Forests and other natural habitats have been converted for agricultural use for as long as humans have walked the earth, and while most of the focus recently has been on the conversion of tropical rainforests to agricultural plantations, landscapes all throughout the world are still being converted, and in the developed world, natural landscapes are a shadow of their former selves. The conversion of forest to agriculture involves the chopping down of trees, and the corresponding loss of biodiversity. Although very few animal species can live in any type of plantation, if managed well, plantations can still retain some of the ecosystem functions of tropical rainforests. In what circumstances and on what criterion could the conversion of tropical forestry into agricultural land be justified