Felling trees, furthering malaria: links between deforestation and disease in developing nations

Abstract

Malaria represents a leading illness and cause of death throughout areas of the Global South. Since malaria is transmitted through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito, environmental conditions are paramount in understanding malaria vulnerabilities. A burgeoning area of research connects anthropogenic deforestation and subsequent land-use changes to the expansion of mosquito habitats and malaria outbreaks. This paper explores those literatures, and also examines the drivers of deforestation in the Global South to demonstrate how population pressures, agricultural production, and rural migration patterns underlie motivations for deforestation and land transformation in poorer countries.