BharatNotes Deforestation
noun (uncountable)Usage in a UPSC answer
The Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 2020 drew sharp criticism from ecologists and disaster managers who argued that relaxing prior scrutiny for linear infrastructure projects in ecologically sensitive areas would accelerate deforestation in the Western Ghats and Himalayan foothills, increasing landslide and flood risks in downstream districts.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
deforest (verb), deforested (adjective), deforesting (participle), afforestation (noun), reforestation (noun), forestation (noun), forest (noun/verb)
Root
Latin de- = removal, reversal + Old French forest (from Medieval Latin forestis) + -ation = process suffix
Etymology
Formed from the prefix de- (indicating removal or reversal, from Latin de-) plus 'forestation' (the action of planting a forest). 'Forest' itself entered Middle English from Old French forest, derived from Medieval Latin forestis silva (the woodland outside the enclosed park), from Latin foris (outside). The reverse process, deforestation, began to be documented systematically in colonial-era land surveys of the 19th century, and the term gained widespread policy usage following the founding of the FAO and the first global forest assessments in the mid-20th century.
Memory Hook
DE (remove) + FOREST + ATION: to DE-FOREST is to remove the forest. The prefix de- always signals reversal or removal in English — de-frost, de-rail, de-mobilise. Deforestation is the removal of the forest itself, the undoing of nature's green cover. Picture the prefix de- as an eraser wiping trees off a hillside.
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