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Essay on Deforestation

List of essay on deforestation in english, essay on deforestation – essay 1 (150 words), essay on deforestation – essay 2 (250 words), essay on deforestation – essay 3 (300 words), essay on deforestation: causes and drawbacks – essay 4 (400 words), essay on deforestation: with causes and solution – essay 5 (500 words), essay on deforestation: introduction, impact, control and conclusion – essay 6 (650 words), essay on deforestation: causes and effects – essay 7 (750 words), essay on deforestation: with solution – essay 8 (1000 words).

Introduction:

Deforestation is the process of clearing trees and forest for other uses. Deforestation usually occurs due to city expansion. As habitats increase in cities, there is a need to create more space the for homes, organizations, and factories. This, however, has a damning effect on our environment.

Effect of Deforestation on the Environment:

Deforestation means fewer trees and more land. This has a serious adverse effect on our environment. On one hand, deforestation makes some animals homeless. Animals that survive in the forest might go extinct with less forest. On the other hand, deforestation is also the biggest cause of climate change around the world.

Preventing Deforestation:

Reducing or preventing deforestation is easier said than done. This is because trees are cut down because there is a pressing need to do so. Thus, to prevent deforestation we must try to reduce that need by making smarter choices in paper usage, city planning, migration, etc.

Conclusion:

The essence of plant life in the forest is unquestionable. To ensure a greener environment we must all join the efforts in reducing deforestation.

Deforestation is definitely one of the most troubling of all problems which has plagued our environment. It is important more than ever to take care of the green cover or else it can jeopardize the existence of life on Earth. It is owing to the presence of green trees that we get the oxygen needed to breathe in.

However, because of excessive exploitation by humans, it has been seen that the trees are being cut down mercilessly. This act of cleaning the green cover is known as deforestation.

Educate people:

The best way to handle the problem of deforestation is by making sure that we educate the masses regarding the importance of green cover. When people understand as to how deforestation is leading to grave consequences, they will get the incentive to plant trees rather than uproot them.

Protect the Environment:

As we have continued to exploit the environment in a way that it is hard to get things back to normal, it is now important to immediately start protecting the environment. A lot of natural calamities are occurring these days because the ecosystem balance has been disturbed. Deforestation alone is responsible for a major amount of problems.

So, you need to understand as to how you can come up with ways to excite people about planting more trees and doing their bit for the sake of the environment. Think of your children and grand children. If we continue with our aggressive deforestation campaigns, they are not likely to have a healthy environment for survival. Is that what we really want?

Deforestation can be defined as the removal of trees and clearing of forests for the personal and commercial benefits of human beings. Deforestation has emerged as one of the biggest man-made disasters recently. Every year, more and more trees and vegetation are being erased just to fulfill the various needs of the human race.

Deforestation happens for many reasons. The growing population is one of them. Rising human population needs more area for residential purpose. For this, forests are either burned down or cut to make space for constructing homes and apartments.

Deforestation is also done for commercial purposes. This includes setting up of factories, industries, and towers, etc. The enormous requirements of feeding the human race also create a burden on the land. As a result, clearing land for agricultural purposes leads to deforestation.

Deforestation impacts our earth in several ways. Trees are natural air purifiers. They absorb the carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen into the atmosphere. Deforestation results in uncontrolled air pollution. When there are fewer trees, there is lesser absorption of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

Deforestation also disturbs the water cycle. Forests absorb the groundwater and release the water vapors to form clouds, which in turn cause rains. Roots of trees hold the soil intact and prevent floods. But when there are no trees, different kinds of natural calamities are bound to happen.

With deforestation, chances of floods, drought, global warming, and disturbed weather cycle all come into the play. Not only that, the disappearance of forests means the extinction of wild animals and plants, which are highly important parts of our ecosystem.

In order to curb these disasters, we must plant more trees. Restoration of existing vegetation is equally essential. Population control is another indirect method to save trees and forest areas.

Deforestation is the process of cutting down of trees and forests completely or partially for different reasons like manufacturing different products with various parts of the tree as raw material, to build structures and other buildings, etc. Deforestation in recent days has become the curse of our world that resulted in the destruction of nature and the environment.

