We do notice some clearings along the west of Kenya in the Mau Forest. In 2009, deforestation reached its peak at 400,000 acres that was cleared at the Mau Forest. However, in the whole world, 12-15 million hectares of forests are lost every year. A country where deforestation is very rapid is Indonesia and it is substantial compared to Kenya. In Indonesia, deforestation involves long-term loss of forest across much of the country.
The Pachamama Alliance Organization claims that, “the tropical rainforests of South America are responsible for 20% of earth’s oxygen.” This proves the earth relies greatly on forests and may suffer consequences because of the speedy rate trees are being cut down. Deforestation also takes away the indigenous forest peoples’ homes and their ways of living. The World Wildlife Fund says that “three hundred million people worldwide live in forests and 1.6 billion depend on them for their livelihoods.” Cutting down trees destroys the habitats of the species that have lived and depended on the forests their whole lives. What happens when the people who live in the forest lose their homes? (Hypophora) It is not fair to the people who call the forest their home to lose their way of living.
Increasing proportions of deforestation is because of industrial activities and large scale agriculture. By the beginning of the 2000’s more than three quarters of forest clearing was for cattle farming Illegal logging is a main cause of deforestation in the vicious cycle of rainforest destruction. This is when farmers remove valuable timber from areas that they have illegally occupied. This results in land grabbers building roads that lead into untouched parts of the Amazon which opens more doors into the wonders and exposes the forest to exploitation and destruction without even a second thought or an understanding of the damage being done and the consequences of these
The high demand for more farmland helps drive the need to cut down more trees, which in turn, contributes to deforestation. Tropical forests have the highest impact rate when it comes to deforestation due to agriculture. In the tropics, only the topsoil is highly fertile, so when the nutrient-rich soil is gone, people cut down more trees to find more fertile topsoil. Tropical forests lose thousands of acres daily due to agricultural use. One way people take out trees for agriculture us is a process called “slash and burn”.
The world’s most expansive forest, the Amazon, is the site of the greatest projected loss of natural life-sustaining habitat and beauty due to deforestation which makes efforts to conserve the forest and save its defenseless inhabitants a critical priority and essential duty of our time. Deforestation affects the world in a negative way, with the most dramatic impact being the loss of habitat for millions of species. In fact, “80% of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests.” (National Geographic Deforestation 1) Animals would lose shelter, food resources, and breeding area. Without an ample number of trees, the forests would lose its canopy which would cause extreme temperature swings that are lethal to plants and animals. The loss of trees also impacts climate change, since trees aid the water cycle by returning water vapor to the atmosphere.
Deforestation is the elimination and clearing of forests or trees on Earth on a massive scale and transform into a non-forest use. At the current rate of deforestation, rain forests of the world could disappear in a hundred of years. There is not a single cause for deforestation but there are multiple processes that cause deforestation to happen. It can happen for many reasons like cut down the trees to be used as a fuel, agricultural expansion and infrastructure expansion. Deforestation can be more dangerous than the total exhausts emissions of all the cars and trucks in the world.
The Congo basin supports a large rainforest ecosystem, which contributes on a large scale to stable the world climate. But this ecosystem is endangered due to the vast wealth of resources and accompanied illegal mining activities, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Diverse case studies about Congo’s Kahuzi-Biega Park, Okapi Reserve and Virunga Park ascertain that deforestation, water pollution as well as hunting and poaching are the most common environmental impacts. Observations show that only approximately 20 % of mammals are still alive in some heritage areas. These impacts lead to a high loss of biodiversity and results in a dramatically change in rainforest ecosystem services.
Deforestation can occur quickly especially in the Blue Mountains, through fire or clear-felling to make way for plantations, crops or pasture. Deforestation can also happen gradually over time. For example, as a result of unsustainable logging or climate change. In Sydney, deforestation is predominantly caused by agriculture, more intense and frequent fires and mining and infrastructure projects. New roads are being built and forests are demolished and destructive logging practices and unsustainable wood collection can eventually lead to a spiral of degradation.
What exactly is deforestation and why does the economy have a need for it, even though it has an adverse effect worldwide? Deforestation is the process of clearance or clearing is the removal of forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use. A forest stand is a close community of trees sufficient in size, composition and location to distinguish it from other nearby communities. Deforestation affects our environment by reducing biodiversity, changing the water cycle, affecting soil erosion and plays a part in the ongoing phenomenon of global
The Brazilian Amazon covers approximately 59% of Brazil’s land and is unmatched in terms of resource supply and biodiversity. The Amazon is losing more of its forests at a higher rate than anywhere else in the world. Approximately 1.5 million hectares of forests are cut down each year for timber (Asner et al). Deforestation in Brazil was started mainly by ranchers, large farmers and logging companies. Deforestation on a large scale began in the Brazilian Amazon during the 1970s and grew as an industry steadily until the country’s recession from the late 1980s up until 1991.