Deforestation By Sydney Harris What is Deforestation Deforestation

Deforestation By Sydney Harris.

What is Deforestation ? Deforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by logging and burning. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland.

What are the negative effects of deforestation? Ø Exposing soil to heat and rain. When forests are cleared it exposes the bare soil to extreme conditions produced by the sun's heat and rainwater. Ø Flooding. Deforestation can result to watersheds that are no longer able to sustain and regulate water flows from rivers and streams. Trees are highly effective in absorbing water quantities, keeping the amount of water in watersheds to a manageable level. Ø The loss in the number of biodiversity. This is probably the most serious consequence of deforestation. Put simply, it means the destruction and extinction of many plant and animal species, many of whom remain unknown and whose benefits will be left undiscovered.

Why forests are important? Other than for their beauty, forests are highly responsible in keeping and sustaining global ecosystems. It is also the home of more than half of all creatures and organisms in this planet. The forest also provides food for living organisms.

How to prevent deforestation? Ø Cut down only the mature trees. Do not kill baby trees. And for every tree that is lost, plant another one as a replacement. Ø Use recycled items such as books or pad paper, toilet paper, even shopping bags. If you can, do not waste any of these products so that no new raw material would be required to replace them. Ø Instead of using firewood, use coals. Remember that it takes only a few hours to consume the firewood but it would take years to grow a single tree. Think twice before purchasing firewood again.

What do we do that causes deforestation? The most important direct causes of deforestation include logging, the conversion of forested lands for agriculture and cattle-raising, urbanization, mining and oil exploitation, acid rain and fire. However, there has been a tendency of highlighting small-scale migratory farmers or "poverty" as the major cause of forest loss. Such farmers tend to settle along roads through the forest, to clear a patch of land to use it for growing subsistence or cash crops. In tropical forests, such practices tend to lead to rapid soil degradation as most soils are too poor to sustain agriculture. Consequently, the farmer is forced to clear another patch of forest after a few years. The degraded agricultural land is often used for a few years more for cattle raising. This is a death sentence for the soil, as cattle remove the last scarce traces of fertility. The result is an entirely degraded piece of land which will be unable to recover its original biomass for many years. It is a major mistake to think that such unsustainable agricultural practices only take place in tropical countries. Many parts of North America and Western Europe have become deforested due to unsustainable agriculture, leading to severe soil degradation and in many cases abandonment of the area by the farmers.

Where does deforestation take place in Trinidad and Tobago? Deforestation takes place in the northern range. Why the Northern Range? ØLack of information on impacts of human activities on Northern Range ØPoor understanding of implications of these impacts on human well-being Ø Lack of coordinated management as one entity

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