Choosing first topic - Essay Example

295). Forest lands, adjacent to small scale farming fields, fall victim to deforestation, during the course of expansion of agriculture. As such, deforestation has principally been the outcome of small scale agricultural activity that had been undertaken along the edges of the forest. Moreover, infrastructure development, such as the construction of roads, has resulted in the widespread felling of trees, in the areas abutting forest land . At present, a few of the smaller countries of Southeast Asia, like Malaysia, have been left with negligible forest area.

This dismal state of affairs is on account of the unabated deforestation conducted in these countries (Carr, 2004, p. 296). In addition to the expansion of small scale agriculture, infrastructure development, like the construction of roads and other activities, leads to deforestation. The 1990s were witness to the unprecedented clearing of forests in Asia. This was occasioned by enhanced demand for timber and the continual migration of rice farmers, into what had previously been remote regions.

These regions became accessible, due to the increased felling of trees .Latin America, with its abundance of closed tropical forests, has been host to most of the research that has been conducted on tropical deforestation. . Furthermore, deforestation is also the outcome of economic considerations, like low domestic costs, increase in the price of products and the influence on ecology by industrial and urban centers in remote locations. The latter has been seen to be the cause behind deforestation, in a third of the cases (Geist & Lambin, 2002, p. 146). Hence, Market forces have a tangible effect on furthering deforestation.

Moreover, deforestation is the outcome of a necessity to generate foreign exchange earnings at the national level, and this has been seen to be prevalent in 25% of the cases. On the whole, there is scant variation in the elements that pertain to economic development in a burgeoning cash economy. As a consequence, these features promote deforestation, in a very powerful manner (Geist & Lambin, 2002, p. 146). As such, economic reasons also contribute to deforestation in tropical regions. Consequently, expansion of agriculture has been deemed to be the most important cause of deforestation, and this has been estimated at 96% of the instances.

Some of the facets of such expansion are the conversion of forests, on a permanent basis, to land on which cattle graze, shifting cultivation is practiced and agriculture is colonized. In addition, the tropical rainforests of Asia are subjected to considerable commercial wood extraction (Geist & Lambin, 2002, p. 145). In Asia, commercial wood extraction has also been identified as a major element, in bringing about deforestation. The World Bank’s 1989 World Development Report disclosed that deforestation was rampant in fourteen developing countries of South America, Africa, and South-East Asia.

This report also revealed that more than 250,000 hectares of tropical forests were being destroyed annually, in these