ABSTRACT
Although the causal pathways are complex and indirect, human health has in general benefited from the clearance and modification of forests for agriculture and cities. For example, the vast forests of Europe have largely been cleared, and the population supported by that land today is mostly prosperous and healthy. It is also much larger. Although the health of at least some hunter-gatherer populations appears to have surpassed that of many early and even some recent agriculturalists (Sahlins, 1972; Diamond, 2002; Holden, 2006), the larger populations facilitated by forest clearance have stimulated and permitted many of the specializations and technologies that make modern civilization possible. Some people (including some readers) may aspire to the allegedly simpler and perhaps richer life of our long-dead forest-dwelling ancestors, but forest clearance has generally been associated with improvements in human wellbeing. In China, where forests have been largely cleared, the health and prosperity of its truly vast population are improving, and a future that provides abundant ecosystem services, high technology, a long life expectancy and wellbeing for the average citizen remains possible. Nevertheless, the clearance and manipulation of forests have often harmed people, and this phenomenon continues today. The proportion of the global population directly harmed by forest clearance and modification remains small, but as an absolute number it is substantial.
