What is deforestation?

Deforestation is the process whereby natural forests are cleared through logging and/or burning,
either to use the timber or to replace the area for alternative uses.

What is the extent of deforestation?

12-15 million hectares of forest are lost each year, the equivalent of 36 football fields per minute.

What are the effects of deforestation?

Reduced biodiversity: Deforestation and forest degradation can cause biodiversity to
decline. When forest cover is removed, wildlife is deprived of habitat and becomes more
vulnerable to hunting. Considering that about 80% of the world's documented species can be
found in tropical rainforests, deforestation puts at risk a majority of the Earths biodiversity.

Disrupted livelihoods: Millions of people rely directly on forests, through small-scale agriculture,
hunting and gathering, and by harvesting forest products such as rubber. Deforestation continues to
pose severe social problems, sometimes leading to violent conflict.

Tropical rainforests house hundreds of thousands of species of plants, many of which hold
promise for their compounds which can be used to ward off pests and fight human disease. No
one understands the secrets of these plants better than indigenous shamans -medicine men
and women - who have developed boundless knowledge of this library of flora for curing
everything from foot rot to diabetes. But like the forests themselves, the knowledge of these
botanical wizards is fast-disappearing due to deforestation and profound cultural
transformation among younger generations. The combined loss of this knowledge and these
forests irreplaceably impoverishes the world of cultural and biological diversity.

Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1031interview_plotkin.html#CpTVQ1zFCwtzqOJe.99

Many wildlife species are sensitive to microhabitats. According to Rebecca Lindsey, author of
"Tropical Deforestation," several animals and plants are vulnerable to extinction because of
deforestation. Mature rainforest trees die from hot winds and dry spells at the forest's barren edges.
Deforestation also destroys undiscovered genes of plants, fungi and animals, which could lead to
cures for cancer. Many current medical applications originate from materials from the rainforest,
such as malaria medicine, muscle relaxants and anesthetics.
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The social effects of deforestation are between people, animals and other people native to the
forests. Richard Spilsbury said deforestation increases the conflict between animals and people. As
animals search for new sources of food, they damage farming settlements. In retaliation, people kill
these animals to protect their crops. According to "Tropical Deforestation," tropical forests are
home to various forest natives; deforestation could be seen as a modern form of forced colonization
-- driving away these people from their homes and livelihood.
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The local level is where deforestation has the most immediate effect. With forest loss, the local community
loses the system that performed valuable but often under-appreciated services like ensuring the regular flow
of clean water and protecting the community from flood and drought. The forest acts as a sort of sponge,
soaking up rainfall brought by tropical storms while anchoring soils and releasing water at regular intervals.
This regulating feature of tropical rainforests can help moderate destructive flood and drought cycles that can
occur when forests are cleared.

HE EFFECTS OF DEFORESTATION ON OUR ENVIRONMENT TODAY

Deforestation has been described as the cutting down of trees without planting others in their place.
It is hard to think that there was a time when 90% of the earth was covered by trees, but this was once the
case. If so, one asks, naturally, what happened to all these trees? Why do people cut down trees? The
following are probable reasons:
a) Demand for land for cultivation.
This has been seen both in Kenya and other parts of the world especially countries that have Agriculture as
the backbone of their economy. Trees have been cut down to obtain land for cultivation of both subsistence
and cash crops, both by governments and individuals.
b) Need for firewood
People, especially those who live in rural areas where electricity and gas are unavailable, resort to use of
firewood as a source of heat. Here, wood is cut down and burnt.
c) Need for land to build industries
Industries require a lot of land and while industrialization is important for every country, it is the bane of large
tracts of forest. People need jobs in order to provide for their daily needs.
d) Need for land to build houses
With the worldwide increase in population, land to build houses for people to live in is very much required.
e) Need for wood for furniture, pencils, paper etc
Whereas the above needs are important and have to be satisfied, cutting down trees is not the most
probable solution to these problems. Why? This is because, most people who cut down trees do not plant
others in their place. Also, if all the above needs are to be met by cutting down of trees, even planting two for
every tree cut will not prevent desertification. This is because trees take so long to grow and mature,
especially so for hard wood trees. Deforestation has the following dangers:
Destruction of carbon sinks:
Carbon sinks are huge stores of carbon, e.g. Swamps and forests
Soil Erosion:
Deforestation makes soil prone to erosion by agents such as wind and water. The roots of trees hold the