Cause and Drawbacks:

Deforestation is mainly done for making better living assets for humans and this one side thought is the biggest drawback of this issue. Instead of doing only the cutting part humans should practice forestation along with deforestation. Whenever a tree or a forest is cut, another one should be planted at the same place or on other lands to promote the forestation.

Deforestation is the main cause for many natural deficiencies and the destruction of many animal, plant and bird species. If the practice of cutting down trees continues, then eventually even the world may get destructed along with the extinction of the human race.

It’s not like trees shouldn’t be used for any kind of production and urbanization or industrialization shouldn’t be done for the development, but the main factor is to compensate for every minus done. Through this, there will be a balancing between the reduction and plantation which will help, to an extent, in the rectification of problems faced by the world due to deforestation.

Deforestation has also affected the atmospheric air combination. The carbon content in the atmosphere has considerably increased over years due to many human activities like uncontrolled fuel combustion.

Forest has played a massive function of inhaling the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and exhaling oxygen during the daytime while they prepare food for themselves. This process is the reason for maintaining a balanced oxygen and carbon level in the atmosphere and that makes the life of us humans to breathe free.

Population growth is undeniably the major factor behind the increased deforestation level. The increased demand for more assets for better living has increased the need for deforestation as well. In such cases forestation should also be made as a follow-up process.

Controlling the overuse of assets can also help in reducing the deforestation rate. If humans start to use products that use a tree as raw material reasonably then it will help in avoiding deforestation as well. Deforestation not only is a life-threatening scenario for many animals and birds, but also the whole human species.

Deforestation refers to the elimination of plants and trees from a region. Deforestation also includes the clearing of jungles and plants from the region due to the numerous commercial motives.

Different Causes of Deforestation:

The below are the different causes of deforestation:

1. Overgrazing:

Overgrazing in jungles finishes recently renewed development. It makes the soil additional compact and invulnerable. The fertility of the soil also reduces owing to the devastation of organic substance. Overgrazing also results in the desertification and the soil erosion. Deforestation results in decreasing the overall soil’s productivity.

2. Shifting Cultivation:

Numerous agriculturalists destroy the jungle for farming and commercial motives and once productiveness of soil is shattered owing to recurrent harvesting, a fresh forest region is devastated. Hence, farmers must be recommended to utilize a similar area for agriculture and use some upgraded farming techniques and stop the deforestation.

3. Fuel Wood:

The maximum amount of forest is destroyed for the fuel wood. Around 86% of the fuel wood is utilized in rural regions in comparison to the 14% in urban parts and hence lead to more deforestation.

4. Forest Fires:

Recurrent fires in the forest regions are one of the major reasons of deforestation. Few incidents of fires are minor whereas the maximum of them are huge.

The industries related to the plywood and timber is mostly accountable for the deforestation. In fact, the huge demand for wooden things has resulted in the quick reduction of the forest.

6. Industry Establishment:

At times the industrial unit is constructed after deforestation. It means for a small achievement of few people, all other people have to bear a permanent loss. In this procedure, wild animals, valuable plant, and unusual birds get devastated. In fact, it adversely affects the quality of the environment.

7. Violation of Forest:

One more reason of deforestation is a violation by tribal on the land of forest for cultivation and other motives. Even though such type of land has a virtuous support for agriculture creation but still it creates environmental threats.

8. Forest Diseases:

Numerous diseases are instigated by rusts, parasitic fungi, nematodes and viruses that result in demise and deterioration of jungle. Fresh saplings are devastated owing to the occurrence of nematodes. Numerous diseases like blister rust, heart rot, and phloem necrosis, oak will, and Dutch elm, etc. destroy the jungle in large quantities.

9. Landslide:

The landslide lead to the deforestation in the mountains is a question of worry. It happened largely in the regions where growing actions are proceeding for the previous few years. The building of highways and railways mainly in hilly lands as well as the structure of large irrigation plans have resulted in enough deforestation and speeded the natural procedure of denudation.

Worldwide Solution for the Deforestation:

The jungle is an essential natural reserve for any nation and deforestation slow down a nation’s growth. To encounter the necessities of the growing population, simple resources might be attained only with the help of afforestation. It is actually the arrangement of implanting plants for food and food growth. Moreover, the nurseries have a significant part in increasing the coverage of the forest area.

