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Central American countries have experienced cycles of deforestation and reforestation since the decline of Maya civilization, influenced by many factors such as population growth and agriculture. From 2001 to 2010, 5,376 square kilometers of forest were lost in the region. In 2010 Belize had 63% of remaining forest cover, Costa Rica 46%, Panama 45%, Honduras 41%, Guatemala 37%, Nicaragua 29%, and El Salvador 21%. Most of the loss occurred in the moist forest biome, with 12,201 square kilometers. Woody vegetation loss was partially set off by a plus in the coniferous forest biome with 4,730 km2, and a gain in the dry forest biome at 2,054 km2. Mangroves and deserts contributed only 1% to the loss in forest vegetation. The bulk of the deforestation was located at the Caribbean slopes of Nicaragua with a minus of 8,574 square kilometers of forest lost in the period from 2001 to 2010. The most significant regrowth of 3,050 km2 of forest was seen in the coniferous woody vegetation of Honduras.〔Daniel J. Redo, H. Ricardo Grau, T. Mitchell Aide, and Matthew L. Clark. (''Asymmetric forest transition driven by the interaction of socioeconomic development and environmental heterogeneity in Central America'' ) in: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Jun 5, 2012; 109(23): 8839–8844.〕 ==History== The history of most Central American countries involves cycles of deforestation and reforestation. For the Ancient Mayan culture at Copan, Honduras, the process of clearing large amounts of land for their agricultural-based society surpassed the forests' ability to replenish naturally. Besides the clearing of land for farmland, Mayans consumed vast quantities of wood as fuel and building materials, rapidly depleting the natural resources of this area. Eventually, the lack of firewood may have caused health problems among those who were unable to properly cook their food or warm their habitations.〔Abrams, Elliot M., and David J. Rue. "The Causes and Consequences of Deforestation among the Prehistoric Maya." Human Ecology 16, no. 4 (1988): 377-395.〕 By the fifteenth century, intensive Mayan agriculture had significantly thinned the forests, but had not completely decimated them. Before Europeans arrived, forests covered 500,000 square kilometers – approximately 90% of the region. The arrival of the Spaniards caused a sharp decrease in population resulting from the highly contagious diseases introduced by the conquistadores. This reduction in human pressure gave much of the land that had been cleared for cultivation time to recover. Eventually, the forcing of "Europe's money economy on Latin America" created the demand for the exportation of primary products, which introduced the need for large amounts of cleared agricultural land to produce those products.〔Myers, Norman, and Richard Tucker. "Deforestation in Central America: Spanish Legacy and North American Consumers." Environmental Review: ER 11, no. 1 (1987): 55-71.〕 While the cultivation of some exports such as indigo and cochineal dye worked harmoniously with the surrounding indigenous vegetation, other crops such as sugar required clear-cutting of land and mass quantities of firewood to fuel the refining process, which spurred rapid, destructive deforestation. From the eighteenth to the twentieth century, mahogany exports for furniture became the major cause of forest exhaustion. The region experienced economic change in the nineteenth century through a "fuller integration in the world capitalist system".〔 This, combined with conflict with Spain, put an even greater emphasis on plantation cropping. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Europe and North America became the chief importers of the regions coffee and banana crops, thus putting increasing demand on the land to produce large quantities of these cash crops and perpetuating the clearing of more forest in an attempt to acquire more exploitable farmland. Most recently, as of the 1960s, cattle ranching has become the primary reason for land clearing. The lean grass-fed cattle produced by Central American ranches (as opposed to grain-fed cattle raised elsewhere) was perfectly suited for American fast-food restaurants and this seemingly bottomless market has created the so-called "hamburger connection" which links "consumer lifestyles in North America with deforestation in Central America".〔 This demonstrates how the developed world has had an indirect influence on the environment and landscape of developing countries. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Deforestation in Central America」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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