ContentsThis fact sheet will help you discover:1. Why are trees chopped down?2. How much of the rainforest is being lost?3. What is replacing the trees?4. Facts on cattle farming5. Facts on soy6. Facts on palm oil7. Facts on biofuels8. Facts on timber9. Other reasons for deforestation10. Why is it important to stop deforestation?

1. Why are trees chopped down?In the past the trees were chopped down toprovide land to grow food crops and grazecattle and other animals for personal or localconsumption, known as subsistence farming.But today the trees and the land areincreasingly used to supply products that arewanted on world markets. Products such as:l soyl palm oill beefl timber l biofuelsl gold, copper and bauxite

Farming, mining and timber companies are ableto provide livelihoods for local and indigenouspeople that help them raise their standards ofliving.

2. How much of the rainforest isbeing lost? In the past 50 years, a third of the world’srainforests have been chopped down andburned.

At the current rate of clearance, tropicalrainforests may be gone by 2050. Tropical deforestation amounts to 13 millionhectares lost every year. It’s the equivalent ofabout 8.5 million football pitches a year, or 23,483 pitches a day.

Maps of deforestation in Borneo from 1950 topresent, and predictions into the future highlightthe speed of forest loss. Vast areas of Borneorainforest have been cleared since the SecondWorld War. Forests are burned, logged andcleared.

3. What is replacing the trees?Cattle farming soy, palm oil, timber, paper andpulp, mining, roads and towns are replacing theareas that used to be covered in trees.

4. Facts on cattle farmingl Cattle farming for the production of beef is

big business.l In Brazil, which is the world’s largest beef

exporter, around 70% of the area deforestedis now cattle pasture.

l Cattle ranching provides an income formillions of people in rainforest nations.

l Brazil’s biggest export market for beef is theEU followed by the Middle East and Russia.

l One third of Brazilian beef exports comesfrom the Amazon region.

l Cattle ranching in Brazil is estimated to haveemitted the equivalent of some 9 to 12 billiontons of CO2 over the last decade. This is ahuge amount, roughly equivalent to twoyears’ worth of greenhouse gas emissionsfrom the United States.

l Growing demand for meat is an importanttrend shaping the state of the world’srainforests.

5. Facts on soyl Soy is also known as soya or soya beans.l It is grown in many countries, including the

United States, but rising demand has led tosoy being grown in tropical rainforest nations,especially in South America.

l The production of soy in the wetterclosed-canopy forest region of the Amazonincreased 15% every year from 1999-2004.

l Special soy varieties that grow well in theAmazonian climate have led to more farmsgrowing soy in rainforest nations.

l As prices for soy rise in Paraguay andBrazil, more trees are cut down for more soy to be grown.

l Soy plantations provide an income forhundreds of people in the rainforest nations.It is used for products including oil,protein-rich food (like tofu), as a livestockfeed and to make biofuels.

l Its use as a feed for chickens and pigs isincreasing now people in developing countrieslike China and India can afford to buy meat.

Fact sheetWhat’s happening to rainforests

LLiisstteenn ttoo tthhee rraaiinnffoorreesstt ssoouunnddss.. .. .. wwaattcchh tthhee vviiddeeooss.. .. .. ssiiggnn uupp ttoo tthhee ccaallll ttoo ssttoopp ddeeffoorreessttaattiioonn .. .. .. cchheecckk oouutt tthhee lleessssoonn,, aasssseemmbbllyy aanndd aaccttiivviittiieess .. .. ..

The extent of deforestationin Borneo. Image courtesyof UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Page 1

www.rainforestSOS.org

l Its use as a biofuel is on the increase. l Soy occupies land that could be used for

grazing forcing cattle ranching to move fromthe edges of the rainforest to deeper into theAmazon.

66.. FFaaccttss oonn ppaallmm ooiilll Palm oil trees are native to West Africa.l Over 80% of the world’s palm oil comes

from Malaysia and Indonesia.l In Indonesia, the area of land occupied by

palm oil trees has doubled over the last 10 years.

l Millions of hectares of rainforest in SoutheastAsia are cleared to plant palm oil, destroyingthe habitat of endangered species such aselephants, tigers and orangutans.

l Many of Borneo’s forests, plants, animals andindigenous people are threatened by palm oilproduction.

l Palm oil is one of the cheaper vegetable orcooking oils on the market.

l Palm oil is often described on food labelssimply as vegetable oil.

l It is found in about 1 in 10 products inUK supermarkets.

l Palm oil is used in food and cosmeticproducts, from chocolate bars to soaps, but is often simply labelled as vegetable oil and

istherefore unidentifiable.

l Its use as a biofuel is on the increase. l Palm oil planting provides an income for

millions of people in the tropics.l Some products are certified rainforest friendly

and a small decision you make like what kindof chocolate you buy can have majorconsequences for rainforests.

7. Facts on biofuelsl Biofuels are fuels used by cars, buses and

lorries that are made from plants and animals.l The two most common biofuels are ethanol,

a petrol alternative made from sugar-basedand starch-based crops (such as corn andsugarcane), and biodiesel, made fromvegetable oils (palm, rapeseed, soy andsunflower oil).

l Biofuels have been promoted as a desirablealternative to fossil fuels becausetheir use could reduce the transport sector’scarbon dioxide emissions. But biofuelproduction involving the felling and burningof rainforests to clear land for crops canactually result in more carbon emissions thanthe use of the biofuels themselves saves.

l Although growing more palm oil and soy canbe clearly shown to cause deforestation, thelink between biofuels and forest clearance isnot as clear.

l In Brazil, sugarcane is grown to producebiofuel in the southern part of the country asit is not suited to the climate in the rainforestregion. However, as more land in the South isused for biofuel production, soy cultivationand cattle ranching are moving into theAmazon rainforest.

l Governments are encouraging the addition ofbiofuels to fuels such as petrol and diesel.

l The total area used for biofuel crops willincrease by 242% between 2005 and 2030with current policies.

l Biofuels made from algae may reduce thepressure on land.

