Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-kw2vx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-08T22:36:13.788Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tropical Forests: The Main Deforestation Fronts*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Norman Myers
Norman Myers
Affiliation:
Consultant in Environment & Development, Upper Meadow, Old Road, Headington, Oxford OX3 8SZ, England, UK.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Tropical moist forests are being depleted at an ecobiome-wide rate of c. 2% per year. Certain countries are losing very little forest, while others are losing it at a rate of twice the average, and a few at a rate several times higher. An initial assessment of 14 ‘deforestation fronts’ — being areas that feature the most intensive, widespread, and rapid, deforestation — reveals that they currently feature 43% of all deforestation in 25% of tropical moist forests' expanse.

There is urgent need for additional documentation of these deforestation fronts, and to monitor their evolving status — especially of those that look likely to lose forest cover at ever-more rapid rates. Even more important, the analysis allows us to derive criteria for major foci of deforestation, thus enabling us to anticipate new fronts while they are still emergent. In turn, this affords opportunity for preventive measures in the form of ‘silver bullet’ strategies on the part of conservationists, forestry experts, land-use planners, and policymakers. An early-warning system would go far towards supplying us with a more substantive and methodical understanding of depletive processes overtaking tropical forests.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , Spring 1993 , pp. 9 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreae, M.O., Talbot, R.W., Andreae, T.W. & Harriss, R.C. (1988). Formic and acetic acid over the Central Amazon region, Brazil. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93, pp. 1616–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angelli, J.P. (1984). Costa Rica: transition to land hunger and potential instability. 1984 Yearbook of Conference of Latin American Geographers, 10, pp. 48–61.Google Scholar
Bilsborrow, R.E. (1989). Agricultural Colonization and Ecological Deterioration in the Amazon Region of Ecuador. Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Bilsborrow, R.E. & Geores, M.E. (1990). Population, Environment and Sustainable Agricultural Developments. Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Browder, J.O. (Ed.) (1989). Fragile Lands of Latin America: Strategies for Sustainable Development. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, USA: xvi + 301 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Cruz, M.C.J. & Zosa-Feranil, I. (1987). Policy Implications of Population Pressure in the Philippine Uplands. Department of Environmental Studies, University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Philippines: 90 pp.Google Scholar
Cruz, W.D. & Cruz, M.C.J. (1990). Population pressure and deforestation in the Philippines. ASEAN Economic Bulletin, 7, pp. 200–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diaz-Briquets, S. & Weintraub, S. (Eds) (1991). Determinants of Migration from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Emanuel, K.A. (1987). The dependence of hurricane intensity on climate. Nature (London), 326, pp. 843–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erwin, T.L. (1991). An evolutionary basis for conservation strategies. Science, 253, pp. 750–2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ewel, J. & Condé, L.F. (1980). Potential Ecological Impact of Increased Intensity of Tropical Forest Utilization. BIOTROP (Regional Centre for Tropical Biology), Bogor, Indonesia: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Fearnside, P.M. (1991). Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia. Pp. 211–38 in The Earth in Transition: Patterns and Processes of Biotic Impoverishment (Ed. Woodwell, G.M.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, UK: xiv + 530 pp., illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fearnside, P.M., Tardin, A.T. & Filho, L.G.M. (1990). Deforestation Rate in Brazilian Amazonia. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, São Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, and Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Manaus, Brazil: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organization (1981). Tropical Forest Resources. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy: xi + 106 pp.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organization (1992). Third Interim Report on the State of Tropical Forests. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Galloway, J.N., Dianwu, Z., Jiling, X. & Likens, G.E. (1987). Acid rain: China, United States and remote areas. Science, 236, pp. 1559–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helas, G., Bingemer, H. & Andreae, M.O. (1990). Organic acids over equatorial Africa. Journal of Geophysical Research. [Not available for checking.]Google Scholar
