The Forest Buddies      
Save The Forests, Save Our Lives
   
 
Population growth and deforestation
Emerging Trends

Large amounts of forest can be preserved by harvesting non-timber forest products. However, the population explosion will emerge as a difficult problem to balance.

A population explosion in another country can escalate the need for more wood or meat. A country exporting these products may resort to more deforestation although the local population may not have grown.

The strongest relationship between population growth and deforestation occur in countries which depend on farming to ensure the survival of its poorer people.
 
Sources:
Frederick A.B. Meyerson, "Human Population Density, Deforestation and Protected Areas Management: A Multi-scale Analysis of Central America, Guatemala, and the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Proceedings of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, XXIV General Population Conference (Salvador, Brazil, 2001).