Deforestation is the cutting down of trees. It is basically changing the use of land to a different purpose other than the planting of trees.

There are many reasons which have led to large levels of deforestation all over the world. One of the major causes is ever growing population of the world. With the growth in population, the need for more land to live has been rising. This has further led to cutting down of trees. Also, with modernisation, there has been a substantial increase in the requirement of land for setting up of industries. This has again contributed to deforestation.

Mining is another activity of humans which has led to large-scale deforestation in many areas. The need to build road and rail network in order to increase connectivity to the mines has led to cutting down of trees. This has altered the climatic conditions in these areas.

Deforestation has had a huge impact on the environment. Lack of trees has led to less release of water vapour in the air. This has, in turn, led to the alteration of rainfall patterns in different regions. India is a country which is dependent on monsoon rains for agriculture. Frequent droughts and floods caused due to deforestation have affected the lives of many in different parts of the country.

Moreover, trees absorb the carbon-dioxide from the air and help to purify it. Without trees around us, the presence of harmful gases in the air has been rising. This has also led to global warming which is again a major environmental concern. Also, the ever-rising pollution level, especially in many cities in India is due to vast deforestation only.

Additionally, trees bind the soil around them and prevent soil erosion. Deforestation has led to the soil being washed away with winds and rain, making the land unfit for agriculture. Also, trees and forests are the homes to different species of wildlife. With shrinking forests, several of the wildlife has become extinct as they were not able to cope with the changing conditions. Also, there have been increased man and wildlife conflicts in recent times as the animals are forced to venture in the cities in search of food. All these are severe effects of deforestation and need urgent attention by all.

The Perfect Example:

New Delhi is the capital of India. There was once a time when Delhi was a beautiful city. But with modernisation, increase in population, deforestation and mining in the nearby Aravalli hills, Delhi has been reduced to a gas chamber. Such is the impact the Delhi has become one of the most polluted cities in the world. What better example can be there to understand what deforestation has led us to?

There are many ways in which we can reduce deforestation. We must protect our forests. Moreover, we must mark adequate land for our farming needs. There are some laws already in place which prohibit people from unnecessary felling of trees. What needs to be done is the proper execution of the rules so that everyone abides by it. Also, stricter punishments need to be in place for violators so as to deter other people from disobeying the laws. Alternatively, people need to ensure that for every tree felled, equal numbers of trees are planted so that the balance of nature can be maintained. Summarily, it has to be a collective duty of all and just the governments alone, if we really need to reduce deforestation.

It is true that we all need space to live. With the ever-growing population and urbanisation, there has been more than ever need to cut trees and make space. However, we must realise that it is not possible for us to live without having trees around us. Trees bring so many benefits such as giving us oxygen, utilising the harmful carbon dioxide and so many products we need in our daily lives. Without trees around us, there would be no life on the earth. We should all do the needful to protect trees and reduce deforestation.

Deforestation is also known as clearing or clearance of trees. It can be said to mean removal of strands of trees or forests and the conversion of such area of land to a use that is totally non-forest in nature. Some deforestation examples are the converting of areas of forest to urban, ranches or farms use. The area of land that undergoes the most deforestation is the tropical rainforests. It is important to note that forests cover more than 31 percent in total land area of the surface of the earth.

There are a lot of different reasons why deforestation occurs: some tree are being cut down for building or as fuel (timber or coal), while areas of land are to be used as plantation and also as pasture to feed livestock. When trees are removed with properly replacing them, there can as a result be aridity, loss of biodiversity and even habitat damage. We have also had cases of deforestation used in times of war to starve the enemy.

Causes of Deforestation:

It has been discovered that the major and primary deforestation cause is agriculture. Studies have shown that about 48 percent of all deforestation is as a result of subsistence farming and 32 percent of deforestation is as a result of commercial agriculture. Also, it was discovered that logging accounts for about 14% of the total deforestation and 5% is from the removal for fuel wood.

