This is little discussed, probably because the ecological impacts of tobacco are overshadowed by its devastating effects on human health. However, if associated with a less controversial crop, these impacts would no doubt be considered a cause for concern in their own right. Recent decades have seen a shift by tobacco companies to sourcing tobacco from these countries, where there is cheap labour and easy access to natural resources.
Much effort is put into encouraging farmers to grow tobacco.
The level of damage to ancient forests from curing varies widely depending on country. Once forest is cleared, soil erosion and flooding can result, thus damaging nearby agricultural land. Faced with dwindling natural sources of wood, the tobacco industry has attempted to address the problem by encouraging farmers to plant their own trees for use as curing fuel. However, this presents difficulties for farmers on smallholdings, who need their non-tobacco growing land for food production and cannot afford to wait at least five years for trees to grow. In any case, replacing the biodiversity of ancient forests with largely monoculture plantations of non-indigenous species like eucalyptus, which draws heavily on underground water, is no solution to deforestation.