Sure cutting down forests harms the environment, but don people have to cut down trees to make a living?
Numerous studies show that people in developing countries (where most of the forest loss occurs) would have a better life and be better able to feed themselves if they sold the natural products from the forests rather than cutting down the trees and selling the lumber-or turning forests into farms. Stripped of its green cover, rainforest soil becomes barren and thin. Often within a short period of time, farmers and ranchers abandon it and move on to new places, leaving the former rainforest a wasteland. Soil erodes and the original tree canopy never grows back. Once deforestation occurs and the balance of nature is disrupted, the land can become a breeding ground for insects and other animals that carry diseases such as malaria and leishmaniasis.
