As the human population
increases, rainforest lands are being cleared to make room for crops
and ranches used to feed the ever-increasing number of people. When
establishing agricultural areas, farmers often clear the existing
forests first, making way for crops or grazing grass for ranches.
photo M. Noonan
The problem with this is
that the forest soil can only support about 2-3 years of successful
plant production. Once the land has been exhausted, the farmer moves
on, and the soil in the area may not be able to support growth for
25-30 years. While farmers have attempted to slightly increase the
longevity of rainforest soils through fertilizers, no long-term
solutions have been found yet. As a result, forests are continually
being cleared for agriculture.
