Band 8+: The chart below shows the main reasons for deforestation in three different regions of the world during two separate decades. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

The bar chart compares the main causes of deforestation in three regions: South America, Southeast Asia, and Central Africa. The figures are percentages of forest loss.

Overall, each region has a different main reason. In South America, one cause is considerably bigger than the others, whereas in the other two regions, the causes are more evenly spread out.

In South America, cattle ranching was the main cause 70%, considerably higher than the rest. This was followed by commercial agriculture at 15%, other causes at 10%, logging at 3%, and subsistence farming at 2%, respectively.

In Southeast Asia, commercial agriculture was the main cause at 50%, compared with logging at 20% and subsistence farming at 15%. Cattle ranching and other causes were much lower, at 5% and 10%, respectively.

In Central Africa, however, subsistence farming was highest at 40%, followed by cattle ranching at 30% and logging at 15%, while commercial agriculture and other causes remained low at 10% and 5%, respectively.