The world's forests are disappearing at a rate of 15 million hectares each year, with most of the losses occurring in humid parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. With the present rate of deforestation, about 40 per cent of the remaining forest cover in the developing countries will be lost by the year 2005.  Tropical forests are being cleared both for their lumber and to make way for plantations, pastures, and crops. Migration by landless peasants and other unemployed people into forest areas is encouraged in some countries, but after a few harvests the soil is severely depleted.

The cause of deforestation under these conditions is not simply population pressure but also the desire for foreign exchange. This induces many developing countries to export timber faster than their forests are being regenerated. Overcutting also causes the loss of forest- based livelihoods, increases soil erosion and downstream flooding, and accelerates the decline of rare genetic resources and the loss of endangered species. In South and East Asia and Latin America deforestation in upland watersheds often causes increased downstream flooding in the rainy season. The flooding is followed by abnormally low water flow during the dry season, with severe damage to agricultural productivity in floodplains and valleys. In the Ganges plain alone, flood damage in India and Bangladesh exceeds $1 billion annually. Deforestation also contributes a significant portion of the increasing global emissions of carbon dioxide, as noted earlier.

Increased demand for agricultural land up to the year 2010 in developing countries may be on the order of 80 million hectares. Some of that demand will probably be met out of their present forest land. But many tropical soils are unsuitable for continuous cultivation or intense grazing, and such agricultural expansion may cause ecological damage and loss of productivity. In some developing countries programmes of transmigration and settlement for farming and ranching in tropical forest areas have already caused severe environmental damage, eroding long-term food security.

To alleviate tropical deforestation and to promote sustainable exploitation of the world's forests, nations should assess the value of their forest resources in a comprehensive way and reflect this in their development plans. Once the true costs of deforestation are realized, Governments would be more likely to seek to protect their forest ecosystems. Multipurpose forest management involves production of timber, non-wood forest products, fuel-wood, fodder, fibre, and wildlife management; it also contributes to provision of water, shelter and recreation, control of air pollution, and protection of soil, genetic resources, and natural heritage. The following techniques and approaches are essential in a strategy to find this balance:

Agroforestry integrates trees with crop and livestock production systems and is a promising way to link food production, especially in low-potential areas, with improved forest management.

Watershed management is necessary to guarantee food production in high-potential areas. Links need to be maintained between forestry and food production through an integrated approach to watershed management. Incentives must be provided to rehabilitate degraded watersheds.

Monitoring and evaluation systems should include adequate baseline surveys, geographic information systems, and assessment of local environmental impacts and community benefits and involvement.

Protection of genetic resources is fundamental to any forest strategy. The establishment in 1987 of the International Fund on Plant Genetic Resources was an important step toward ensuring that the genetic resources of the tropical forests are conserved and wisely utilized.

The Tropical Forestry Action Plan was initiated in 1985 to coordinate human needs, environmental management, and sustainable forest development. It is slowly gaining recognition by concerned countries. Seeking to find the right balance between development and environmental protection, this plan represents the first serious international effort to confront the problem of saving the tropical forest in an integrated way. The International Tropical Timber Agreement also came into force in 1985. Its main objectives are to improve market intelligence, to assist producing countries to develop better techniques for reforestation and forest management, to encourage increased timber processing in producing countries, and to support research and development programmes to achieve these goals. Several developing countries, including Brazil, Indonesia, and the Philippines, have banned most exports of logs; more dramatically, Thailand has banned all commercial logging, even for use by its own wood products industry, and is removing squatter farmers from forest areas with steep slopes or shallow soils.