Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest The completion of the roads was followed by a wave of resettlement; these settlers had a significant effect on the forest as well. Research conducted by Leydimere Oliveira et al. has shown that the more rainforest is logged in the Amazon, the less precipitation reaches the area and so the lower the yield per hectare becomes. Thus for Brazil as a whole, there is no economic gain to be made by logging and selling trees and using the logged land for pastoral purposes. A September 2016 Amazon Watch report concludes that imports of crude oil by the US are driving
Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest of prices for other crops, beef and timber may also have a significant impact on future land use in the region. Until 2006, a major driver of forest loss in the Amazon was the cultivation of soy, mainly for export and production of biodiesel and animal feed; as soybean prices have risen, soy farmers pushed northwards into forested areas of the Amazon. However, a private sector agreement referred to as the Soy Moratorium has helped drastically reduce the deforestation linked to soy production in the region. In 2006, a number of major commodity trading companies such as Cargill agreed to