population growth is one factor in

population growth is one factor in rainforest destrucsion. however , it is a myth to assume the expansion of subsistence agriculture to feed more mouths is the main factor. the majority of defrostation in latin america. south-east aisa and the pacific is caused by clearing land to grow cash crops for export and by commercial logging operations, and not by "shifting" cultivators or landless peasants. each year commercial logging eliminates 45000 square kilometers of forest, much of the timber being exported to usa and japan.
no clearer conection between defrostation and demans of affluent societies can be found than in central america and brazil, where tropical forest has been converted to grazing land because cattle raising