Deforestation is typically done to make more land available for housing and urbanization, timber, large scale cash crops such as soy and palm oil, and cattle ranching. The World Wildlife Fund reports that much of the logging industry that contributes to deforestation is done illegally (about half of it used for firewood).
Common methods of deforestation are burning trees and clear cutting, which is the controversial practice of complete removal of a given tract of forest. A forestry expert quoted by the Natural Resources Defense Council describes clear cutting as "an ecological trauma that has no precedent in nature except for a major volcanic eruption."
Burning can be done quickly, in vast swaths of land for plantation use, or more slowly with the slash-and-burn technique. This destructive practice entails cutting down a patch of trees, burning them, and growing crops on the land until the soil becomes too degraded from overgrazing and sun exposure for new growth. Then, the farmers move on to a new patch of land.