Deforestation is the permanent destruction of
indigenous forests and woodlands. The term does not include the removal of industrial
forests such as plantations. It has resulted in the reduction of indigenous
forests to 4/5 of their pre-agricultural area.
Deforestation is a problem that is caused largely by
greed and want for property, money and possibly status. In many parts of the
world the forest is taken for granted as a replenishable resource, which it is.
The problem is that the trees cannot be regrown and replanted at the rate at
which they are being cut down.
For this reason the forests are declining at an incredible rate and there is no forseeable future for places like the Amazon which remained untouched for 20 000 years and now could be destroyed in less than a human's life time.
For this reason the forests are declining at an incredible rate and there is no forseeable future for places like the Amazon which remained untouched for 20 000 years and now could be destroyed in less than a human's life time.
Deforestation is a problem with far reaching
consequences ranging from a barren landscape to a higher Carbon Dioxide levels
in the air. The underlying point is that we have to pull together to stop the
destruction of the world's woodlands and forests.
Deforestation can be attributed to various causes. The
obvious one is logging, however the reasons extends a lot further than that.
The forests are cultivated, cleared and burned every year for international
ranchers and local farmers. Every year certain factors influence the amount of
forest area:
- fires
- logging
- farming
- population
expansion
- growth of
cities
- roads and
highways
- politics
- shifting
cultivators
In a lot of third world countries the population is
involved in various primary activities, one of these being logging. The native
peoples in an area are put under a lot of pressure to make a living to support
their families, and get jobs as loggers, often illegally so.
The people are often uneducated and know nothing other than logging practices. In many countries the logging trade is the biggest foreign money-earner and therefore governments try to exploit the forests for all they can take, and more.
The people are often uneducated and know nothing other than logging practices. In many countries the logging trade is the biggest foreign money-earner and therefore governments try to exploit the forests for all they can take, and more.
Another cause is fires. In Kenya and the Amazon and
various other countries there are large plantations of exotic plants in the
places where there used to be indigenous forests. The exotic trees often are
not suited to the environment and shed a lot of leaves. This makes the area a
huge fire hazard. If a fire starts the dry leaves act like fire lighters and
cause huge amounts of damage to the local area.
Human settlement is a big problem in many areas.
People who have left the city to live in the rural areas claim pieces of land
as their own and slash and burn the surroundings, using wood for fuel and also
selling it on roadsides etc.
Some people who have been displaced by large ranchers or plantations have to move further into the indigenous forests because they do not know how to live off the exotic plants. By doing this they remove trees from yet more of the forest.
Some people who have been displaced by large ranchers or plantations have to move further into the indigenous forests because they do not know how to live off the exotic plants. By doing this they remove trees from yet more of the forest.
The construction of roads and highways is a bit
problem in wooded areas. In the Amazon they propose to build a 960km highway
called the BR-163 from Curiaba in the middle of South America to Santarem in
the top right corner of Brazil. The BR-163 will allow giant grain producers in
the Matto Grosso region to export their crops to Europe via Santarem far more
quickly and cheaply. It is estimated that 49 000km2 of forest will be destroyed
during constructon
This is not the only worry though. When the road is built there will be a wave of squatters and farmers etc. vying for land on the superhighway. This could be the single most devastating assault on the Amazon ever.
This is not the only worry though. When the road is built there will be a wave of squatters and farmers etc. vying for land on the superhighway. This could be the single most devastating assault on the Amazon ever.
The growth of the world population is also a problem
because more ground has to be cleared in order to feed the ever-growing
populations. As the population grows there is a need for food. People take the
initiative and buy large pieces of land that they cultivate with single crops.
They have to cut down trees and bush etc. When they harvest their crop they
leave the ground open to erosion.
Deforestation is by no means a restricted problem. It
can play havoc with the local community and even the country it occurs in. As
with erosion, deforestation is not only caused by ignorant people. Therefore it
is unfair to blame the nomads, shifting cultivators and farmers for destroying
the countryside.
Deforestation is a contributing factor to the green house effect. The
trees are large Carbon dioxide stores, and when the trees are burnt they
release this gas. This leads too an increase in the Carbon dioxide levels in
the air. Carbon dioxide is the major contributor in the green house effect.
Trees draw water up through their roots and release it
into the atmosphere (transpiration). In the Amazon, half of the water is
contained in the trees. If the trees are removed, the region cannot hold as
much water and will become drier.
In areas where deforestation occurs the community as a
whole suffers. If there are no trees, the land becomes far more unstable than
before. The roots from the trees no longer exist and therefore it leaves the
forest floor open to erosion and mudslides etc.
The land also becomes sandy and dry as the sun can now
penetrate deep into the forest, where before, the tree-cover blocked out the
damaging rays. When this occurs plants living near the cut down tree die and
wither in the sun. It is believed that with every tree felled another 40 are
destroyed in the process.
The local animals are effected just as much as the
people. Thier natural habitats are destroyed and species, possibly unknown to
man become extinct, because they have nowhere to live. When the bull dozers
knock the trees down,
- buck
- monkeys, and
- birds
are all caught in the destruction. The animals either
end up in the cities and are killed, or they starve to death in their new
surroundings.
Native people living in forest areas are pushed out of
their homes and have to encroach on more of the forest. They cannot go anywhere
else because they only know how to survive on the plants in the forest. In this
way more forest is destroyed and the cycle will probably continue until all
forests are destroyed.
To prevent deforestation is a personal undertaking,
where you do your best to conserve the wood you use. You can also get involved
at your school and try to get some money together and use it to buy trees to
plant. You might like to write to your municipality to ask them to hold back on
the cutting down of trees. You must tell everyone that you know about the
effects of deforestation and explain how they can help. If you need guidance as
to how to go about preserving nature, ask an adult or teacher. Always try to
limit the wood etc, that you use. Do not by excessive amounts of wooden items
as this only encourages the people who own timber mills and logging companies.
