As in most of the early villages along the Skagit river, one of the first priorities was to clear the forest land to provide space for a townsite and residential area. This photo of the Hamilton Logging Co. shows a crew in action.
Because of aridity and scarcity of rain Arabian Gulf is considered to be poor as far as natural plants are concerned. Natural vegetation in the Arabian Gulf region have deep roots or thorn-like small leaves, hence they endure aridity and overcome its impact.
Intensive agriculture is causing serious soil erosion in some areas of the Gulf of California, Mexico. Â© Edward Parker / WWF. When natural vegetation is cleared and when farmland is ploughed, the exposed topsoil is often blown away by wind or washed away by rain. Erosion due to soy production, for example, sees Brazil lose 55 million tons of topsoil every year. 1 This leads to reduced soil fertility and degraded land.