8. Facts on timberl Cutting down trees to provide wood and

paper is known as logging. l There are two types of logging – clear felling

or selectively cutting trees.l Selectively cutting trees damages almost

twice the number of trees as those actuallyharvested.

l Logging leads to a loss of carbon stored inthe soil, reduces soil fertility and results inthe loss of animals and plants.

l Attempts to conserve forests are underminedby illegal logging.

l Less than 20% is smuggled out as logs, andthe remaining wood is processed in saw,paper or pulp mills, and later exported.

l Demand for wood and paper is rising asmany developing nations like China look forproduct for their growing furniture industry.

l Local communities often see only a tinyfraction of the end selling price of logs. Forexample, an Afromosia log can sell for$2,000 in Kinshasa in the DemocraticRepublic of Congo, but when sawn can sellfor more than $10,000 in Europe.

l Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certifiedtimber ensures good practice – soundmanagement practices that help conserveand plant new forests.

9. Other reasons for deforestation Other reasons for cutting down the rainforestsinclude shifting cultivation, the collection ofwood for fuel, mining and the development ofroads and hydroelectric dams.

Fact sheet:What’s happening to rainforests

LLiisstteenn ttoo tthhee rraaiinnffoorreesstt ssoouunnddss.. .. .. wwaattcchh tthhee vviiddeeooss.. .. .. ssiiggnn uupp ttoo tthhee ccaallll ttoo ssttoopp ddeeffoorreessttaattiioonn .. .. .. cchheecckk oouutt tthhee lleessssoonn,, aasssseemmbbllyy aanndd aaccttiivviittiieess .. .. ..

Clearing the forest with fire.Image courtesy of theRainforest Foundation UK.

Deforestation. Imagecourtesy of the RainforestFoundation UK.

Rearing cattle in Para, Brazil.Copyright Greenpeace /Luciana Napchan.

A logging truck in Africa.Image courtesy of RosemaryBrown, the RainforestFoundation UK.

www.rainforestSOS.org

Page 2

Pioneer shifting cultivationsUnlike sedentary shifting cultivators who re-usethe same areas over and over for growing theircrops, migrant slash-and-burn farmers clearprimary rainforests, often to grow staple cropslike plantain bananas, maize or rice. After a fewyears, farmers move on to clear more forestbecause the rainforest soil is poor and can onlysupport crops for a short time.

Wood fuel collectionFuelwood and charcoal, together known aswoodfuels, are used as fuel by many rural andurban poor in developing countries and werethought to be responsible for deforestation. Butrising incomes have led many people to switchto other fuels like gas and electricity.Farm-grown trees are also supplying morewoodfuels than in the past. Global consumptionof fuelwood peaked in the mid-1990s. In muchof Asia fuelwood consumption is now declining.In Indonesia, cheap kerosene has replacedwood as an urban fuel.

MiningThe extraction of valuable minerals found inrainforest areas can result in local deforestation.Although the area needed for mining can besmall, mining operations generally entail thebuilding of roads and homes and can lead togardens being created to grow food and theextraction of fuel wood as well as the pollutionof water sources.

Many rainforest nations have important mineraldeposits. The Democratic Republic of Congocontains vast deposits of cobalt, coltan, copper,diamonds, gold, manganese, zinc. InMadagascar there are a variety of valuableminerals including gold and ilmenite. Mineralsknown to exist in the Amazon Basin includediamonds, bauxite (aluminium ore), manganese,iron, tin, copper, lead and gold. In Indonesiamining of coal, gold, copper and bauxite hasplaced pressure on forested areas.

InfrastructureIn order to improve the livelihoods of theirpeople, the governments of rainforest nationsare building roads and dams. If not plannedcarefully, they can destroy areas of rainforest.Plans to build dams in river basins in rainforestareas threaten forests with flooding. Currently,the biggest planned project is the Amazon’sTocantins River Basin hydroelectric projectstretching over a distance of 1,200 miles.

10. Why is it important?

See our Fact sheet: Why RainforestsMatterIf we lose the rainforests, it willmean we lose1. many of the world’s plants and

animals (biodiversity)2. resources that are critical to the

welfare of some of the world’spoorest people

3. the fight against climate change.

The rainforests offer homes toanimals and plants, they remove

carbon dioxide from theatmosphere, a main global warminggas, and release oxygen that webreathe. They give us crops andmedicines and contain furtherundiscovered foods and medicines,which local cultures and knowledgefrom rainforest peoples will help usdiscover. They support our way oflife and their loss will affect us all.

Cutting them down means morethan losing the trees, plants andanimals. It will affect our climateand the way we live.

Fact sheet:What’s happening to rainforests

LLiisstteenn ttoo tthhee rraaiinnffoorreesstt ssoouunnddss.. .. .. wwaattcchh tthhee vviiddeeooss.. .. .. ssiiggnn uupp ttoo tthhee ccaallll ttoo ssttoopp ddeeffoorreessttaattiioonn .. .. .. cchheecckk oouutt tthhee lleessssoonn,, aasssseemmbbllyy aanndd aaccttiivviittiieess .. .. ..

Deforestion in Brazil: A landscape with dense foliage on one side of the river and forest-cleared to expand agricultural land on the other. Copyright S Rocha UNEP/Still Pictures.

Tree frog. Image courtesy of Yalda Davis (left). Suri child, Brazil. Image courtesy of BrionyMathieson (right).

www.rainforestSOS.org

Page 3