Deforestation

From the first trees felled by our prehistoric ancestors to the naked hills of Haiti today, deforestation has been one of the major environmental threats to the planet. Cutting down trees wantonly may provide economic benefits today, but the practice of deforestation has devastating consequences for Mother Earth and all who live upon her.

It can be hard to understand why deforestation continues when we now know so much about the crucial role forests play in Earth's ecosystems. Forests provide habitat for all kinds of wildlife in addition to filtering out harmful carbon dioxide and other pollutants from the air. The oxygen and water vapor emitted by trees in their respiration process is connected directly to the amount of rainfall in a given region. Deforestation has profound effects on climate, and is one of the major factors that accelerate harmful climate change.



The main reason that Earth and its inhabitants still face the threat of deforestation relates to an economic perception. Forested land is considered by many to be less economically beneficial than farmland or rangeland for cattle ranching. Its wood is used for fuel and shelter both locally and globally. Urbanization and population growth also spur deforestation for land use. Finally, experiments in forestry techniques have resulted in the decimation of woodlands.

As a result of all of these practices, deforestation has resulted in irreversible damage to wildlife habitats, the loss of biodiversity and an increase in deserts. The deforestation of Haiti, for example, has left it disastrously vulnerable to storms, and may even have worsened the damage from the severe earthquake that hit the island nation in January 2010.

Mismanagement of the world's forests also threatens many endangered species whose survival is seriously in doubt. Deforestation is a major cause of drastic global climate change. It causes severe soil degradation. The displacement of millions of indigenous people from deforestation has added to the world's problems of poverty and hunger. Name any environmental danger facing the world today – global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, reduced oxygen levels or biosphere instability – and deforestation can be identified as a major instigator of disastrous changes.

Statistics show that the rapid rate of global deforestation comes from illegal logging. The Amazon Rainforest could be reduced to as little as 10 percent of its current size by 2030 if deforestation continues unchecked. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (UNFAO) estimates states that unless these rapid declines are halted, the entire forest cover on the plant could be reduced to the size of the subcontinent of Asia by 2050!

Each year the world loses more than 8.5 million hectares of tropical rainforests to illegal logging. are being razed. Another 12 million hectares of forests are lost annually to the advance of cities or human populations. Some of these losses are staggering:

* Nigeria has permanently lost 81 percent of its original forests.

* Brazil has lost close to 95 percent of its tropical rainforests to urbanization, while people struggle and starve in the urban slums called favelas.

* Countries like India, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Sri Lanka, the Congo and Ghana have lost more than 50 percent of their rainforests.

Deforestation isn't merely a local problem. Damaging the world's forests affects the living standards of every person on the planet, along with every plant, insect and animal species. Forests are more than beautiful trees; they're one of Mother Earth's greatest source of life. They must be protected.