Charcoal making for iron production got blamed for early deforestation too. The truth is that most of the trees grown for charcoal back then were on plantations which were replanted or coppiced. In the USA most deforestation was encouraged by the railroads to raise cattle for their markets. It was easy money to clear the land, sell the timber to buy fence and cattle and then sit back and tend the herd for profit. Dan Dimiduk In a message dated 1/13/2014 1:31:43 PM Eastern Standard Time, samer.abdeln...@gmail.com writes:
Dear all, Just to contribute on the deforestation discussion. A dated (1997) by excellent resource by the FAO, which concluded that deforestation occurs mainly as a result of pressures for agricultural land, logging, and national infrastructure projects, not for cooking. http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7744e/w7744e06.htm Of course, I applaud efforts to source cleaner, more sustainable fuel. Perhaps these should be grounded in location specific challenges (i.e. community nurseries), not distorted by general mythologies associated with global problems and magic bullets. Best, Samer
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