There has been no form of agreement from experts on if industrial form of logging is a very important contributing factor to deforestation globally. Some experts have argued that the clearing of forests is something poor people do more as a result of them not having other alternatives. Other experts are of the belief that the poor seldom clear forests because they do not have the resources needed to do that. A study has also revealed that increase in population as a result of fertility rates that are very high are not a major driver of deforestation and they only influenced less than 8% of the cases of deforestation.

The Environmental Effects of Deforestation:

Deforestation has a lot of negative effects on our planet and environment.

A few of the areas where it negatively affects our environment are discussed below:

i. Atmospheric Effect:

Global warming has deforestation as one of its major contributing factors and deforestation is also a key cause of greenhouse effect. About 20% of all the emission of greenhouse gases is as a result of tropical deforestation. The land in an area that is deforested heats up quicker and it gets to a temperature that is higher than normal, causing a change in solar energy absorption, flow of water vapours and even wind flows and all of these affects the local climate of the area and also the global climate.

Also, the burning of plants in the forest in order to carry out clearing of land, incineration cause a huge amount of carbon dioxide release which is a major and important contributor to the global warming.

ii. Hydrological Effect:

Various researches have shown that deforestation greatly affects water cycle. Groundwater is extracted by trees through the help of their roots; the water extracted is then released into the surrounding atmosphere. If we remove a part of the forest, there will not be transpiration of water like it should be and this result in the climate being a lot drier. The water content of the soil is heavily reduced by deforestation and also atmospheric moisture as well as groundwater. There is a reduced level of water intake that the trees can extract as a result of the dry soil. Soil cohesion is also reduced by deforestation and this can result in landslides, flooding and erosion.

iii. Effect on Soil:

As a direct result of the plant litter on the surface, there is a minimal and reduced erosion rate in forests largely undisturbed. Deforestation increases the erosion rate as a result of the subsequent decrease in the quantity of cover of litter available. The litter cover actually serves as a protection for the soil from all varieties of surface runoff. When mechanized equipments and machineries are used in forestry operations, there can be a resulting erosion increase as a result of the development of roads in the forests.

iv. Effect on Biodiversity:

There is a biodiversity decline due to deforestation. Deforestation can lead to the death and extinction of a lot of species of animals and plants. The habitat of various animals are taken away as a result of deforestation.

The total coverage of forests on the earth’s landmass is 30 percent and the fact the people are destroying them is worrying. Research reveals that majority of the tropical forests on earth are being destroyed. We are almost at half the forest landmass in destruction. How would earth look life without forests? It will be a total disaster if deforestation is encouraged. Deforestation is a human act in which forests are permanently destroyed in order to create settlement area and use the trees for industries like paper manufacture, wood and construction. A lot of forests have been destroyed and the impact has been felt through climate change and extinction of animals due to destruction of the ecosystem. The impacts of deforestation are adverse and there is need to prevent and control it before it can get any worse.

Deforestation is mainly a human activity affected by many factors. Overpopulation contributed to deforestation because there is need to create a settlement area for the increasing number of people on earth and the need for urbanization for economic reasons. Recently, population has greatly risen in the world and people require shelter as a basic need. Forests are destroyed in order for people to find land to build a shelter and then trees are further cut to build those houses. Overpopulation is a major threat to the forest landmass and if not controlled, people will continue to occupy the forests until there is no more forest coverage on earth.

Another factor influencing deforestation is industrialization. Industries that use trees to manufacture their product e.g. paper and wood industries have caused major destruction of forests. The problem with industries is the large-scale need for trees which causes extensive deforestation. The use of timber in industries is a treat to forests all over the world. In as much as we need furniture, paper and homes, it is not worth the massive destruction of our forests.

Fires are also a cause of deforestation. During episodes of drought, fire spreads widely and burns down trees. The fire incidences could result from human activities like smoking or charcoal burning in the forests. Drought due to adverse weather changes in global warming is a natural disaster that claim the lives of people and living things.

Agricultural activities such as farming and livestock keeping also cause deforestation because of the land demand in those activities. Deforestation for farming purpose involves clearing all the vegetation on the required land and using it for and then burring the vegetation hence the name ‘slash and burn agriculture’. The ranches required for cattle keeping among other livestock require a large area that is clear from trees.

