Deforestation reduces malaria bed nets' effectiveness

Deforestation reduces malaria bed nets' effectiveness

When a forest is lost to development, some effects are obvious. Stumps and mud puddles across the landscape, a plowed field or houses a year after that. But deforestation isn't just a loss of trees; it's a loss of the countless benefits that forests provide -- one of which is control of disease. Now, a global study shows that a widespread malaria-fighting strategy -- bed nets -- becomes less effective as deforestation rises. The research undersc…