Studies have revealed that this is not the case, as long as the population growth isn't too large. Since farmers in rainforest countries often are poor and can't afford to buy land, they clear rainforest land to grow their crops. In following years, they just clear more land, destroying the forest piece by piece. In Indonesia, the World Bank estimates that masssive transmigration from densely populated Jave out to rainforest areas is responsible for 30 percent of its deforestation this way. Ranching also causes destruction of the rainforests.
Ranchers clear large areas to become pastures for their cattle.
This land does not cost them very much, therefore they can sell cattle at low prices. The main force driving deforestation in Southeast Asia, however, has been commercial logging. Trees from the rainforest are used for building houses, making furniture, and prividing pulp for paper products, such as newspapers and magazines. Rainforest that was chopped can grow back over time, but they will never have the same variety of plants and animals they once did. The Indonesian forestry officials claim that commercial accounts for only 10 percent of the annual deforestation.