Impacts of Deforestation:

Deforestation has a great impact on the ecosystem in different ways. Climate change is influenced by deforestation because trees influence weather directly. Trees usually act to protect against strong winds and erosion but in its absence, natural disasters like floods and storms could be experienced. Also, tree are important in replenishing the air in the atmosphere. Trees have the ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen. Without trees, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be increased. Because carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, it causes global warming.

Global warming is a serious environmental issue that causes adverse climatic changes and affects life on earth. Extreme weather conditions like storms, drought and floods. These weather conditions are not conducive for humans and other living things on earth. Natural disasters as a result of global warming are very destructive both to animate and inanimate objects in the environment.

Loss of species due to deforestation has negatively affected biodiversity. Biodiversity is a highly valued aspect of life on earth and its interruption is a loss. There is a loss of habitat for species to exist in as a result of deforestation and therefore species face extinction. Extinction of some rare species is a threat we are currently facing. Animals that live and depend on forest vegetation for food will also suffer and eventually die of hunger. Survival has been forced on animals of the jungle due to deforestation and that is why human wildlife conflict is being experienced.

The water cycle on earth is negatively affected by deforestation. The existence of water vapor in the atmosphere is maintained by trees. Absence of trees cause a reduced vapor retention in the atmosphere which result in adverse climate changes. Trees and other forest vegetation are important in preventing water pollution because they prevent the contaminated runoff into water sources like rivers, lakes and oceans. Without trees, pollution of water is more frequent and therefore the water will be unsafe for consumption by human and animals.

Solutions to Deforestation:

Based on the serious impact of deforestation, it is only safe if solutions are sought to end this problem. The ultimate solution is definitely restoration of the forest landmass on earth. The restoration can be done by encouraging the planting of trees, a process called reforestation. Although reforestation will not completely solve the impacts of deforestation, it will restore a habitat for the wild animals and slowly restore the ecosystem. Major impacts like concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere require another approach. Human activities that contribute to carbon dioxide gas emission to the atmosphere have to be reduced through strict policies for industries and finding alternative energy sources that do not produce greenhouse gases.

Another solution is public awareness. People have to be made aware that deforestation has negative effects so that they can reduce the act. Through awareness, people can also be taught on ways of reducing the population e.g., family planning. On World Environment Day, people are encouraged to participate in activities like tree planting in order to conserve environment and that is how the awareness takes place.

In conclusion, deforestation is a human activity that is destructive and should be discouraged. Environmental conservation is our responsibility because we have only one earth to live in.

Deforestation , Environment , Forests

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ENVIRONMENT

Why deforestation matters—and what we can do to stop it

Large scale destruction of trees—deforestation—affects ecosystems, climate, and even increases risk for zoonotic diseases spreading to humans.

As the world seeks to slow the pace of climate change , preserve wildlife, and support more than eight billion people , trees inevitably hold a major part of the answer. Yet the mass destruction of trees—deforestation—continues, sacrificing the long-term benefits of standing trees for short-term gain of fuel, and materials for manufacturing and construction.

We need trees for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that they absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale and the heat-trapping greenhouse gases that human activities emit. As those gases enter the atmosphere, global warming increases, a trend scientists now prefer to call climate change.

There is also the imminent danger of disease caused by deforestation. An estimated 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases come from animals, and a major cause of viruses’ jump from wildlife to humans is habitat loss, often through deforestation.

But we can still save our forests. Aggressive efforts to rewild and reforest are already showing success. Tropical tree cover alone can provide 23 percent of the climate mitigation needed to meet goals set in the Paris Agreement in 2015, according to one estimate .

Causes of deforestation

Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Since 1990, the world has lost more than 420 million hectares or about a billion acres of forest, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations —mainly in Africa and South America. About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise . The organization Amazon Conservation reports that destruction rose by 21 percent in 2020 , a loss the size of Israel.

Farming, grazing of livestock, mining, and drilling combined account for more than half of all deforestation . Forestry practices, wildfires and, in small part, urbanization account for the rest. In Malaysia and Indonesia, forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil , which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltine crackers. In the Amazon, cattle ranching and farms—particularly soy plantations—are key culprits .

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Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also fell countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally , also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl as land is developed for homes.

Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.

