GCSE · Geography · AQA · Spec 8035
Changing rates of deforestation
Most people picture forest loss as a line that climbs every single year. It doesn't. It rises, dips and spikes — and every change has a push behind it.
History · Cause & effect
Four eras of forest clearing
Tap each era, starting with Pre-industrial. Each one opens to show what pushed the rate, and what happened to it.
Causes ←
What led here
Event
Slowing — in places
21st century
Now there is a push the other way — but only in some regions. Despite these efforts, rates have stayed high in recent years in tropical regions such as the Amazon rainforest.→ Consequences
What followed
Sort the pushes
Economic, political or environmental?
Pick a factor, then choose the group it belongs to.
Still to sort
Economic (0)
About demand — what people want to buy and use.
Where the line is: If the factor is about demand for a product, it's economic. If it's about who decides, who owns or what the law allows, it's political.
Political (0)
About governments, rights and laws.
Where the line is: Land rights sound like they're about money, but they're about who holds rights to the land — that makes them political.
Environmental (0)
About the climate and natural events.
Where the line is: A law that protects wildlife is about the environment, but it's still a political factor: a law is a political act.
Every push on the rate belongs to one of three groups. Decide first, then read why.
Why the cause of loss matters
Reason it through
Why does it matter whether forest loss is caused by fire?
First link · your turn
Start with the fire itself. What kind of damage does fire do to a forest?
WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED
A quick recap of today's lesson.
Why the rate of forest loss rises, falls and differs from place to place
What you need to know
- Describe how deforestation rates changed from the pre-industrial era to the 21st century, and name the push behind each change.
- Sort factors that change deforestation rates into economic, political and environmental.
- Interpret the 2012–2023 figures for primary tropical forest loss, including the 2016 fire anomaly.
- Explain why it matters whether forest loss is caused by fire.
- Explain how and why deforestation rates differ between places.
The big picture
Deforestation — the large-scale removal or clearing of forests — does not simply get worse every year. Its rate has risen and fallen through history and still differs from place to place, because economic, political and environmental factors push it up or down.
Key points
Worked example
Problem
In 2016, fire-related loss of primary tropical forest rose from 0.3 million hectares to 2.4 million hectares. Use the figures to describe how big the change was.
⚠ Watch out
Reading the 2016 fire spike as fires taking over as the main cause of loss. They didn't: even at 2.4 million hectares, fire-related loss stayed below the lowest year of non-fire loss (2.5 million hectares), so non-fire loss was still the main cause.
Memory hook
Deforestation is a dial, not a staircase. Economic, political and environmental factors turn it up or down — and demand can turn it either way.
Check yourself
Without looking back: name one economic, one political and one environmental factor that can change deforestation rates, and say which of your three can push the rate both up and down.
Flashcards
(13)What is deforestation?
Have deforestation rates only ever increased?
Which economic factor changes deforestation rates, and which way can it push them?
Name three political factors that have shaped the pace of deforestation.
Which two political actions do not increase deforestation rates?
Give two environmental factors that influence deforestation rates.
What drove forest clearing before industry, and what changed in the Industrial Revolution?
What caused the sharp rise in deforestation in the 20th century?
What has happened to deforestation in the 21st century?
Where are the countries with the highest deforestation rates, and what drives it there?
Between 2012 and 2023, what was the main cause of primary tropical forest loss, and what was its range?
Why does it matter whether forest loss is caused by fire?
How do we know deforestation rates differ between countries?
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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