Types of Deforestation: Forms, Causes & Consequences

There are various types and causes of deforestation. Deforestation is the permanent removal or thinning of forests by humans.¹ It is responsible for 10 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions.² Not only does it release large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2), it also destroys complex ecosystems.³ Modern rates of deforestation compare to one football pitch of trees being cleared every second.⁴

Trees once covered 48 per cent of our planet.⁵ Now, just 20 per cent of the Earth’s original forests remain pristine and undisturbed.⁶ The rate of deforestation has increased markedly since the mid-20th Century. In the past 70 years, more than half of all rainforests have been removed.⁷ If this unsustainable practise continues, we will cause irrevocable damage to our planet.⁸

How many types of deforestation are there?

There are various types of deforestation. However, clear-cutting and slash-and burn are the two types of deforestation that are most prevalent. Due to the resources at hand or the cause of deforestation, one of these two methods is usually employed.

Clear-cutting deforestation

Clear-cutting is the clearing of all trees from a site so that a new, even-age stand of timber can be planted instead. The practice is subject to much criticism. Opponents cite soil and water degradation, ugly denuding of landscapes and other damages. Nevertheless, it is favoured for being the most financially efficient way of harvesting trees.⁹

Slash-and-burn deforestation

Slash-and-burn is another form of deforestation. Some Indigenous Peoples in the tropics employ this method.¹⁰ An area of forest is cleared by cutting down trees and burning the wood.¹¹ Crops are then planted in the space that is created, and the land is farmed for a few years.¹² After a while, the land becomes unproductive, the area is abandoned, and a new patch of forest is cut down.¹³ It is a type of shifting agriculture, named after its itinerant nature.¹⁴ 

What types of industry are fuelled by deforestation?

Agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation.¹⁵ It is responsible for at least 80 per cent of deforestation in the tropics.¹⁶ A mere four commodities are behind the vast majority of tropical deforestation: beef, soy, palm oil and wood products.¹⁷

Making space for cattle ranching and growing soy requires the removal of trees in the Amazon rainforest.¹⁸ Rainforests in Southeast Asia are razed and replaced by palm oil plantations.¹⁹ West African nations have stripped away their forests to supply the global chocolate business.²⁰ More than 80 per cent of the Ivory Coast’s forests have been lost in pursuit of profits from cocoa beans.²¹ On a far smaller scale, subsistence farmers also clear forests to plant crops for their families.²² 

Forestry practices account for a significant proportion of the rest of the world’s deforestation. Logging operations fulfil the world’s demand for wood and paper products, by felling countless trees each year.²³ To access remote trees, loggers construct roads deep into forests, often building them illegally.²⁴ This leads to further harm, as 95 per cent of all deforestation occurs within five kilometres of a road or navigable river.²⁵ 

Mining, drilling and – to a lesser extent – expanding urbanisation also contribute to deforestation.²⁶ In general, the opportunity to turn a profit is the motivation for practically all deforestation today. Only the presence of strict regulations, fully enforced by the law, will prevent humanity from destroying our remaining forests.

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