Pressures on tropical forests: agriculture, trade and illegality

Publication date: 26/10/2020
Extent: 28 pages

Contributions by: Duncan Brack, Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), UK

Chapter synopsis: This chapter reviews some of the main pressures on tropical forests, starting with an overview of recent rates of deforestation. The drivers of this loss of tropical forests are summarised, and the main ones – clearance of forests for agriculture, often linked to global trade flows, and, to a lesser extent, logging for timber – are analysed in more detail. The key underlying problems of weaknesses in forest governance and law enforcement are discussed, and the chapter concludes with a summary of international efforts to tackle these and to eliminate deforestation from global supply chains.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2020.0074.05