Question

What are the major causes of the degradation of forest in Brazil and India?

Answer 1

1. Forests are being cut down as more area is required to expand the cities. Hence, rapid urbanisation is one of the reasons for the degradation of forests.
2. To ensure a continuous food supply to meet the needs of the ever-increasing population, more and more areas need to be brought under agriculture. For the expansion of agricultural land, forest areas are being cut down.
3. In both India and Brazil, forests are being cut down for firewood and for other domestic needs.
4. Slash and Burn agriculture, which is also called Roka in Brazil and Jhum in India, is responsible for deforestation.
5. Apart from all the above reasons, forest fires, pollution, overgrazing, etc., are also responsible for the degradation of forests.

Answer 2

The major causes of degradation of forest in Brazil and India are as follows:

• Urbanisation:
  1. Both are developing countries. Both countries have seen urbanisation as a result of industrialisation.
  2. New cities are being created and expanded as a result of urbanisation. Rural populations are rapidly migrating to metropolitan regions in search of improved work opportunities and living conditions. The huge inflow of rural people into cities creates a housing problem, and in order to house them, enormous amounts of forest land are removed. For example, vast tracts of land are cleared to widen roadways.

• Shifting agriculture:
  1. People in both countries are cutting down trees and diminishing forest cover to make more area available for cultivation. As a result, it reduces the area of the forests.
  2. Shifting agriculture is referred to as ‘Roca’ in Brazil and ‘Jhum’ in India. It is performed in regions of the Northeast. Cutting and burning is used to remove forest area for shifting agriculture.
  3. For the next few years, this plot of land will be used for subsistence cultivation. Once this area loses fertility, another patch of undergrowth is destroyed, resulting in deforestation.