Forest transition

FT is not a "law of nature", and the pattern is influenced by national context (for example, human population density, stage of development, structure of the economy), global economic forces, and government policies.

[12] There are many causes of transition, foremost, economic development leads to industrialisation and urbanisation, pulling the labour force away from the countryside to cities.

[13] Moreover, cultural responses to losses in forest area lead to government intervention to implement policies promoting reforestation.

[15] Territories reported to have experienced forest transitions after the onset of industrialization include Bangladesh, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark,[16] Canada,[2] Dominican Republic,[17] El Salvador,[18] France,[2][19] Greece,[2] Gambia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Puerto Rico,[2][17][20][21] Rwanda, Scotland,[22] South Korea, Spain, Switzerland,[2][23] the United States,[2] the United Kingdom,[2] and Vietnam.

[32] Yet, there are significant concerns which would dampen this enthusiasm, with local governance issues and the more structural looming shortage of productive land as human populations continue to increase.

[33] So far as significant increases in agricultural productivity are possible in developing countries, current under-utilised land reserves may not require exploitation.