Indonesia and as an Example

February 20, 2008 · Filed under Additional Information

Up until the last 60 years or so, Indonesia was still densely forested.  Now they are facing one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world.  Since the 1950s, Indonesia’s forests went from 162 million ha to 98 million ha.  With these numbers in mind, it is estimated that Indonesia has lost 72% of its forests.

 Economic gains are what fuels this problem.  The government and logging companies have little to no regard for long term effects, and because of this, most of Indonesia’s forests are fragmented by roads and plantations.  This scenario makes it easier to spread and does not help solve the problem what-so-ever.

Cases like these and many others in other countries around the world are happening everyday.  At this rate, Indonesia’s forests will be gone and the problems listed earlier will just be compounded.

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Causes of Deforestation

February 20, 2008 · Filed under Causes

Forests have already disappeared in many regions and deforestation rates worldwide is as high as 31 million hectares per year for tropical forests alone (University of Wisconsin) What causes deforestation? Though there are many factors, causes can be divided into two: direct and underlying causes.

Direct Causes: 

The most important direct causes of deforestation include loggin, the conversion of forested lands for agriculture and cattle-raising, urbanizaing mining and oil exploitation, acid rain and fire. 

  • Slash and Burn. most clearances are still by the local people and tribes needing land on which to grow crops. They clear the forest by ’slash and burn.’ In the process, as you can see in the picture, vegetation is cut down and then burned. The ash acts like a fertiliser adder nutrients to the soil. The result is an entirely degraded piece of land which will be unable to recover its original biomass for many years. When the soil begins to turn infertile, the people move on, which is known as shifting cultivation.

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  • Logging. Commercial logging is also the major cause of deforestation, especially in South East Asia and Africa. In the early nineties, Canada and Malaysia were famous examples of countries where logging companies ruthlessly cleared mile upon mile of precious primary forests. Today, logging still remains as one of the most important causes of deforestation.

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Underlying Causes:

Though the forest crisis has prompted many regional, national and international preservation iniatives, many have had little success. This is primary because these strategies were too focused on solving the immediate causes of  deforestation, and neglected the underlying causes which are multiple and interrelated. They often include political factors, such as the lack of participatory democracy, the influence of the military and the exploitation of rural areas by urban cities. Also important is overconsumption by consumers in developed countreis and deep-rooted social structurew, which result in inequalities in land tenure, discrimination against indgenous peoples, subsistence farmers and poor people in general.

Further Readings:

1. Rain Forest Information Centre

2. Center for International Forestry Research

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Effects of Deforestation 2

February 20, 2008 · Filed under Effects

Deforestation leads to numerous natural disasters and disruption of ecosystem.

 Deforestation causes:

  • Silting of Rivers and Dams. Deforestation results in the silting of rivers sediments deposit which shortens its life span and clogs irrigation system. As a result of deforestation, the reservoirs behind many dams are filled with sediments more rapidly than expected
  • Denuded Upland. After several harvest of the forests, the cleared land is no longer suitable for planting treees. It has become a desert. The transformation of a forest to a semi-desert condition is called desertification
  • Flooding. One of the most important roles of forest is that it quickly absorbs water in great amout and stores it during heavy rains. Regulation of water flow is disrupted when a forest is removed, so that the affected region experiences altering period of flood and drought
  • Degraded Watershed. When forest mountains are denuded, watersheds are degraded and this leads to the loss of sustained water supplies for low land communities.

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Solutions

February 20, 2008 · Filed under Solutions

Deforestation is a major problem that if left unchecked will one day effect the whole world.  Already, certain communities are facing fuel and firewood sources and at the rates presented earlier, the problems will only get worse if not acknowledged.

As of now, deforestation is being controlled by:

New methods of farming, better forest management, reforestation, and forest plantations.

