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Deforestation Defined
Deforestation refers to the loss of forest cover; land that is permanently converted from forest to agricultural
land, golf courses, cattle pasture, homes, lakes, or desert. The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the
U.N.) defines tropical deforestation as "change of forest with depletion of tree crown cover to less than
10%." Depletion of forest to tree crown cover greater than 10% (say from 100% to 12%) is considered forest
degradation. Logging most often falls under the category of forest degradation and thus is not included in deforestation
statistics. Therefore forest degradation rates are considerably higher than deforestation rates. For example, according
to satellite surveys Indonesia has considerable forest coverage, but millions of hectares are highly degraded by
logging and no longer contain their full diversity or original structure.
Continued: Economic Restructuring
This article was written by Rhett A. Butler [bibliographic citation for this page] and was last updated on the most recent date listed in the column on the right side.
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