Deforestation and Agriculture

Every year, forests absorb billions of tonnes of human-made carbon, harnessing it and using it in photosynthesis. While humans use timber for different projects, such as building and development, and put deforested land to use for many purposes, such as agriculture (for grazing and cropland). Farmers are constantly striving to feed a population that continues to grow, and they will require more land than ever before to produce adequate quantities of food. So, how do we find the balance between utility and sustainability? How do we ensure we protect our earth and leave it better for future generations, while maintaining the benefits of the timber and land available to us?

What are the Pros and Cons of deforestation?

Forests are known as “carbon sinks”, as they can absorb and store up to 7.6 billion tonnes of the carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere by humans annually. They house a wide variety of biodiversity, native plant, and animal species within the forests, providing food and shelter. Clearing of forest land displaces these species and disrupts the food chain, which can have major impacts on species’ populations and overall biodiversity. It is projected that approximately 28,000 species could vanish within the next 30 years if current deforestation trends continue globally. On the other hand, with a booming population, agriculture is needed now more than ever, and additional land will be required to fill food security needs and combat world hunger. The world population is expected to increase to over 10 billion people by the 2080s, and with that comes increased pressure on the food supply.

Although many advancements have been made to make agriculture more “intensive” (higher yielding varieties, improved weed and disease control methods, better technology and equipment, etc.), it may not be enough to feed this rapid growth. Advancements in cropping technologies lower the amount of land needed per person, but the rapid rate of population increase means these developments may not keep up or be approved in time. These developments are also costly, and a continued decrease in funding for the research sector, paired with the time constraint of a rising population, requires us to find a different way of reducing deforestation while feeding the world. The situation poses a difficult problem, and the balance can be very hard to find. In the agriculture industry, we always try to leave the land and environment better than we found them, and there are a few solutions that allow continued use of the land while protecting the resources we need for the future.

What can policy do?

Logging and the use of forest land provide society with many benefits, but we must do so in a responsible way that ensures we can continue to benefit for years to come. Protecting areas of forests from clearing can be an efficient way of protecting forests while still utilizing the resources available to us. Protected areas help conserve forested land from clearing, meaning a smaller impact on climate and species within these areas. Research has been done on the climate impacts of complete vs. partial clearing of forests in tropical areas with the impacts on rainfall. Complete clearing of tropical rainforests has been shown to reduce annual rainfall by the largest amount, but using a “checkered” pattern of clearing reduces the impacts on rainfall. Figure 1 below depicts the changes in rainfall based on deforestation patterns. The shaded portions represent fully forested areas, the white represents fully cleared land. As depicted, the pattern of deforestation impacts the change in rainfall. Studies have shown that the use of protected areas in Costa Rica has lowered deforestation rates by around 65%. Policies declaring protected areas are an efficient way to conserve forest land while protecting the range of biodiversity that calls the forest home. Protected area policies are a highly useful solution allowing the continued use of some land for timber production, grazing or cropping while leaving areas of forest undisturbed, protecting the trees, plants and animals within these sections.

The balance between adequate food production and lessening deforestation will become increasingly important in the coming years. Through sustainability efforts such as protected areas, and patterned deforestation, we can continue to use the land and resources within it, while leaving portions of forests and the biodiversity they house undisturbed. Increased advancements in crop inputs and technologies will lessen the pressure on deforestation, although realistically, policy surrounding deforestation, and the use of forested land, is a more appropriate way of finding a solution. If the agricultural industry works with policymakers to find the balance of utility and sustainability, we can find a solution that works for both sides.