Artificial loss of forest can occur in order to develop the land for other purposes (e.g., agriculture, residential), or to remove wood where the intent is for the trees to naturally re-grow, or be re-planted. Partial removal is also possible, where forest is thinned to remove some of the trees and leave the remainder for increased growth and possible later removal.
Certification of forestry operations was developed to provide assurance to wood consumers/users that the operations are not destructive to forest ecosystems or nearby communities. There has been debate over whether or not certified operations are actually sustainable (e.g., allowing clear-cutting). One advantage of certified operations is that there may be more transparency about the types of operations.
