Tropical Deforestation Driven by Urbanization and Agricultural Trade

Tropical forests are a focal point for satisfying the world’s growing appetite for multiple resources, including food, biofuels, and carbon storage for climate mitigation.  Demands from urban growth and international trade of agricultural products are now a major pressure for clearing tropical forests, in contrast to previous decades when smallholder agricultural clearing was the main pressure.  This telecoupling between distal markets and pressure on tropical forest is both a challenge for forest protection and an opportunity for policies that target international markets for sustainable products.