Deforestation in Borneo.

AGRICULTURE IN THE RAINFOREST

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Every year thousands of miles of rainforest are destroyed for agricultural use. The two groups chiefly responsible for converting rainforest into farmland are poor farmers and corporations.

Poor farmers in many parts of the world rely on clearing rainforest to feed their families. Without access to better agricultural lands, these people use slash-and-burn to clear patches of forest for short-term use. Typically, they farm the cleared land for a couple of years before the soil is exhausted of nutrients, and they must move on to clear a new patch of forest.

Agricultural companies are clearing more rainforest than ever before, especially in the Amazon where large tracts of rainforest are being converted into soybean farms. Some experts believe that South America will someday have an area of farmland that rivals that of the American Midwest. But much of this farmland will come at the expense of the Amazon rainforest.

In Asia, especially Malaysia and Indonesia, large areas of rainforest are being cleared for oil palm plantations to produce palm oil, which is used widely in processed food, cosmetics, and soap. Today palm oil is found in some 50 percent of packaged snack foods, a proportion that is growing because palm oil is the cheapest type of vegetable oil. Unfortunately, the forests that are being destroyed for palm oil production are home to many endangered species, including orangutans, pygmy elephants, Sumatran tigers, and Javan and Sumatran rhinos.

Why are biofuels bad for rainforests? | Why is palm oil bad for rainforests? | Why is soy bad for the Amazon rainforest

RAINFOREST PHOTOS
Soy field abutting against tropical forest Oil palm plantations in Malaysian Borneo (Malaysia) Aerial view of estuary, forests, and agriculture (Costa Rica)		Aerial view of an oil palm plantation and a heavily logged natural forest (Malaysia) Soy and forest in the Amazon New oil palm development in forest bordering Gunung Leuser National Park (Indonesia)		Slash-and-burn agriculture in the rainforest of Borneo (Indonesia) Large-scale soy fields in the southern Amazon Aerial view of spiny forest of Andohahela and sisal

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• Why are rainforests disappearing?
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FAQs May I use graphics from mongabay.com for my projects? Yes, you may provided that you don't remove the mongabay label from the images. You may use information from the site for class projects and can cite kids.mongabay.com as the source. Is this web site credible? Mongabay is the world's most popular source for information on tropical forests. The site is highly acclaimed by a number of the world's leading tropical scientists and is run independently, meaning it is has no affiliation with advocacy groups or outside corporations. Rhett Butler, who founded Mongabay in 1999 and runs the site today, has published several scientific papers. Can I interview the founder of mongabay.com for my school project? Unfortunately due to the large number of requests and the need to work on the main Mongabay site, Rhett is not available for interviews. However he has answered some common questions on the Rainforest Interview page. Do you have any games or activities? Currently there are a few on the resources page. There may be more in the future. Who are some scientists who study rainforests? Take a look at the Interviews with rainforest experts page. How can I help save rainforests? Some ideas are listed on the Rainforest Solutions page. Where can I learn more about rainforests? There is a wealth of information at the main rainforest site