Why it matters

There are some 250 million people who live in forest and savannah areas and depend on them for subsistence and income—many of them among the world’s rural poor.

Eighty percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests , and deforestation threatens species including the orangutan , Sumatran tiger , and many species of birds. Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and retains heat at night. That disruption leads to more extreme temperature swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.

With wild habitats destroyed and human life ever expanding, the line between animal and human areas blurs, opening the door to zoonotic diseases . In 2014, for example, the Ebola virus killed over 11,000 people in West Africa after fruit bats transmitted the disease to a toddler who was playing near trees where bats were roosting.

( How deforestation is leading to more infectious diseases in humans .)

What is the ozone layer, and why does it matter?

Will the COP26 global deforestation pledge save forests?

This is the story of the first Earth Day—and why it mattered

Some scientists believe there could be as many as 1.7 million currently “undiscovered” viruses in mammals and birds, of which up to 827,000 could have the ability to infect people, according to a 2018 study .

Deforestation’s effects reach far beyond the people and animals where trees are cut. The South American rainforest, for example, influences regional and perhaps even global water cycles, and it's key to the water supply in Brazilian cities and neighboring countries. The Amazon actually helps furnish water to some of the soy farmers and beef ranchers who are clearing the forest. The loss of clean water and biodiversity from all forests could have many other effects we can’t foresee, touching even your morning cup of coffee .

In terms of climate change, cutting trees both adds carbon dioxide to the air and removes the ability to absorb existing carbon dioxide. If tropical deforestation were a country, according to the World Resources Institute , it would rank third in carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, behind China and the U.S.

What can be done

The numbers are grim, but many conservationists see reasons for hope . A movement is under way to preserve existing forest ecosystems and restore lost tree cover by first reforesting (replanting trees) and ultimately rewilding (a more comprehensive mission to restore entire ecosystems).

( Which nation could be the first to be rewilded ?)

Organizations and activists are working to fight illegal mining and logging—National Geographic Explorer Topher White, for example, has come up with a way to use recycled cell phones to monitor for chainsaws . In Tanzania, the residents of Kokota have planted more than 2 million trees on their small island over a decade, aiming to repair previous damage. And in Brazil, conservationists are rallying in the face of ominous signals that the government may roll back forest protections.

( Which tree planting projects should you support ?)

Stopping deforestation before it reaches a critical point will play a key role in avoiding the next zoonotic pandemic. A November 2022 study showed that when bats struggle to find suitable habitat, they travel closer to human communities where diseases are more likely to spillover. Inversely, when bats’ native habitats were left intact, they stayed away from humans. This research is the first to show how we can predict and avoid spillovers through monitoring and maintaining wildlife habitats.

For consumers, it makes sense to examine the products and meats you buy, looking for sustainably produced sources when you can. Nonprofit groups such as the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance certify products they consider sustainable, while the World Wildlife Fund has a palm oil scorecard for consumer brands.

Climbing into the secret world of an ancient Bornean rainforest

Forests are reeling from climate change—but the future isn’t lost

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Deforestation.

Deforestation is the intentional clearing of forested land.

Biology, Ecology, Conservation

Trees are cut down for timber, waiting to be transported and sold.

Photograph by Esemelwe

Deforestation is the purposeful clearing of forested land. Throughout history and into modern times, forests have been razed to make space for agriculture and animal grazing, and to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing, and construction.

Deforestation has greatly altered landscapes around the world. About 2,000 years ago, 80 percent of Western Europe was forested; today the figure is 34 percent. In North America, about half of the forests in the eastern part of the continent were cut down from the 1600s to the 1870s for timber and agriculture. China has lost great expanses of its forests over the past 4,000 years and now just over 20 percent of it is forested. Much of Earth’s farmland was once forests.

Today, the greatest amount of deforestation is occurring in tropical rainforests, aided by extensive road construction into regions that were once almost inaccessible. Building or upgrading roads into forests makes them more accessible for exploitation. Slash-and-burn agriculture is a big contributor to deforestation in the tropics. With this agricultural method, farmers burn large swaths of forest, allowing the ash to fertilize the land for crops. The land is only fertile for a few years, however, after which the farmers move on to repeat the process elsewhere. Tropical forests are also cleared to make way for logging, cattle ranching, and oil palm and rubber tree plantations.