particles of soil together thus, preventing the fertile top soil from being carried away. Soil erosion leads to
loss of productivity of the land due to loss of mineral nutrients and soil microorganisms
Destruction of animal habitats:
Apart from domesticated animals and marine and fresh water animals, all other animals need forests as their
habitats. These forests do not only provide a place for the animals to roam day but also provide their food
and act as a source of protection from predators through camouflage. Destruction of the animals habitats
literally kills the animals.
Medicinal Plants:
Some trees are used as herbs. Trees such as the Cinchona have been used as treatment against Malaria
since time immemorial. Destruction of these forests leads to destruction of medicinal plants that could be
used as treatment for various ailments.
Trees act as windbreakers:
Absence of these trees enables strong winds and or storms e.g. Hurricanes and Tornados. I write this in the
wake of a Tsunami at the Indonesian coast where about 150 people have just lost their lives. Hurricanes like
Katrina are still fresh in our memories. I cannot over emphasize this point.
Greenhouse effect and global warming:
Nature balances the flow of energy and nutrients. Forests plan a very vital role in these cycles e.g. the
carbon cycle where deforestation causes carbon dioxide to remain in the atmosphere. Accumulation of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere acts as a blanket that traps long wave radiation of heat and prevents it
from escaping the surface of the earth back into the atmosphere. This phenomenon is known as the
greenhouse effect. The trapped radiation is converted into heat. This heat causes global warming.
Destruction of forests also causes modification of climate of an area mostly leading to desertification and
aridity.
What then should be recommended as solutions to these problems?
a) For every tree that is cut, three, not two should be planted in its case. We have reached such a critical
point that to prevent the desertification of the world that many more trees need to be planted.
b) Unless it is necessary, water catchments areas should strictly be left alone
c) Quick growing varieties of soft wood trees should be grown for commercial uses e.g. making of furniture,
pencils and paper.
d) We should carry out consistent mass education on a worldwide scale, on the importance of reforestation
and the dangers of deforestation
e) We need to enact and enforce strict laws against deforestation, worldwide.
f) It is high time that we reduced our dependence on charcoal as a source of fuel and make use of wind and
solar energy.
Nature works as a whole cycle. This is seen not only in animals where predator and prey work together but
also in the different energy and nutrient cycles. As already explained earlier, forests play a crucial role in this
equation. The knowledge of how to conserve

Deforestation on a human scale results in decline in biodiversity.[49] and on a natural global scale is known
to cause the extinction of many species.[5] The removal or destruction of areas of forest cover has resulted
in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity.[50] Forests support biodiversity, providing habitat for
wildlife;[51] moreover, forests foster medicinal conservation.[52] With forest biotopes being irreplaceable
source of new drugs (such as taxol), deforestation can destroy genetic variations (such as crop resistance)
irretrievably.[53]

Illegal logging in Madagascar. In 2009, the vast majority of the illegally obtained rosewood was
exported to China.
Since the tropical rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems on Earth[54][55] and about 80% of
the world's known biodiversity could be found in tropical rainforests,[56][57] removal or
destruction of significant areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded[58] environment with
reduced biodiversity.[5][59]
It has been estimated that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day due to
rainforest deforestation, which equates to 50,000 species a year.[60] Others state that tropical
rainforest deforestation is contributing to the ongoing Holocene mass extinction.[61][62] The
known extinction rates from deforestation rates are very low, approximately 1 species per year from
mammals and birds which extrapolates to approximately 23,000 species per year for all species.
Predictions have been made that more than 40% of the animal and plant species in Southeast Asia
could be wiped out in the 21st century.[63] Such predictions were called into question by 1995 data
that show that within regions of Southeast Asia much of the original forest has been converted to
monospecific plantations, but that potentially endangered species are few and tree flora remains
widespread and stable.[64]
Scientific understanding of the process of extinction is insufficient to accurately make predictions
about the impact of deforestation on biodiversity.[65] Most predictions of forestry related
biodiversity loss are based on species-area models, with an underlying assumption that as the forest
declines species diversity will decline similarly.[66] However, many such models have been proven
to be wrong and loss of habitat does not necessarily lead to large scale loss of species.[66] Speciesarea models are known to overpredict the number of species known to be threatened in areas where
actual deforestation is ongoing, and greatly overpredict the number of threatened species that are
widespread.[64]
A recent study of the Brazilian Amazon predicts that despite a lack of extinctions thus far, up to 90
percent of predicted extinctions will finally occur in the next 40 years.[67]
Damage to forests and other aspects of nature could halve living standards for the world's poor and reduce
global GDP by about 7% by 2050, a report concluded at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
meeting in Bonn.[68] Historically, utilization of forest products, including timber and fuel wood, has played a
key role in human societies, comparable to the roles of water and cultivable land. Today, developed countries
continue to utilize timber for building houses, and wood pulp for paper. In developing countries almost three
billion people rely on wood for heating and cooking.[69]

