Figure 3.8: FIGURE 3.8 PHOTO ESSAY: Human Impacts on the Biosphere in Middle and South AmericaWhile there are a wide variety of human impacts on the environments of this region, here we focus on the processes of land cover and land use change that lead to the conversion of forests to grazing land or farmland. The forces guiding this process are complex, driven by poor people’s need for livelihoods, governments’ desire to assert control over lightly populated areas, and the demands for wood, meat, and food that arise in distant urban centers and the global market. Together, these forces have led to a rapid loss of forest cover throughout much of this region. Brazil loses more forest cover each year than does any other country on the planet.
