Description

Deforestation of the rainforest is visible in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, immediately adjacent to untouched tracts of forest. Deforestation in the country has primarily been driven by the expansion of mechanized agriculture and cattle ranching. This Overview highlights the country’s struggle to expand food production in order to meet the needs of its growing population and the sacrificial destruction of its forests that has taken place to do so. It is estimated that Bolivia lost 4.5 million acres (1.82 million hectares) of forest between 2000 to 2010.