Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of cutting down and clearing away the forests of a region or a tract of land.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The process of destroying a forest and replacing it with something else, especially by an agricultural system.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the state of being clear of trees
  • noun the removal of trees

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin de + forresta, forestis

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Examples

  • All things considered, the most significant current driver of deforestation is the expansion of beef industry.

    Global Voices in English » Brazil: Land reform or deforestation boost for the Amazon?

  • According to the results of a one-time questionnaire-based statistical survey published by the University of Illinois, with 3146 individuals completing the survey, 97% of the actively publishing climate scientists (as opposed to the scientists who are not publishing actively) agree that human activity, such as flue gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, is a significant contributing factor to global climate change [1].

    About: Blinded by Science

  • Furthermore, the influx of people could lead to uncontrolled forestry, mining, agricultureand huntingresulting in deforestation, soil erosion, disruption of the fragile ecological equilibriumand dislocation of traditional indigenous practices.

    Darién National Park, Panama

  • Expansion of cattle ranches, coca (Erythroxylum coca) plantations, and colonization along rivers results in deforestation and habitat degradation, driving the fauna away.

    Solimões-Japurá moist forest

  • Actually, deforestation is when people clear land permanently -- for farming, development, grazing, etc.

    Kids and the Kindle

  • In Cojimíes, for example, deforestation is evident and critical and its specific effects are closely related to shrimping activities.

    Manabí mangroves

  • The conclusion drawn is that the ecological damage from long term deforestation and resulting habitat fragmentation has been disproportionately related to the actual economic taking of forest.

    Habitat fragmentation

  • And deforestation is really bad in most places on the planet.

    A Promise

  • Mexico has moved into first place worldwide in deforestation - 2.5 million acres of forest are lost every year.

    Endangered Mexico: An Environment on the Edge by Joel Simon

  • Mexico has moved into first place worldwide in deforestation - 2.5 million acres of forest are lost every year.

    Endangered Mexico: An Environment on the Edge by Joel Simon

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