Severe deforestation in the Mediterranean basin was described by classical authors. The background to their comments was the traditional view that groves of trees were sacred to the gods and that forests were the original home of mankind. The causes of deforestation, according to ancient writers, included agricultural clearance, pastoralism (especially that involving the goat), commercial tree cutting, warfare, and other human uses. The results included interference with water supplies, soil erosion, climatic changes, agricultural decline, and shortages of wood. Efforts were made to counteract some of these effects, including diplomatic maneuvers to secure supplies of timber, conservation mesures, legal enactments, and the protection of certain forest areas as reserves or ascred groves. Many of the people in antiquity held that trees were inhabited by supernatural beings, or possessed souls of their own, but most pholosophers adopted a more pragmatic view. In practice, the pressures of human use triumphed over traditional attitudes of respect and preservation, resulting in a chronic process of deforestation and erosion.