Manoeuvres of deer stop removal of trees (13)

I believe the answer is:

deforestation

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'removal of trees' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.

'manoeuvres of deer stop' is the wordplay.
'manoeuvres' is an anagram indicator.
'stop' becomes 'station' (eg a stop on a train journey).
'of'+'deer'='ofdeer'
'ofdeer' anagrammed gives 'defore'.
'defore'+'station'='DEFORESTATION'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for deforestation that I've seen before include "Clearance of trees" , "Large-scale tree felling" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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