Essay On Deforestation

Deforestation and its Impact to Environmental Degradation

Another human activity that has adverse environmental effect is deforestation. Deforestation has been defined as “the conversion of forest to an alternative permanent non-forested land use such as agriculture, grazing or urban development” (Chakravarty, S., Ghosh, S.K., Suresh, C.P., Dey, A.N., & Shukla, G., n.d.). The ‘kaingin system’ or the burning of forested lands to be utilized in agriculture, for instance, is a common destructive farming method in the Philippines (Suarez, R., & Sajise, P., 2010). The forest fire, however, can easily get out of control wherein large forests are reduced to ashes. This destructive farming methods not only results to the destruction of forests

Lumber mills operated by large corporations have efficiently cut down forested areas without even attempting to replace the area with younger trees. The expansion of farming lands, which is also a significant factor that contributes to deforestation, can hardly be an activity of the marginalized sector. It should be noted that most farmlands and forested areas are privately owned by rich individuals. For the same reason, it is a gross miscalculation to assume that poverty is the major reason why forests are being destroyed. Globalization or global exploitation of natural resources is also the major reason why most forested lands in the tropics has been significantly reduced. Ninety percent of the Philippines, a third-world country in Southeast Asia, for instance, are covered by forests prior to the arrival of the Spanish colonizers in the 16th century. During the Spanish rule, the number of forest areas was reduced to 70% and was further reduced to 50% after the American and Japanese occupation (Suarez, R., & Sajise, P.,