On an alarming note, forest degradation continues even though the global rate of deforestation have halved over the last two decades—from a net annual forest area loss of 7.3 million hectares in 2000 to 3.3 million hectares in 2015.
An estimated 80 per cent of forest loss is being driven by conversion of forests into agricultural lands. “Forests have been cleared to gain agricultural land for millennia…this was part of economic development,” says Eva Muller, director of Food and Agriculture Organization’s forestry department.
Export-oriented commercial agriculture is the “single largest driver of tropical deforestation”, with demand for soybean, palm oil and wood products constantly soaring in the international market, says a book Why Forests? Why Now? reviewed by Down To Earth last year. It points out that Latin America’s primary forest loss can be blamed on beef production and soybean cultivation, in Southeast Asia; pulp and paper, timber and palm oil are the major contributors to deforestation. Rubber, coffee and cacao have also contributed to forest loss.
To counter the negative effects of agriculture, participants pointed out that the land-use competition between forests and agriculture could be solved by introducing diversified agricultural production systems, integrating trees, crops and livestock with a landscape approach in mind.
Restoring degraded landscapes offers such opportunities, besides growing food for an ever growing population. Examples include agroforestry systems in which harvestable trees or shrubs are grown around crops or silvo-pastoral systems, combining agriculture, forestry and grazing of domesticated animals. Such practices will increase agricultural productivity, ensure food security and guarantee income of small farmers and improve sustainable management of forests. In Bidekanne village of Telangana, farmers have built contour trenches and bunds for water conservation. To diversify their income, they maintain tree cover around their farm where they have planted vegetables and millets.
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On an alarming note, forest degradation continues even though the global rate of deforestation have halved over the last two decades—from a net annual forest area loss of 7.3 million hectares in 2000 to 3.3 million hectares in 2015.
An estimated 80 per cent of forest loss is being driven by conversion of forests into agricultural lands. “Forests have been cleared to gain agricultural land for millennia…this was part of economic development,” says Eva Muller, director of Food and Agriculture Organization’s forestry department.
Export-oriented commercial agriculture is the “single largest driver of tropical deforestation”, with demand for soybean, palm oil and wood products constantly soaring in the international market, says a book Why Forests? Why Now? reviewed by Down To Earth last year. It points out that Latin America’s primary forest loss can be blamed on beef production and soybean cultivation, in Southeast Asia; pulp and paper, timber and palm oil are the major contributors to deforestation. Rubber, coffee and cacao have also contributed to forest loss.
To counter the negative effects of agriculture, participants pointed out that the land-use competition between forests and agriculture could be solved by introducing diversified agricultural production systems, integrating trees, crops and livestock with a landscape approach in mind.
Restoring degraded landscapes offers such opportunities, besides growing food for an ever growing population. Examples include agroforestry systems in which harvestable trees or shrubs are grown around crops or silvo-pastoral systems, combining agriculture, forestry and grazing of domesticated animals. Such practices will increase agricultural productivity, ensure food security and guarantee income of small farmers and improve sustainable management of forests. In Bidekanne village of Telangana, farmers have built contour trenches and bunds for water conservation. To diversify their income, they maintain tree cover around their farm where they have planted vegetables and millets.
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