Cigarettes are made from the dried leaves of the tobacco
plant.
Nearly 5 million hectares (600
million trees) of forest are destroyed each year to provide
trees to dry tobacco.
In developed countries coal, oil or LP gas can be used as
fuel to dry tobacco leaves. However, many less developed
countries depend on wood for fuel to dry tobacco. Of the
4.1 million hectares of land around the world that is used
to grow tobacco, 73% is in poorer countries.
Estimates of the amount of wood required to dry one
kilogram of tobacco vary from a minimum of 5kg to as
much as 230kg. In some countries wood is used for
heating and cooking. When it is also used for drying
tobacco, there is less wood available for cooking and
heating.
Forests act like a sponge, releasing water slowly to
the land around. Without forests, flooding and drought
become more likely.
In many poorer countries where food is already in short
supply, tobacco companies encourage local farmers to
grow tobacco instead of food. Sometimes this results
in even less food being available for the community.
Tobacco plants take more nutrients from the soil than
these food crops. They also need lots of pesticides
and fertilisers to keep them free from diseases. These
chemicals can affect the health of the farmers and their
families.
Because cigarettes are wrapped in paper and sold in
packs, they use large amounts of paper and therefore
forest resources. A modern cigarette manufacturing
machine uses six kilometres of paper per hour.