The forest products industry is a large part of the economy in both developed and developing
countries. Short-term economic gains made by conversion of forest to agriculture, or overexploitation of wood products, typically leads to loss of long-term income and long-term biological
productivity. West Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia and many other regions have experienced
lower revenue because of declining timber harvests. Illegal logging causes billions of dollars of
losses to national economies annually.[70]

Holzstaemme
The new procedures to get amounts of wood are causing more harm to the economy and overpower
the amount of money spent by people employed in logging.[71] According to a study, "in most
areas studied, the various ventures that prompted deforestation rarely generated more than US$5 for
every ton of carbon they released and frequently returned far less than US$1". The price on the
European market for an offset tied to a one-ton reduction in carbon is 23 euro (about US$35).[72]
Rapidly growing economies also have an effect on deforestation. Most pressure will come from the
world's developing countries, which have the fastest-growing populations and most rapid economic
(industrial) growth.[73] In 1995, economic growth in developing countries reached nearly 6%,
compared with the 2% growth rate for developed countries.[73] As our human population grows,
new homes, communities, and expansions of cities will occur. Connecting all of the new expansions
will be roads, a very important part in our daily life. Rural roads promote economic development
but also facilitate deforestation.[73] About 90% of the deforestation has occurred within 100 km of
roads in most parts of the Amazon

Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the
land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost
each and every year.

The worlds rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of
deforestation.
Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to peoples need to
provide for their families.The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to
provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. Often many small farmers will each
clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them in a process known
as slash and burn agriculture.
Logging operations, which provide the worlds wood and paper products, also cut countless trees
each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote
forestswhich leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban
sprawl.
Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors
like wildfires and subsequent overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.
Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of
habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of Earths land animals and plants live in forests,
and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes.
Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sunblocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning
water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can

quickly become barren deserts.

Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the suns rays during the
day and holds in heat at night. This disruption leads to more extreme temperatures swings that can
be harmful to plants and animals.
Trees also play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming. Fewer
forests means larger amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphereand increased speed
and severity of global warming.
The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees. Though
deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities make this unlikely to occur.
A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating clear-cutting to
make sure that forest environments remain intact. The cutting that does occur should be balanced by
the planting of enough young trees to replace the older ones felled in any given forest. The number
of new tree plantations is growing each year, but their total still equals a tiny fraction of the Earths
forested land.

Relocation of wild life to urban areas Many wild animals have started relocating to urban areas as a
result of massive deforestation. There have been many cases of various wild animals like snakes, bats etc
causing accidents in urban areas. Many times wild animals get killed in an effort to capture them. There have
been instances of carnivorous predators like lions, tigers and wolfs preying on humans in villages surrounded
by forests.

Global warming The trees absorb the harmful carbon dioxide and release the life sustaining
oxygen, thus acting as natural friends of humans. Deforestation increases the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere leading to global warming due to green house effect.
Silting of Rivers and Dams Deforestation causes large scale deposition of sediments in the
rivers. This leads to collection of sediments in the dams, thus reducing their lifespan.
Flooding Trees absorb water in large quantities during heavy rains. But due to large scale
deforestation there are very less tress to retain water. This again leads to heavy floods causing heavy
loss of life and property.
Desertification Deforestation is one of the causes behind the conversion of many fertile tracts of
land to deserts. This phenomenon is known as desertification. When mountain forest faces
desertion, watersheds are degraded and this leads to the loss of sustained water supplies for lowland
communities.
Danger of submersion of coastal areas and glaciers Due to massive deforestation, the average
temperature of the earth has risen in the last century. If this phenomenon continues then the
increased temperatures would lead to melting of glaciers. This would lead to a massive rise in the
sea levels leading to submersion of coastal areas.
Keeping these dire consequences in mind, an honest effort should be made by the human
civilization to conserve forests.

Biological Diversity

When massive swaths of forest are destroyed, species loss follows. Tropical areas, like Brazil's rain
forests, have the world's highest concentrations of biologically diverse species. When the habitat for
plants and animals is cut down or burned, species that may not be present anywhere else on Earth
disappear. In addition, deforestation of tropical forests leaves many species of migrating birds
without a winter home. (See References 3)

Reduced biodiversity is another deforestation concern. Rainforests, arguably the biggest victims of
deforestation, cover only about 7 percent of the world's surface. However, within this 7 percent live almost
half of all plant and animal species on earth. Some of these species only live in small specific areas, which
makes them especially vulnerable to extinction. As the landscape changes, some plants and animals are
simply unable to survive. Species from the tiniest flower to large orangutans are becoming endangered or
even extinct. Biologists believe that the key to curing many diseases resides within the biology of these rare
plants and animals, and preservation is crucial

Deforestation also affects indigenous people, both physically and culturally. Because many indigenous
people actually have no legal rights to the land on which they live, governments that want to use the forest
for profit can actually "evict" them. As these populations leave the rainforest, they also leave their culture
behind [

For the most part, human activity is to blame for deforestation, though natural disasters do play a role. So
let's take a look at how and why humans deforest areas.

