Jakarta, Indonesia – Deforestation cannot be blamed for widespread flooding such as recent massive deadly inundations in Central America, according to an international research report to be released today.
The study, issued by a U.N. agency and the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research, asserts that major floods tend to occur at regular intervals and are driven by major climatic patterns, rather than human activities such as logging.
It notes that massive flooding occurred in northern Thailand in 1918 and in 1953 when lush forests were abundant.
Catastrophic floods covering large areas of land almost always occur after prolonged rainfall saturates the soil and have little to do with the amount of forest cover, according to the report.
“The simple explanation for large-scale flooding is that it rains a huge amount and that flooding is part of natural processes,” said David Kaimowitz, director-general of forestry research group, which co-authored the study with the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization. “There is a tendency to look for culprits when these natural events occur.”
The report is based on a review of hundreds of published papers.
