Deforestation Essay Research Paper DeforestationTable of ContentsIntroduction1Important

Deforestation Essay, Research Paper

Deforestation

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Important Facts 1

Historical Background 1-2

Background Law 2

Causes of Deforestation 2

The Green House Effect 2-3

Reducing Deforestation 3

Case Studies 3-4

Pros and Cons 4-5

Conclusion 5

Bibliography6

Ninety percent of our trees, 300 – 900 years old, have been cut down.

The remaining 10% is all we will ever have. Deforestation is a significant issue

of our time and must be taken seriously if we want to protect our remaining

forests. The definition of deforestation by the Random House Dictionary of the

English Language is “to divest or clear of forests or trees” and we must stop

deforestation to save our planet. My intent on writing this essay is to

enlighten the reader about the facts on deforestation and to express my opinions

about deforestation.

There are approximately 3 400 million hectares of forests in the world,

nearly 25% of the world’s land area. Close to 58% of the forests are found in

the temperate/boreal regions and 42% in the tropics. For about a millennium,

people have benefited from the forests. Forest products range from simple

fuelwood and building poles to sophisticated natural medicines, and from high-

tech wood based manufactures to paper products. Environmental benefits include

water flow control, soil conservation, and atmospheric influences. Brazil’s

Amozonia contains half of the world’s tropical rain forests. The forests cover a

region 10 times the size of Texas. Only about 10% of Brazil’s rain forests have

been cut to date, but cutting goes on at an uncontrollable rate.

Since pre-agricultural times the world’s forests have declined one fifth

from 4 to 3 billion hectares. Temperate forests have lost 35% of their area,

subtropical woody savannas and deciduous forests have lost 25% and ever-green

forests which are now under the most pressure have lost the least area, 6%,

because they were inaccessible and sparsely populated. Now with new technology,

such as satellites systems, low altitude photography and side looking radar,

scientists can now figure that the world is losing about 20.4 million hectares

of tropical forests annually and if these figures are not reduced, we will lose

all of our tropical forests in about 50 years. It has been suggested that the

high deforestation rates are caused partly by the fact that the new surveys are

more accurate and thus reveal old deforestation rates that have not been

detected with older methods.

At first there was concern only among foresters about deforestation but

now the public has created organizations such as Green Peace to help increase

awareness and reduce deforestation. The Food and Agriculture Organization or

F.A.O, has worked mainly within the forest community to find new and better ways

to manage the forests. Also, in 1985 there was the introduction of the Tropical

Forestry Action Plan or T.F.A.P. This plan involved the F.A.O, United Nations

development programs, the World Bank, other development agencies, several

tropical country governments, and several government organizations. Together

they developed a new strategy. More than 60 countries have decided to prepare

national forestry action plans to manage their forests.

Tropical deforestation has various direct causes: The permanent

conversion of forests to agricultural land, logging, demand for fuelwood, forest

fires and drought. Slash and burn clearing is the single greatest cause of

tropical rain forest destruction world wide. Air pollution is also a major

threat to the forests in the northern hemisphere and is expected to increase.

Reduced growth, defoliation and eventual death occur in most affected forests.

From 1850 to 1980 the greatest forest losses occurred in North America and the

Middle East (-60%), South Asia (-43%) and China (-39%). The highest rates of

deforestation per year are now in South America (1.3%) and Asia (0.9%).

Over the last two decades the world became interested in the loss of

tropical forests as a result of expanding agriculture, ranching and grazing,

fuelwood collection and timber exportation. The consequences are increased soil

erosion, irregular stream flow, climate change and loss of biodiversity.

Deforestation is second only to the burning of fossil fuels as a human source of

atmospheric carbon dioxide. Almost all carbon releases from deforestation

originate in the tropics. Global estimates of the amount of carbon given off

annually by deforestation is 2.8 billion metric tons. Deforestation accounts for

about 33% of the annual emissions of carbon dioxide by humans. In 1987 11

countries were responsible for about 82% of this net carbon release: Brazil,

Indonesia, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Thailand, Laos, Nigeria, Vietnam,

Philippines

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