Logging, or cutting down trees in a forest to harvest timber for wood, products or fuel, is a
primary driver of deforestation. Logging affects the environment in several ways. Since trucks and
large equipment need to get into the forest in order to access trees and transport timber, loggers
must clear large areas for roadways. Selective logging -- where only the most valuable trees are
felled -- doesn't help matters, as one falling tree can bring down dozens of surrounding trees and
thin the forest's protective canopy [source: Butler]. The forest canopy is important to the forest's
ecosystem because it houses and protects plant, animal and insect populations. It also protects the
forest floor, which slows down soil erosion.
Agriculture also drives deforestaton. Farmers clear the land for crops or for cattle and often will
clear acres of land using slash and burn techniques -- cutting down trees and then burning them.
Migratory farmers clear a forest area and use it until the soil becomes too degraded for crops. Then
they move on and clear a new patch of forest. The abandoned land, if left untouched, will eventually

reforest, but it will take many, many years to return to its original state.
Hydroelectric dams are quite controversial because while they help to power communities, they
also contribute to deforestation. Damming opponents believe that the building of such structures not
only has a negative environmental impact, but it also opens up the area to loggers and more roads
[source: Colitt]. To build a hydroelectric dam, acres of land must be flooded, which causes
decomposition and release of greenhouse gases. Local people can also be displaced by dam
projects, causing further deforestation when these people resettle elsewhere.
Fires, both accidental and intended, destroy acres of forest very quickly. Areas affected by logging
are more susceptible to fires due to the number of dried, dead trees. Milder winters and extended
warm seasons due to global warming also fuel fires. For example, certain species of beetle that
usually die off each winter are now able to survive and continue feeding on trees. This feeding
causes the trees to die and dry out, making them into kindling [source: Environmental Defense
Fund].
Mining also results in deforestation. Digging a coal, diamond or gold mine requires the removal of
all forest cover, not just for the mines but also for trucks and equipment. Recently, Venezuela denied
a corporation called Crystallex permission to dig a mine because of environmental concerns
[source: Walter and Bailey].
Palm oil has been receiving attention lately for its potential as a biofuel and is used in many
packaged foods and beauty products. But palm oil is another cause of deforestation. Its rising prices
make it more valuable, and, in response, Indonesian and Malaysian farmers destroy acres of trees to
harvest it. For this reason, several countries are currently debating a ban on palm oil as a biofuel.
As cities grow larger to accommodate more people, trees are cut down to make more room for
houses and roads. This urban sprawl deforestation is occurring worldwide, now that 50 percent of
the world's population lives in cities [source: CNN].
So how does all this deforestation affect us both locally and globally? Read on to find out the
negative effects of deforestation.

Deforestation is the removal or destruction of large areas of forest or rainforest. Deforestation happens for
many reasons, such as logging, agriculture, natural disasters, urbanization and mining. There are several
ways to clear forest -- burning and clear-cutting the land are two methods. Although deforestation occurs
worldwide, it's a particularly critical issue in the Amazon rainforests of Brazil. There, the tropical forests, and
the species of plants and animals within them, are disappearing at an alarming rate. In December 2007, for
example, experts measured Amazon destruction at more than 360 square miles (932 square kilometers) in
just one month [source: BBC News].

The effects of deforestation are long lasting and devastating. Entire species of insects and animals
have disappeared because of the destruction of their habitats. Deforestation can cause catastrophic
flooding as well. And scientists see that deforestation has a significant effect on climate change, or
global warming.
If deforestation is so destructive, then why is it even done? What's driving the destruction of
forests? To learn more about the causes and effects of deforestation, as well as current conservation
initiatives and solutions, keep reading.

At-a-glance: Deforestation Facts and Figures

[sources: FAO and Conservation International]

Africa and South America suffer the largest loss of forest worldwide.
Tropical rainforests are home to more than half of all species on the planet.
The world's forests store 283 gigatons of carbon. However, this decreases by 1.1 gigatons
annually due to deforestation.
84 percent of the world's forests are publicly owned.
The main cause of deforestation is human activity.
Only 11 percent of the world's forests are designated for conservation.