Globally, people only use a few hundred species of edible plants of the 50,000 discovered. Forests Forests are extremely endangered by population growth. Just about everything humans do in order to grow and cook food, build shelter, acquire power sources, and develop areas affects forests. Clearing land for agriculture in developing countries is the top cause of forest destruction, as food production must keep up with the growing numbers of mouths to feed. Tropical forests are being cut down at an estimated rate of 59,500 square miles the size of Florida every year for various reasons.
Forests provide many services for the environment.
But once the trees are cut down, they release into the atmosphere the carbon they stored. Forests are also a source of many medicines that we manufacture today, and there is no telling how many cures are being destroyed every day. Humans are trading biodiversity, food and medicinal sources, nutrient recycling, climate regulation, and watershed management for cropland, pasture, fuel, and urban development. Half of the planet's tropical forests have been destroyed or degraded. One production run of the Sunday New York Times requires product from 75,000 trees.