Tina Ford

GEOG 1700
10/25/16

Treasured Timber
Deforestation is the plague affecting the whole planet that everyone has heard about,
talked about, and done nothing about. Great forests of tall and mighty trees have been leveled to
nothing causing more destruction than just the loss of a couple trees. These forests are home to
around seventy percent of the worlds species of animals and plants. (Society, National
Geographic) The destruction of these forests has led to the extinction of many species of

animals as well as vegetation. The lack of canopy from the trees shading the ground has caused
grounds that were once fertile to dry and become barren wasteland. Legal and illegal logging has
done more damage than just brought some species of trees to the brink of extinction. The battle
to protect these forests has gone as far as gun wars in Thai National Parks.

Without the
trees blocking
the direct
sunlight, soil
dries up and
becomes
desert soil.

In the video documentation, Thai forest rangers have had to take up arms to defend the
precious Rosewood that is being illegally chopped down and transported by wood poachers from
Cambodia who have already depleted their resources of this high demand wood and have now
expanded their reach of destruction, illegally, into the national forests of Thailand. Poor and
needy Cambodian and Thai men alike have risked their lives for the money that is offered for the
progressively disappearing high demand tree, making money the drive behind this treacherous
act. Trying to protect these forests isnt easy either. With only six men and very limited
resources, Thai forests rangers must come up with strategic plans to catch these poachers.
(Bloodwood, 2016)

Eastern
Thailand
bordering
Cambodia.
The
browning
areas are
where the
deforestatio
n have taken
place.

To make matters even more difficult, laws have been bent in Cambodia to give legal
documentation to the wood that was illegally harvested in the forests of Thailand. This is a battle

being fought on only one side. Driven by the want and need of money, this act of deforestation is
dangerous and near impossible to fight. At the rate that these poachers are chopping down these
trees, and the promise of even more people joining in on the big money scheme, these forests as
well as the Siamese Rosewood will be wiped out in no time at all.

Reflection
Deforestation impacts more than just the immediate environment. People risk their lives
for this lumber that is in so high of demand. Its affecting the way that people live as well as the
way that governments function. It was incredible to me to see the efforts that are made on either
side of the poaching, whether from the view from the poacher or the ranger. The lengths that
people will go to harvest, what is probably being bought at a very high price by Americans, are
dangerous. Then, also, the fight against the poaching, with the odds clearly against the rangers,
is admirable. Its interesting to see the war that has broken out over trees.

Works Cited
Bloodwood: Rosewood Trafficking Is Destroying This National Park. Dir. Jason Motlagh. Prod.
Jason Motlagh. National Geographic. National Geographic, 10 Mar. 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

MODIS. 30 Nov. 2001. NASA. NASA, 30 Nov. 2001. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

Society, National Geographic. "Deforestation Facts, Deforestation Information, Effects of

Deforestation - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

Van Der Werf, Guido. 2006. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Causes of Deforestation: Direct
Causes. NASA: Earth Observatory, 30 Mar. 2007. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.