Is the timber trade a main cause of deforestation and illegal logging?
No, the need for food and shelter has led many to clear or burn forests to plant crops, provide wood fuel or build housing. The Economist recently noted, “Illegal logging is not the cause of all deforestation. Some trees are cut down to make way for plantations or ranching or to provide farmland or firewood for the poor.”1 Mongabay.com, one of the most popular environmental science sites on the Web, states that 60 to 70 percent of deforestation in the Amazon results from cattle ranches while the rest mostly results from small-scale subsistence agriculture.
