The forest can be changed quickly with the use of heavy machinery brought In by large, foreign corporations. African governments are caught between the influx of money brought into the country and the desire to protect their natural resources. In Congo, it is a French timber consortium that is mainly responsible for the logging activities. Logging, mining, and other resource speculation leads to building access roads into once unreachable territory opening access to settlement by peasants and farmers. The forest also comes into danger from bushmeat hunting to supply the local people with food and also export to city markets.
Fuel wood is used as a major source of energy in developing countries, especially Africa.
The forests are cut for firewood and burned for cooking and to produce heat and charcoal. In many parts of Africa the availability of fuel wood has become increasingly scarce. In some parts, war and revolution have displaced refugees into camps, many being close to forested areas where their only source for provisions is the rainforest. Animals and plants that lived in the rainforests could be lost forever. Many important resources could be lost.