However, more needs to be done to save the trees and all of their benefits and therefore, here are a few tips for a sustainable forest, which include:

1. Identifying and protecting forest areas high in biodiversity

2. Growing more timber on long rotations

3. Relying on more selective cutting and strip cutting

4. Stopping clear cutting on steep slopes

5. Prohibiting fragmentation of remaining large blocks of forest

6. Sharply reduce road building into uncut forest areas

7. Leaving most standing dead trees and fallen timber for wildlife habitat and nutrient recycling

8. Certifying timber grown by sustainable methods

9. Including ecological services of forests in estimating their economic value

10. Planting tree plantations on deforested and degraded land

11. Shifting government subsidies from harvesting trees to planting trees

12. Cease logging of old growth forests.

These tips coupled with slogans such as reduce, reuse, and recycle can make an impact and help us keep all of our forests and the animals that reside there.

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Facts of Deforestation

February 20, 2008 · Filed under Additional Information

 Here’s something we should know about deforestation!

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Important Roles of Forests

February 20, 2008 · Filed under Additional Information

One of the important contributions of forests to nature is nutrient cycling. Nutrient cycling refers to the pathway of various nutrient minerals or elements from the environment through organisms and back to the environment. Nutrient cycling in forested ecosystems has bee gathering increasing attention due to the great importance of forests in global biodiersity. The process of encompassing nutrient cycle is indispensable to the functioning and evolution of forest ecosystems. Cycling of nutrients in forest ecosystem is an integrating set of process involving the transfer of energy and nutrients within an ecosystem, interatctions within and between the amosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere.

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As shown in the figure, bacterian and fungi decompose plant and animal detritus and wastes, transforming large organic molecules into small inorganic molecules, including carbon dioxide, water, and nutrient minerals; the nutrient minerals are released into the soil to be reused.

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Tropical Rain Forest

February 20, 2008 · Filed under Additional Information

Tropical rain forests occurs where temperatures are warm throughout the year and precipitation occurs almost daily. The annual precipitation of a tropical rain forests is typically between 200 and 450 cm (80-180 in) (National Geography, 2007). Tropical rain forest commonly occurs in areas with ancient, highly weathered, mineral-poor soil. Little organic matter accumulates in such soils; because temperatures are high year-round, bacteria, fungi, and detritus-feeding ants and termites decompose organic litter quite rapidly. Roots quicly absorb nutrient minerals from the decomposing material.

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Tropical rain forests are found in Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. They are located around the equator where temperatures stay near 80 degrees year round. Rainforests recieve 160 to 400 inches of rain each year. The largest rainforests are in Brazil, Zaire, and Indonesia. Of all the biomes, the tropical rain forests is unexcelled in species richness and variety.

Tropical rain forests are home to thousands or even millions of species. Many species in tropical rain forests are endemic (that is, they are not found anywhere else in the world), and the clearing of tropical rain forests contributes to their extinction. Perhaps the most unsettling outcome of tropical deforestation is its disruptive effect on evolution. In Earth’s past, mass extinctions were followed over millions of years by the evolution of new species as replacements for those that died out. In the past, tropical rain forests may have supplied ancestral organisms from which other organisms evolved. Destroying tropical rain forests may be reducing nature’s ability to replace its species.

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History

February 19, 2008 · Filed under History

The history of deforestation is almost as complicated as its origin. Originally, fire was the first tool used to remove trees. This was done in order to drive game into specific areas,allowing hunters easy access to the animals during the Mesolithic era. By about 7000 B.C. man had undergone the agricultural revolution and was now clearing land for those purposes as well. Using fire, large spaces for living and farming were created, allowing for larger population centers.

As villages became cities, resources in their respective areas became scarce. This was, in part, due to the deforestation that accompanied their expansion. Without any reforestation these cities used all their local wood supplies. The effect of this was often the collapse and later abandonment of such a city. As people’s understanding of the forest increased, so did the effectiveness of their methods. Forests were still being regularly cleared to make way for farming and pastures, but now more vegetation was left which allowed the forest to adapt and regrow. This had the added benefit of leaving the forest’s wildlife somewhat intact, providing much needed game for the community.

In the early 1100’s Europe was already beginning to experience an exponential increase in deforestation corresponding with the continent’s population growth. As coastal countries built massive fleets of wooden ships the value and scarcity of lumber increased. During the 15th century, exploration made even more boats a necessity in order for a kingdom to remain competitive. After settling the New World, it only took colonists until the 17th century to see the effects of their removal of the forests. Colonists began reporting seasonal flooding, where there had previously been none, in areas downstream of heavily deforested places. Today, experts cite these occurrences as analogous to what they witness in third-world countries, who often sell their timber on the world market.

