Deforestation is the conversion of a forested area to land that is not forested. Deforestation can refer to the natural loss of trees, as well as the potential destruction of forests due to the practices of people. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) define deforestation as “the conversion of forest to another land use or the long-term reduction of tree cover in an area”.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), forestry and other land-use activities contributed 13 percent of all human-induced emissions between 2000 and 2010, making it one of the most important sectors for mitigating climate change. In addition, deforestation can lead to soil erosion, decreased water quality, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous peoples.
Most countries have laws that protect some types of forests, but these laws are often poorly enforced or nonexistent. For example, Brazil has created more than 50 national parks and other protected areas since 1960, but they cover less than 5 percent of its total territory. And while Indonesia has more than doubled its primary forest cover since 2001 through reforestation efforts, this still leaves only about half of its original Forest cover remaining.
Widespread deforestation began during industrialization when demand for raw materials such as timber and rubber soared. Since then commercial agriculture has been responsible for much Forest clearing worldwide; an estimated 80 percentof Amazon rainforest destruction since 1970 has been due to cattle ranching. Other major causes include small-scale subsistence farming; large-scale infrastructure projects such as roads, dams, and canals; mining; and extractive industries such as oil palm plantations and logging concessions.
In recent years there has been increasing public pressure on companies to adopt sustainable sourcing practices that avoid contributing to deforestation. Many companies have responded by adopting policies that prohibit them from buying products sourced from deforested areas or using suppliers known to be engaged in illegal deforestation. However, these policies are difficult to implement because it can be hard to trace where products come from along supply chains that span multiple countries