Hicks, J.F., Daly, H.E., Davis, S.H. & Defreitas, N. (1990). Excuador's Amazon Region: Development Issues and Options. World Bank Discussion Paper, The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA: 41 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Houghton, R.A. (1989). Emissions of greenhouse gases. Pp. 38–44 in Deforestation Rates in Tropical Forests and Their Climatic Implications (Ed. Myers, N.). Friends of the Earth, London, England, UK: 116 pp.Google Scholar
Houghton, R.A. (1991). Tropical deforestation and atmospheric carbon dioxide. Climatic Change, 19(1/2), pp. 99–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espacials (1992). Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Sáo Jose dos Campos, Brazil. [Not available for checking.]Google Scholar
Kartawinata, K., Adisoemarto, S., Riswan, S. & Vayda, A.P. (1981). The impact of man on a tropical forest in Indonesia. Ambio, 10, pp. 115–9.Google Scholar
Keller, M., Jacob, D.J., Wofsy, S.C. & Harriss, R.C. (1991). Effects of tropical deforestation on global and regional atmospheric chemistry. Climatic Change, 19(1/2), pp. 139–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lacaux, J.P., Servant, J. & Baudet, J.G.R. (1987). Acid rain in the tropical forests of the Ivory Coast. Atmospheric Environment, 21, pp. 2643–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, O.J. (1990). Whither the People? Demographic, Tenurial and Agricultural Aspects of the Tropical Forestry Action Plan. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, USA: 75 pp.Google Scholar
Malingreau, J.-P. & Tucker, C.J. (1988). Large-scale deforestation in the southeastern Amazon basin of Brazil. Ambio, 17, pp. 49–55.Google Scholar
Manshard, W. & Morgan, W.B. (Eds) (1988). Agricultural Expansion and Pioneer Settlements in the Humid Tropics. United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Matson, P.A. & Vitousek, P.M. (1990). Ecosystem approach to a global nitrous oxide budget. BioScience, 40, pp. 667–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myers, N. (1980). Conversion of Tropical Moist Forests. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, USA: ix + 205 pp.Google Scholar
Myers, N. (1988). Environmental degradation and some economic consequences in the Philippines. Environmental Conservation, 15(3), pp. 205–14, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myers, N. (1989). Deforestation Rates in Tropical Forests and Their Climatic Implications. Friends of the Earth, London, England, UK: 116 pp.Google Scholar
Myers, N. (1990). Mass extinctions: what can the past tell us about the present and future? Global and Planetary Change, 82, pp. 175–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myers, N. (1992 a). Tropical forests: the policy challenge. Environmental Conservation, 12(1), pp. 15–27.Google Scholar
Myers, N. (1992 b). Future Operational Monitoring of Tropical Forests: An Alert Strategy. Joint Research Centre, ISPRA Establishment, Ispra, Italy: 54 pp.Google Scholar
Myers, N. (in press). Protected areas: protected from a greater ‘what’? In Proceedings of World Parks Congress, Caracas, 02 10–21, 1992 (Ed. J.A. McNeely).Google Scholar
Pattie, P.S. and nine others (1988). Agriculture Sector Assessment for Bolivia. US Agency for International Development, Washington, DC, USA: [not available for checking]Google Scholar
Peters, W.J. & Neuenschwander, L.F. (1988). Slash and Burn Farming in Third World Forests. University of Idaho Press, Moscow, Idaho, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Population Reference Bureau (1991). Population Data Sheet 1991. Population Reference Bureau, Washington, DC, USA: 1 p.Google Scholar
Prosterman, R.L. et al. , (Eds) (1990). Agrarian Reform and Grassroots Development: Ten Case Studies. Lynne Reinner Publishers, Boulder, Colorado, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Repetto, R. & Gillis, M. (Eds) (1988). Public Policies and the Misuse of Forest Resources. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, UK: xiii + 432 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodhe, H. & Herrera, R. (Eds). (1988). Acidification in Tropical Countries. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, England, UK: xviii + 405 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Salati, E. & Nobre, C.E. (1991). Possible climatic impacts of tropical deforestation. Climatic Change, 19(1/2), pp. 177–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schuman, D. & Partridge, W.L. (1989). Human Ecology of Tropical Land Settlement in Latin America. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Sinha, R. (1984). Landlessness: a Growing Problem. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy: vi + 112 pp.Google Scholar
Sommer, A. (1976). Attempt at an assessment of the world's tropical moist forests. Unasylva, 28(112/3), pp. 5–24.Google Scholar
Southgate, D. (1989). How to Promote Tropical Deforestation: the Case of Ecuador. Department of Agricultural Economics, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Thiesenhusen, W.C. (Ed.) (1989). Searching for Agrarian Reform in Latin America. Unwin Hyman, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Wilson, E.O. (1992). The Diversity of Life. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: 424 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
World Bank (1991). World Development Report 1991. The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA: xii + 290 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Zhao, D. & Sun, B. (1986). Air pollution and acid rain in China. Ambio, 15, pp. 2–5.Google Scholar