Causes & Drivers
This "slash and burn" technique is often used by subsistence farmers to clear land for these.
What are crops/agriculture?
This term describes the natural environment where a particular species lives; deforestation is the primary cause of its "loss."
What is habitat?
Trees act as "sinks" for this greenhouse gas, absorbing it during photosynthesis.
What is Carbon Dioxide (CO_2)?
Spanning nine nations, this is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth.
What is the Amazon?
This "R" word refers to the process of planting trees in an area where there used to be a forest.
What is Reforestation?
This vegetable oil, found in everything from chocolate to shampoo, is a leading cause of deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia.
What is Palm Oil?
Because they live almost exclusively in the trees of Borneo and Sumatra, these "men of the forest" are critically endangered.
What are Orangutans?
When trees are burned or rot, they release stored carbon back into the atmosphere, contributing to this global phenomenon.
What is the Greenhouse Effect (or Global Warming)?
This island nation off the coast of Africa has lost about 90% of its original forests, threatening its unique lemur population.
What is Madagascar?
Consumers can look for the "FSC" logo on paper products, which stands for this Council.
What is the Forest Stewardship Council?
The expansion of this industry, particularly in the Amazon, accounts for about 80% of current deforestation rates there.
What is cattle ranching?
This occurs when large, continuous forests are divided into smaller, isolated patches, making it hard for animals to migrate.
What is forest fragmentation?
Forests contribute to local rainfall through this process, where water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere via plants.
What is evapotranspiration?
This "Basin" in Central Africa contains the world's second-largest tropical rainforest.
What is the Congo Basin?
This land management system integrates trees and shrubs into crop and livestock farming.
What is Agroforestry?
This term refers to the removal of trees for use as timber or fuel.
What is logging?
Tropical rainforests are home to more than 50% of the world’s plant and animal species, a concept known by this 12-letter word.
What is biodiversity?
Without tree roots to hold the dirt in place, heavy rains often lead to this, which washes nutrients away and clogs rivers.
What is soil erosion?
These coastal forests, characterized by salt-tolerant trees, are being cleared rapidly for shrimp farming.
What are Mangroves?
This UN program's name is an acronym for "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation."
What is REDD+?
Often ignored, this type of infrastructure development (like the Trans-Amazonian) provides the initial access for illegal loggers to enter deep forests.
What are roads?
When a species can no longer be found anywhere on Earth, often due to habitat destruction, it is said to be this.
What is extinct?
Deforestation is responsible for approximately this percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions (Accept a range within 5%).
What is 10–15%?
These northern forests (also called Taiga) are being lost to logging and mining at rates sometimes exceeding tropical loss.
What are Boreal forests?
Granting legal land rights to these groups of people has been proven one of the most effective ways to protect standing forests.
Who are Indigenous peoples?