photo M. Noonan |
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.
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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. |