Deforestation: A Conclusion

So the intriguing question we can conclude from the last few posts is: Did the Easter Islanders completely destroy the island’s dense subtropical forest, or was Rapa Nui since the beginning of human colonization, a poor environment covered only with local spots of forest, and was it drought and the introduction of rats in combination with humans that finally triggered the extinction of the already rare plant species (Jubaea chilensis).


Due to problems and inaccuracies associated with dating human arrival, deforestation, climate variability and the impact of rats, it is hard to tell which was the dominant cause, or what combination of causes could have triggered and brought about the deforestation of Easter Island. Nonetheless, what we can be sure of, is the deforestation on Easter Island was a complex process. Many scholars researching the collapse of Easter advocate that deforestation played an important, or even central role in the collapse of Rapa Nui, for example Jared Diamond’s highly popularised ‘Ecocide’ theory that humans caused deforestation, which in turn caused their own collapse. However, there are numerous other theories that try to explain the collapse of Rapa Nui, for example overpopulation, soil erosion, warfare and conflict, and the arrival of the Europeans and slave trade. The subsequent posts will investigate these theories as a cause of collapse.