Deforestation: Policies and Effects

Deforestation is the rapid cutting down and loss of forests. This occurs all around the
world and now we are only left with a 30% forest cover, which is predicted to be gone in 100
years if the rate of deforestation continues. Each year it is predicted that forests the size of
Panama, which is roughly 29,000 square miles, are lost every year. National Geographic says
that in the past 50 years alone, roughly 17% of the Amazon forest has been cleared. Forests are
predicted to house 80% of the worlds biodiversity, while rainforests hold 50% alone.
Deforestation is happening for a multitude of reasons. Often these reasons are related to
money or the need to provide. Agriculture is also a large factor when it comes to deforestation,
crop and cattle land expansion requires farmers to cut down trees and use a method called slash
and burn by burning the trees after they cut them. The Rainforest Action Network, or RAN, is a
supporter in fighting against deforestation and in an article they talked about how palm oil drives
deforestation. Palm oil, the most widely used vegetable oil that is present in roughly half the
foods in any grocery store, is in high demand and can be supplied cheaply from rainforests.
Logging operations, some illegal, provide paper and wood to the world. They also build roads to
access more remote sections of forests, and to get there, cut down even more areas. Urban sprawl
and expansion is another threat, as populations continue to grow and expand they need places to
go. Trees are cut down in order to build more housing accommodations.
Trees and forests provide a great deal of help for our earth, losing them means losing
many environmental factors that we need for our planet to run smoothly. The World Wildlife
organization talks about the causes and effects of deforestation on the environment and the things
that live in it. Deforestation drives climate change at a quicker pace, the soil in forests is moist,
but without trees to block the sun, the soil dries out. Trees also help to return moisture to the air
in a fluid cycle. They block out heat during the day, and keep it in during the night, without them
it reverses and is harmful to the plants and animals. Trees also absorb the greenhouse gasses that
are released into the air, the more gasses released, the faster global warming continues. As forests
lose their masses, they also lose their abilities to fight off wildfires. Losing forests have an effect
on the animals and people as well. As forests disappear, so do the habitats that animals rely on.
Millions of species rely on forests and rainforests, and are quickly becoming endangered and

extinct the faster we cut down forests. 1.6 billion people rely on benefits such as food, water,
shelter, and clothing, from the forests.
As well as the WWF, Greentumble also talked about how the animals and their habitats
change during deforestation. Animals are deeply affected when their homes are lost. A large
majority of the worlds endangered species live in the forests that we are cutting down. Water
and food supplies for the animals decrease as we cut down their habitats. Habitat fragments are
often too small to provide healthy living arrangements are adequate populations of animals. They
may not be able to breed freely or provide enough food, water, and shelter. When they find the
need to migrate, they may encounter dangerous situations when moving between fragments.
These may include human-animal conflicts, being hit by cars, and poaching. Poaching,
predation, and invasion of exotic species, are all potential threats to the species that live in the
deforested fragments.
There are also several economic losses that occur due to deforestation. It can destroy a
previously renewable resource for a country and turn it into barren land. Mongabay discusses
how ecotourism is a large loss for countries. For Brazil and other tropical countries, ecotourism
suffers. Deforestation and logging destroys the beautiful forests and rivers that people come to
those countries to see. Tropical countries lose more resources than just trees. Brazil loses nuts
from the Amazon, Southeast Asia loses the durian fruit, and Sumatra loses the resin from the
Damar trees that are cut down. Many of these resources and others need fully functioning
ecosystems to work correctly. While there are many negative aspects there are possible benefits
to deforestation.
While there are many negative aspects to deforestation, there are a few positive ones.
Deforestation has shown a growth in some economies, while allowing agricultural and urban
expansion. In Brazil, urban space is limited but the demand for growth is there, so cutting down
trees allows room to expand. Urban sprawl in Brazil includes creating many low cost housing
projects on the edges of cities, either funded by private or public corporations. Agriculture is
important to any functioning country to support their people and provide, so removing trees in
order to make room for extra cattle and crop land is beneficial. From 1970-2006, cattle farm
productivity has doubled and crop farm productivity has quadrupled, which has a direct
correlation to diversity by allowing the growth. Brazil.org talks about how logging is important

to countries. Economies may benefit from logging businesses and those that sprawl from it, such
as paper and wood product companies. In Brazil, the logging business is a strong success for
their economic market, as they have logged 7.74 million hectares as of 2012. Legitimate timber
companies thrive in Brazil and produce a steady income as long as they follow the guidelines set
for them.
Brazil is home to a majority of the Amazon forest, which is roughly 2 million square
miles and spans multiple countries, so they have many policies put in place to protect their forest.
First, they needed a system to monitor the forests and keep track of the activity and loss that was
happening. This need created the Real-Time Detection of Deforestation. This software captures
and processes georeferenced images of the Amazon forest every 15 days. However, areas smaller
than 25 hectares are not detected and can still be cut down without notice.
Ucsusa talks about one of the most successful policies Brazil has seen. A policy that has
shown major success is called REDD+. REDD+ is a policy that was put in place in 2005 by first
world countries to give developing countries an incentive to stop deforestation. Norway was a
large supporter of this policy, and pledged 2.5 billion dollars to the mission, and 1 billion to
Brazil to help with economic loss. Brazil then announced a plan to decrease deforestation by
80% by 2020, and this commitment was made a part of the law. Norway made the first payment
of $110 million to Brazil in 2009 after seeing a great improvement in decrease of deforestation.
Thanks to this law, indigenous reserves and protected areas in the forest now make up half of the
Brazilian Amazon. This is due to Brazil strongly enforcing the law and jailing those that
participate in illegal logging.
When the New York UN climate summit took place, the New York Declaration on
Forests was created to cut the worlds deforestation in half by 2020 and attempt to end it by
2030. This declaration is endorsed and supported by over 10 governments, 30 major companies,
and over 50 civil societies and indigenous groups. Aciar.gov discussed an agricultural law put
into place. In 2004, the Brazilian government brought together 13 Ministries and related agencies
for the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon. This plan was
another attempt to end illegal logging, and as a main result there was an overall drop of
15,000km a year from 2002 to 2010. As a result, the economy suffered and was unstable for a
period in time.

Ucsusa also talks about the Zero Deforestation campaign. The Zero Deforestation
campaign was set up by non-government organizations such as human rights groups,
environmentalists, and indigenous groups to draw attention the problems being caused by
deforestation. Introduced in 2008, they showed the government many issues and forced them to
act. These issues included how the soybean and beef industries were damaging the forests and
land around them. Companies are no longer allowed to sell predicted that was harvested from
deforested land. Set up that same year, the Green Arc Operation was established to encourage
sustainable agricultural habits in areas most affected by deforestation. It supports the farmers and
discourages illegal agriculture habits. The website titled Climate Policy Initiative discusses the
Brazilian Forest Code. The Brazilian Forest Code focuses on private landholders and requires the
holders to register their land with the government so it can be observed. Once registered, a
portion of the land must remain as a Legal Forest Reserve. However, most people haven't
registered their land out of fear that they will be made to stop farming.
As you can see, deforestation is devastating for the environment. Our demand for paper
products and urge to sprawl outward has damaged our forests, which hold so many of our species
and plants. Natural and sustainable resources are being drastically damaged when the
environment is altered on such a large scale. Animals and plants alike are going extinct, and
ecosystems suffer when the balance is thrown off. Economies both gain and lose from
deforestation, but it does more harm than good in the long run. Brazil on its own is making a
large influence and having great success in decreasing deforestation, but if people around the
world continue to ignore this problem instead of helping, we may soon lose our forests and all
the wonderful things inside it.

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