PATTERNS OF TROPICAL DEFORESTATION

Abstract

In the recent past, there have been worldwide efforts to conserve tropical forests and forest resources for the future of mankind. Unfortunately, deforestation is taking place at an alarmingly faster rate all over the world than ever before. It is estimated that nearly 1.8 per cent of the forests are being degraded every year. The major threat to deforestation is considered to be the growing human population. An attempt is made here to provide a comprehensive analysis to show the relative contribution of several demographic and economic factors contributing to deforestation such as evaluating the role of population density, population growth rate, extent of forest area, total land area and foreign exchange earned through export of forest products in deforestation. Data on total geographical area, forest area, population density, export of forest products and population growth rate of 141 countries over different continents were obtained from the year book published by World Resources Institute and were analysed to understand the relation among these parameters on deforestation. Our analyses reveal that the deforestation was highest in South American countries followed by Asia. Surprisingly, although Europe had high population density, the deforestation rates were very low. This pattern is argued as the consequence of import of many forest goods from tropical countries rather than using their own resources or that they may be lacking in those resources. Further, our analyses reveal that the commonly held notion that population pressure causes greater levels of deforestation may not be true globally. Countries in Africa and Asia are showing density linked deforestation levels unlike South America and North and Central American continents. Interestingly, in Africa, small countries (having less total area and forest area) are having higher deforestation rates than larger countries. Owing to the poverty of developing countries and increasing ing resource intensive needs (largely due to shift in culture) of the developed countries, there was a shift in market to natural resources. Changing such attitudes and culture may play a more vital role in determining the deforestation levels rather than assuming population pressures as the major force behind the deforestation.