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deforestation — English
The human-induced removal of the vegetation that naturally grows in a certain area. The term does not refer to forested areas only, but to any natural area where any type of vegetation grows. An area could be stripped of its vegetation by human actions such as overgrazing, overexploitation, incorrect agricultural methods, the use of fire to clear areas for cultivation (slash-and-burn cultivation), inadvertent or deliberate veld fires, military operations, and many more. These actions leave the ground surface uncovered and therefore unprotected against the forces of soil erosion (see “erosion”). Rainwater will simply run off over the devegetated area because there is no vegetation to prevent runoff. Owing to this increased runoff, the topsoil will be washed away. Without vegetation to protect the topsoil from wind, it is simply blown away. Devegetation (or deforestation) leads to accelerated soil erosion and ultimately to denudation which is the total loss of the fertile topsoil that is indispensible to support the growth of vegetation. Denuded areas have lost their production capacity (production potential). Vast tracts of land on all continents (except Antarctica) have been reduced to this state. These regions include tropical forests, grasslands, semi-deserts, fynbos regions, high rainfall mountainous regions, and even certain areas in very fertile regions such as the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. (See “environmental degradation”.)
