 2019 to 2020. [15]
Africa had the largest annual rate of net forest loss in 2010–2020, at 3.9 million ha, followed by South America, at 2.6 million ha. The rate of net forest loss has increased in Africa in each of the three decades since 1990. It has declined substantially in South America, however, to about half the rate in 2010–2020 compared with 2000–2010.
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defined as any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.
Third, the deforestation of tropical forests is leading to land degradation. When forests are cleared, the soil is often left exposed to erosion. This can lead to land degradation, which can make it difficult to grow crops. The deforestation of tropical forests for fruit production is a serious problem with a number of negative environmental ...