GCSE · Geography · AQA · Spec 8035

Causes of deforestation

Say you want the timber, iron or farmland deep inside a rainforest. Before one tree falls, you need two things: someone to sell to, and a way in.

Build the web

What is really clearing the rainforest?

Deforestation means clearing forest on a large scale, often permanently, so the land can be used for something else. Here are six causes and the result. Draw the arrows: which causes clear the forest themselves, and which ones make other causes happen? Then compare your web with ours. (Two more causes, slash-and-burn farming and growing towns, also clear forest. Slash-and-burn gets its own step-by-step further down.)

Global demand for timber, crops and minerals
Road building
Logging for timber
Mining for minerals
Commercial farming and cattle ranching
Hydroelectric dams
Rainforest cleared (outcome)

Add a link

This factor……made this happen or worse

No links yet.

Exam line: Strong answers link causes: 'the road opened up the forest, so loggers could reach it' beats naming 'roads' and 'logging' separately.

Who is doing the clearing?

Before you read on: who clears most of the rainforest?

Think about all the tropical rainforest cleared around the world, not just one place.

Which is closest to what you think right now?

Mostly poor local farmers, cutting small plots of forest to grow food for their families.Mostly big commercial businesses (large farms, loggers and cattle ranchers), often supplying demand from around the world.Only big businesses. Small farmers growing their own food don't clear any forest at all.Mostly towns and cities spreading out into the forest.

How sure are you?

I'm sureI think soI'm guessing

Mostly poor local farmers, cutting small plots of forest to grow food for their families.

This is a common misconception

This is the most common belief, and it's understandable because slash-and-burn farming is easy to picture. But it isn't the main driver. Slash-and-burn is responsible for about 15% of deforestation globally. Most clearance comes from large-scale commercial activity: industrial agriculture, logging and cattle ranching, often linked to global demand.

Mostly big commercial businesses (large farms, loggers and cattle ranchers), often supplying demand from around the world.

This matches the evidence

Yes. Industrial agriculture (crops such as palm oil and soy), logging and cattle ranching drive most deforestation, and they are often linked to global demand. Subsistence farmers do clear some forest, but slash-and-burn accounts for only about 15% of it globally.

Only big businesses. Small farmers growing their own food don't clear any forest at all.

This is a common misconception

That goes too far the other way. Subsistence farming does cause some deforestation: slash-and-burn is responsible for about 15% of it globally. It's just not the main driver.

Mostly towns and cities spreading out into the forest.

This is a common misconception

Urbanisation is a genuine cause, so it's a fair guess. But it isn't what drives most deforestation. The biggest share comes from large-scale commercial activity: industrial agriculture, logging and cattle ranching.

Big and commercial, linked to global demand: that's what drives most rainforest loss. Small farmers are part of the story, but a small part.

Cattle ranching

Why ranching never stops at one clearing

2 stages are missing. Use the rest of the loop to work out which goes where.

Stage 1: Forest cleared for pasture
Vast areas of rainforest are cleared to give cattle land to graze.
Stage 2: Cattle graze the cleared land
The cleared land is now used as pasture.

…and stage 4 leads back to stage 1.

Slash-and-burn farming

Reason it through

Why do slash-and-burn farmers keep moving on to clear new forest?

Link 1 of 4

First link · your turn

A subsistence farmer grows only enough food for their own family. How do they often make space for crops?

Locked — reveal the link above first

Your turn to write

Write it, then mark it

Explain how road building can lead to deforestation in tropical rainforests. [4 marks]

Your answer

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

The mark scheme

Roads open up forest that was previously inaccessible / hard to reach (1 mark)
This gives easy access for logging (including illegal logging), so trees are cut down (1 mark)
It gives easy access for mining, so large areas are cleared for mines (1 mark)
It gives easy access for agriculture / cattle ranching, so forest is cleared for crops or pasture (1 mark)
Named example: the Trans-Amazonian highway (over 4,000 km through the Amazon) has made it easier for illegal logging to thrive in remote areas (1 mark)

Model answer

Building a road opens up parts of the rainforest that were previously inaccessible. Once the road is there, loggers can reach the trees easily, and illegal loggers can too. For example, the Trans-Amazonian highway stretches over 4,000 km through the Amazon and has made it easier for illegal logging to thrive in remote areas. Roads also give mining companies easy access, so large areas of forest are cleared for mines, and they let farmers and ranchers reach new land to clear for crops and pasture.

The marks come from the links: say what the road opens up, who it lets in, and what they clear.

