ABSTRACT
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees. William Blake (1757-1827), Proverbs of Hell
3.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter we examine what is causing the clearance of the rainforests. The glib answer sometimes offered to the question ‘Why are rainforests under attack?’ is simply that there are too many people expecting too many things from them. To a large degree this is true, but the reality is neither as simple nor as direct as the answer suggests. To isolate population as the root cause of forest clearance doesn’t throw much light on what the main sources of pressure are, where the pressure is being applied most forcefully and where the pressures originate. Rainforest are being cleared for many different reasons.1
