Trees play a crucial role in regulating the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere because they are 50% carbon, and draw CO2 out of the atmosphere via photosynthesis. When a tree is cut and or/burned, it releases its stored carbon into the atmosphere, and can no longer sequester additional carbon (Source). Additional carbon may be released through the burning of ground vegetation and razing of soils. Each year, deforestation releases 25-30% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, or roughly 1.6 billion tons (Source). This translates to 50 million acres, or an area the size of England, Wales, and Scotland combined. It is estimated that 54% of deforestation comes from slash-and-burn farming (Source).

There are multiple factors contribute to deforestation, including population pressure,  international demand for timber and wood-derived products, and need for ever more land for agriculture. The value of tropical forests has historically been ascribed only to the natural resources they contain (timber, soil, game). Their other important functions include serving as habitat for 50% of life on Earth, home to 1.6 billion people including indigenous tribes, and regulator of the world's climate. Only now, in the face of alarming new evidence of their importance, are these benefits being quantified as an important part the rainforest's value.

Until now, forest conversion has been more profitable than forest conservation. Until the value of standing forests exceeds its felled value, developing nations will continue to pursue deforestation. "...While there's money to be made from food and energy and no income to be derived from the standing forest, it's obvious that the forest will take the hit", says Hylton Philipson, a trustee of Rainforest Concern.