"In Brazil, forest fires set by farmers and ranchers to clear land for agriculture raged out of control last year, wiping out more than 3 million acres of trees as a severe drought gripped the region. Those losses undermined Brazil’s recent efforts to protect its rain forests.
In Colombia, a landmark peace deal between the government and the country’s largest rebel group paved the way for a rush of mining, logging and farming that caused deforestation in the nation’s Amazon region to spike last year.
And in the Caribbean, Hurricanes Irma and Maria flattened nearly one-third of the forests in Dominica and a wide swath of trees in Puerto Rico last summer."
Brad Plumer reports for the New York Times June 27, 2018.
SEE ALSO:
"Fires To Clear Land Lead To Near-Record Loss Of Tree Cover In 2017, Study Shows" (Reuters)
"One Football Pitch Of Forest Lost Every Second In 2017, Data Reveals" (Guardian)
