Deforestation

The most important manmade causes include using the land for agriculture and expanding human settlements (cities and towns), to a smaller extent also establishing infrastructure (roads, railways, powerlines, canals, etc.), mining for natural resources, cutting wood for timber provision, renewable energy (establishing dams on hydroelectric power stations and establishing wind farms) and polluting the environment. According to the legal definition, i.e. the Forest Act, deforestation is a type of felling performed to enable using the land for some other purpose than forest management.