The tropical forest is under the most threat from human development because it has the richest resources of any ecosystem in the world. The excellent growing climate gives the tropical forest an abundance of fast-growing trees, and the rainforest in Continental Equatorial Guinea, for example has over 140 species of wood and has been exploited by the lumber industry ("Africa: Forests under Threat"). In Gabon, the primary rainforests are rapidly disappearing due to logging of precious tropical wood, which is "practiced as a depredatory activity, where transnational logging companies, that hold huge concessions, make big money, while local communities have to bear the cost" ("Africa: Forests under Threat"). From 1960 to 1990, "the world lost 450 million hectares of its tropical forest cover, over one fifth of total remaining coverage," and "tropical deforestation releases approximately 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere each year(about 19 per cent of total global carbon emissions" ("The land: deforestation, desertification and pesticides"). Deforestation is brought about because of practices such as "slash and burn" deforestation, road building, logging, cattle ranching, hydroelectric power, and farming (Hutchinson). Moreover, deforestation is often "closely linked to the economic health of the country," with periods of lower deforestation associated with periods of slower economic growth; during such recessions, "ranchers and developers do not have enough cash to rapidly expand their operations, while the government lacks funds to build new roads and settlements and grant tax breaks and subsidies" (Hutchinson).
Differences between the tropical forest ecosystem and others such as temperate forests and grasslands create a difference in degree of threat from exploitation, because the rapidly growing tropical forest yields more profit faster than ecosystems that take centuries for trees to grow. Since th...