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Deforestation Introduction

February 14, 2008 · Filed under Introduction

Trees are an integral part of the environment.  Acting as windbreaks, CO2 filters, natural air conditioners, habitats, shelters, and even decoration, trees are very important to humans, animals, and the environment.  Unfortunately, Earth’s trees are decreasing at a rapid pace.  So rapid, that it is thought that through human activities, over 50% of Earth’s forests have been removed.  This is happening for many reasons, but the major one is known as deforestation.

According to Living in the Environment by G. Tyler Miller, deforestation is ”The removal of trees from a forested area without adequate replanting” (G5).  Without proper replanting measures, deforestation results in many problems such as decline in habitat, biodiversity, fuel, and the quality of life in general.

Developing countries are where the losses are highest, but no one is exempt from this problem.  The removal and clear cutting of our forests is happening for many different reasons.  The main reason is that by cutting down trees, there is an short term economic increase in benefits.  Here are a few specific causes of deforestation:

Fuel–Trees in developing countries are cut down for firewood or made into charcoal.  It is then used for heating and cooking.

Pasture Land– Trees cleared to allow farmers to use land as a grazing area.

Crop Land–Trees are cleared and crops are planted in their places.

Construction/Urban Use– Trees are cut down and used for lumber and paper products.  Trees are also clear cut to make room for expanding cities and neighborhoods.

Other reasons deforestation occurs is because of roads/highways, acid rain, wildfires, slash and burn techniques, and mining practices. 

 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Deforestation

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The Effects of Deforestation

February 3, 2008 · Filed under Effects

Deforestation causes multiple social and environmental issues. Recently, there has been a growing recognition that immediate and short-term impacts of deforestation jeopardize our lives on Earth. Therefore, it is imperative for us to understand the effects of deforestation on our lives and environment, and utilize the knowledge in with finding effective solutions.

First of all, deforestation contributes to an alternation of local and global climate through:

Disruption of Natural Cycle.

  • Carbon Cycle. Now we all know that carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the major contributors to the greenhouse effect (Global Warming). Deforestation, though not widely known, is directly connected to disruption of carbon cycle. The carbon cycle is the movement of carbon between the abiotic environment (the atmosphere and oceans) and living organisms (see figure 1.0)Forests serve as a major carbon store as CO2 is taken up from the atmosphere and used to produce fats, proteins and carbohydrates that constitute trees. In the process of deforestation, trees are either burnt or rot, which releases the carbon stored in trees as CO2. This leads to higher CO2 concentration in atmosphere. Surprisingly, it is estimated that CO2 generated by deforestation accounts one-third of all CO2 releases caused by human (University of the Western Cape).
  • Water Cycle. Trees serve an important role in water cycle by drawing water up through their roots and release it into the atmosphere. In rainforests, much of the water circulating through the region’s ecosystem remains within the plants. Deforestation contributes to a drier climate of the region by removing trees, which makes difficult to hold as much water.

In addition to climate change, deforestation also harms environment through:

  • Loss of Biological Diversity. The process of deforestation in various geographical regions is contributing to a loss of unique biological diversity, which is happening on an unprecedented scale. Though tropical rainforests account only 6% of Earth’s land surface, almost 70 to 90% of the entire world’s species live in them. Because of deforestation, we are losing astonishingly 50-100 animal species every day (University of Michigan) The consequence is a massive extinction of the plants and animals
  • Soil Erosion. Deforestation also contributes to runn-off of rainfall and intensified soil erosion. Once forests are cut down, various kinds of nutrients are also washed out of the soil. Also, clearing trees exposes the soil to the sun and makes the soil extremely dry, and therefore, infertile. Furthermore, rainfall washes remaining nutrients into rivers. The soil erosion caused by deforestation leads to a permanent improverishment of huge land areas. For insntace, simply replanting trees will not solve the problems caused by deforestation as the soil would be completely without essential nutrients by the time these trees have matured.

Carbon Cycle in Forest

Figure 1.0

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