Talk to anyone about climate change and the chances are two topics will arise. One being crude oil and the other “loss of the rain forest”. While leaving the former of these to Jeremy (see his book list) I’m going to reinforce the latter.
Palm Oil – (see its uses here)
The production of crude palm oil turns areas of lush rain forest into one crop fields under pretenses of being “environmentally friendly”.
In countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, the production of palm oil for diesel is turning areas of high biodiversity forest to fields
Loss of this forest not only results in carbon sink depletion, but also turns the land barren (not to mention loss of medicinal plants). Its worth mentioning that in a rain forest ecosystem, the majority of fertile nutrients, water, and energy are held in the plants themselves (as a circular system with dead plants feeding nutrients to the living), not in the soil. When this area is cleared all this is lost, carried away as timber etc meaning that the ground is left significantly less productive than previously. The agricultural land is only fertile and productive for a couple of years after which it becomes barren. At this stage farmers and palm growers must either spend excessive amounts of money on fertilizers, sell the land to cattle grazers or log more forest. All are detrimental on people, land, and environment.
Rain forests are thought to grow in very fertile soil. Although fertility does come into the equation, the major factor is plant life. Its the rain forest itself that makes the land so fertile. Remove that and you lose the fertility cycle.
(For a full journal report on the affects of Palm Oil growing on the environment. Read here.)
The Earthbound Report 
Interesting point about the water being contained in the plants. This is something to bear in mind when buying imported food.
Green beans from Kenya for example, are not just beans, but also water. One bean represents a whole four litres in fact. Having seen how dry Kenya can be, the thought that we are indirectly importing vast quantities of their water is pretty shocking.