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Many [quantify] people value the complexity of the natural world and express concern at the loss of natural habitats and of animal or plant species worldwide. [53] Probably the most profound impact that habitat destruction has on people is the loss of many valuable ecosystem services.
Some claim that rainforests are being destroyed at an ever-quickening pace. [48] The London-based Rainforest Foundation notes that "the UN figure is based on a definition of forest as being an area with as little as 10% actual tree cover, which would therefore include areas that are actually savanna-like ecosystems and badly damaged forests". [49]
Deforestation, particularly in large swaths of the Amazon, where nearly 20% of the rainforest has been clear cut, has climactic effects and effects on water sources as well as on the soil. [32] [33] Moreover, the type of land usage after deforestation also produces varied results.
Swathes of the Amazon and Indonesian rainforest are regularly up in flames — often started deliberately by those clearing land or burning felled trees — that can sometimes spread uncontrollably.
The period since 1950 has brought "the most rapid transformation of the human relationship with the natural world in the history of humankind". [107] Through 2018, humans have reduced forest area by ~30% and grasslands/shrubs by ~68%, to make way for livestock grazing and crops for humans. [108]
Forest fragmentation is a form of habitat fragmentation where forests are reduced (either naturally or man-made) to relatively small, isolated patches of forest known as forest fragments or forest remnants. [3] The intervening matrix that separates the remaining woodland patches can be natural open areas, farmland, or developed
Firstly, it aimed to preserve the rainforest in its original state by allowing it to regenerate naturally from the existing seed bank in the soil. Secondly, and of significant importance, this method was selected due to budgetary constraints, as there were insufficient funds available to establish plantations through direct means.
Habitat fragmentation can be caused by roads. When humans start to cut down the trees for logging, secondary roads are created that will go unused after its primary use. Once abandoned, the plants of the rainforest will find it difficult to grow back in that area. [37] Forest fragmentation also opens the path for illegal hunting.