Giving up forests

ESA Space in Images Marking the International Day of Forests, this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image shows an area of Bolivia that was once covered by trees but has now been cleared for resettlement schemes and agriculture. Click on the box in the lower-right corner to view this image at its full 10 m resolution directly in your browser. Bolivia's city of Santa Cruz can be seen at the mid-left. One of the fastest growing cities in the world, this important commercial centre lies on the Pirai River in the tropical lowlands of eastern Bolivia. To the east of the city, and particularly east of the Guapay River, or the Río Grande, a huge patchwork of agricultural fields can be seen. Back in the 1960s this was an area of largely inaccessible thick Amazon forest. However, as an area of relatively flat lowland with abundant rainfall, it is suited to farming.