Understanding Deforestation: Causes, Impacts, and Control

Definition of deforestation and forest conversion

Deforestation (or forest clearance) is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. This conversion can include changing forest land into farms, ranches, or urban areas. The topic also distinguishes deforestation from broader “forest area net change,” which accounts for both forest losses (including deforestation) and forest gains (such as forest expansion). Net change can be positive or negative depending on whether gains outweigh losses. In the provided material, deforestation is defined as the conversion of forest to other land uses, regardless of whether the change is human-induced. Forest area net change, by contrast, is the net result of all forest losses and all forest gains over a given period, so it does not necessarily match the amount of deforestation alone.

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Deforestation versus net forest area change

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