The bar chart illustrates primary causes of deforestation in three regions from 1990 to 2000, and from 2010 to 2020.
Overall, it is clear that cattle ranching was the most significant contributor to deforestation in South America and Central Africa. By contrast, the percentage of deforestation as a result of ranching recorded considerably lower figure in Southeast Asia.
Looking at South America, the major reason for forest loss was cattle ranching, standing at approximately 70%, whereas subsistence farming and logging showed the lowest notable feature in this region, having virtually no impact on land. The figure for commercial agriculture stood at approximately 14% of total forest land. In addition, other reasons made up over 10% of total land.
Turning to Southeast Asia, commercial agriculture was the largest contributor, at nearly 50%, while cattle raching accounted only for 3% of total forest loss. By contrast, ranching and farming were both the major causes in Central Africa, at over 30% and 40% respectively. In addition, other reasons in Central Africa accounted for smaller proportion than that in Southeast Asia, at 4% and 9% respectively.