Exam line: Every mark comes from a linked step: say what the cause does, then who it lets in, then what they clear.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

Not a list of culprits: a web of causes that feed each other.

What you need to know

Deforestation is the large-scale removal or clearing of forest, often permanently, so the land can be used for something else, such as agriculture, mining, urban development or logging.
Rainforests attract organisations and local people because they have vast areas of untouched land and natural resources.
The causes include cattle ranching, slash-and-burn farming, logging for timber, mining for minerals, hydroelectric dams, road building and urbanisation.
Road building and global demand act through the other causes: roads open the way in, and demand gives a reason to clear.

The big picture

Tropical rainforests have vast areas of untouched land and natural resources, so they attract clearance. The causes include logging, mining, commercial farming and cattle ranching, hydroelectric dams, road building, urbanisation and slash-and-burn farming. They work together: global demand gives a reason to clear and roads give a way in. Most deforestation is driven by large commercial activity, not by small subsistence farmers.

Key points

1Road building is one of the most destructive causes because it opens up previously inaccessible forest to logging, mining and agriculture. The Trans-Amazonian highway runs over 4,000 km through the Amazon and has made illegal logging easier in remote areas.

2Demand for timber, crops and minerals can increase or decrease deforestation.

3Most deforestation is driven by large-scale commercial activity (industrial agriculture such as palm oil and soy, logging and cattle ranching), often linked to global demand. Subsistence farming causes some, but less.

4Cattle ranching is a cycle: forest cleared for pasture, the soil loses nutrients once the trees are gone, so more forest is cleared.

5Slash-and-burn ash enriches the soil only temporarily. Repeated burning depletes it, so farmers keep moving to clear new areas.

6Logging targets valuable hardwoods such as teak and mahogany. Mining uses explosives and heavy machinery (e.g. the Carajás iron ore mine in Brazil). Hydroelectric dams flood large areas of forest.

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Worked example

Problem

Explain how mining can lead to deforestation. Use an example in your answer. (3 marks)

⚠ Watch out

Mixing up slash-and-burn and cattle ranching. They both keep clearing new land, but for different reasons. Slash-and-burn is small-scale subsistence farming, where the ash boosts the soil only temporarily. Ranching is commercial and clears vast areas for pasture, and the soil loses nutrients once the trees are removed.

🧠

Memory hook

For any patch of cleared forest, ask three questions. WHY was it worth clearing? (demand) HOW did they get in? (roads) WHO did the clearing? (loggers, miners, farmers, ranchers, dam-builders).

✓

Check yourself

Cover the page. Name three causes that road building opens the way for. Then explain, in two steps, why slash-and-burn farmers have to keep moving.

Flashcards

(13)

What is deforestation?

The large-scale removal or clearing of forest, often permanently, so the land can be used for something else, e.g. agriculture, mining, urban development or logging.

Why are tropical rainforests attractive to organisations and local people?

They have vast areas of untouched land and natural resources.

Why is road building one of the most destructive causes of deforestation?

It opens up previously inaccessible forest, giving easy access for logging, mining and agriculture.

How long is the Trans-Amazonian highway, and what has it made easier?

Over 4,000 km through the Amazon. It has made it easier for illegal activities such as illegal logging to thrive in remote areas.

How can demand affect deforestation?

Demand for timber, crops and minerals can increase or decrease it. Demand for farmland and for resources like timber and iron is what turned rainforests from lightly to heavily cleared.

What mainly drives deforestation: commercial activity or subsistence farming?

Large-scale commercial activity (industrial agriculture, logging and cattle ranching), often linked to global demand. Subsistence farming causes some, but less.

What is a subsistence farmer?

A farmer who grows only enough food for themselves and their family.

In slash-and-burn, why does the ash only help for a while?

Ash enriches the soil temporarily, but repeated burning depletes it.

Why is cattle ranching called a cycle of deforestation?

Forest is cleared for pasture. Once the trees are gone the soil loses nutrients, so ranchers clear even more land.

Why do rainforests attract the timber industry?

They contain valuable tropical hardwoods such as teak and mahogany.

What four things drive illegal logging?

High demand for timber, weak laws, poverty and unclear land ownership.

Why are rainforests prime locations for hydroelectric dams, and how do dams cause deforestation?

Rainforests contain some of the world's largest rivers. Building a dam floods large areas of forest.

Name two crops grown by industrial agriculture that drive deforestation.

Palm oil and soy.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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What is really clearing the rainforest?

Before you read on: who clears most of the rainforest?

Why ranching never stops at one clearing

Write it, then mark it

More AQA GCSE Geography topics