The global rate of deforestation seems to be slowing, according to a preliminary study by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In some regions, most notably the tropics, destruction of forests declined by as much as 10 percent from the 1980s to the 1990s. Major causes of forest loss include large development projects that lead to resettlement, such as those in China, as well as excessive logging and grazing, rapid expansion of subsistence agriculture, and fires. The FAO warned against complacency, noting that forests are still being lost too quickly. “These preliminary results do not mean that the battle against deforestation is over,” said Hosny El-Lakany of the FAO.
