The clearing of woods and forests is the process by which vegetation, such as

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s and

bushes A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

, together with their

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

s are permanently removed. The main aim of this process is to clear areas of forest, woodland or scrub in order to use the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...

for another purpose, such as

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

land, arable farming,

human settlement In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of citi ...

or the construction of

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types o ...

s or

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

s. Many of the world's most prominent forests have suffered significant levels of clearing in recent years, including the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

. In the 2 years following the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 1 January 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the Social Liberal Party, which he turn ...

, clearing in eastern Brazil increased by 27%.

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

has the highest rate of clearing and deforestation, with 15 million acres lost between 2000 and 2012. This was primarily due to the increase in demand for

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced fr ...

Description

One definition of forest clearing is given in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n federal law that governs the forestry industry which defines it as "the use of forest land for purposes other than forestry".''Rodung''
Federal Law dated 3 July 1975, that governs forestry, "Forstgesetz 1975", Austria), retrieved 19 June 2014. Sometimes a distinction is made between forest clearing or tree clearing, whereby the trees, including the stumps, are cleared, and stump or root clearing where the trees are first felled and the stumps removed subsequently. Forest clearings may result in small, isolated, treeless areas or cleared corridors, for example along rivers or other linear features. Isolated clearings frequently occur in advance of more general and large-scale

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

. Many towns and

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

s in Central Europe emerged during historical "clearance periods" resulting in "clearing or clearance landscapes as a form of

internal colonisation Internal may refer to: *Internality as a concept in behavioural economics *Neijia, internal styles of Chinese martial arts *Neigong or "internal skills", a type of exercise in meditation associated with Daoism *''Internal (album)'' by Safia, 2016 ...

. An example of this is the

settlement Settlement may refer to: * Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building *Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

of people in the

Central Uplands The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff. (german: die MittelgebirgeN.B. In German die ''Mittelgebirge'' (plural) refers to the Central Uplands; das ''Mittelgebirge'' refers to a low mountain range or upland region (''Mittel'' = "medium" and ...

in so-called '' Waldhufendorf'' villages. The names of many towns and villages in Europe derives from their origin as clearance settlements, for example, names ending in ''-rode'' ( Gernrode,

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

) or ''-reuth'' (

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital o ...

). Unlike in other areas of the world, clearing in Europe has decreased in recent years. In the 25 years from 1990 to 2015, forested areas in Europe increased by 90,000 square kilometres (9 million hectares).

References

Literature

* Richard B. Hilf: ''Der Wald. Wald und Weidwerk in Geschichte und Gegenwart - Erster Teil'' eprint Aula, Wiebelsheim, 2003, . * Hans Hausrath: ''Geschichte des deutschen Waldbaus. Von seinen Anfängen bis 1850''. Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Forstpolitik und Raumordnung der Universität Freiburg. Hochschulverlag, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1982, . * Jens Lüning: ''Steinzeitliche Bauern in Deutschland. Die Landwirtschaft im Neolithikum'', Habelt, Bonn, 2000, , Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie; Vol. 58, pp. 49–52 {{Authority control Forest management Environmental history

Description

See also

References

Literature