Land rush: The world’s population is growing at a faster rate. This has led to large number of people being declared food-insecure; this has therefore resulted in land rush since nations are scrambling to secure land for agriculture and also to grow bio-energy crops to generate cheap fuels. Slashing and burning of forests is an ever increasing practice and it can lead to biodiversity and ecosystems loss as well as land degradation. According to the UNEP, approximately 5 million hectares of land is annually lost through soil erosion and land degradation. Pastoralists and cattle ranchers are plundering the Amazon rain forest at an alarming rate.