Deforestation can result in more carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. That is because trees take in carbon dioxide from the air for photosynthesis , and carbon is locked chemically in their wood. When trees are burned, this carbon returns to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide . With fewer trees around to take in the carbon dioxide , this greenhouse gas accumulates in the atmosphere and accelerates global warming.

Deforestation also threatens the world’s biodiversity . Tropical forests are home to great numbers of animal and plant species. When forests are logged or burned, it can drive many of those species into extinction. Some scientists say we are already in the midst of a mass-extinction episode.

More immediately, the loss of trees from a forest can leave soil more prone to erosion . This causes the remaining plants to become more vulnerable to fire as the forest shifts from being a closed, moist environment to an open, dry one.

While deforestation can be permanent, this is not always the case. In North America, for example, forests in many areas are returning thanks to conservation efforts.

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What Are the Causes and Effects of Deforestation?

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, especially clearing land for cattle and soy to feed farmed animals.

Explainer • Climate • Industry

Words by Claire Hamlett

Forests are a critical global resource, covering around 30 percent of the planet or 4.06 billion hectares. Increasing rates of deforestation threaten this important resource but also much more — as forests are deeply intertwined with the impacts of climate change, biodiversity and the livelihoods of people who depend on these precious and powerful ecosystems.

What Is Deforestation?

Deforestation is the practice of intentionally cutting down trees to clear land for other uses. In the past 10,000 years, the world has lost 2 billion hectares — or one-third — of its forested land, and half of that has occurred since 1900. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that an average of 10 million hectares of forest are cut down each year, but some years are much worse than others. 2016 remains the worst year on record for deforestation at 29.7 million hectares , partly due to significant forest fires.

What Are the Effects of Deforestation?

The impacts of deforestation are felt throughout the environment and the natural cycles that regulate life on Earth, as well as in human communities and the animals that depend on forests for habitat.

What Are the Negative Effects of Deforestation on the Environment?

Soil erosion and desertification.

Trees and natural vegetation help to hold soil in place. When they are removed, the nutrient-rich topsoil erodes, and is easily washed away in heavy rains or blown away by wind. Rough, sandy particles that can’t retain water are left behind, making the land unsuitable for growing crops as it eventually turns into a desert. As forests also regulate the water cycle, clearing them leads to drier local climates, further adding to the risk of desertification.

Climate Change

Forests store huge amounts of carbon, which can be released into the atmosphere when they are cut down. Deforestation accounts for around 10 percent of anthropogenic carbon emissions. Tropical forests are under such severe assault that they have tipped from being a net sink to a net source for carbon emissions, now emitting more than they can store.

A landmark study published in Global Change Biology in 2007 found evidence from around the globe that deforestation increases the frequency of flooding events as well as making the impacts more severe — increasing the length of floods, the number of people displaced and killed and the physical damage caused. Various further studies have also revealed the different ways that deforestation increases floods. For example, a 2012 study published in Water Resources Research on deforestation in Canada found that felling large areas of forest in snowy regions can double or even quadruple the number of large floods around the streams and rivers that pass through those forests by exposing snow to sunlight and making it melt faster. A 2022 study published by PNAS found that coastal cities in West Africa are experiencing more frequent thunderstorms and flash flooding due to deforestation, which alters the local climate.

How Does Deforestation Affect Us?

Deforestation negatively impacts public health in several ways. Fragmentation of wildlife habitat through forest clearing has increased the spillover of novel pathogens from wildlife to people. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the loss of forest also risks the loss of potential future medicinal resources. By contributing to and exacerbating the impacts of climate change, such as floods, deforestation increases the risk of death, particularly for people in parts of the world that are more vulnerable to extreme weather. When we lose forests, we also lose a source of more direct health benefits such as improved mental and physical well-being and cleaner air .

Food Insecurity

Forests provide food for millions of people and fuelwood for cooking for 2.4 billion, particularly in developing countries. By maintaining soil quality, regulating climate and providing habitats and food for a diverse range of species, forests are a critical component of food production beyond their bounds as well. All of these benefits are threatened by deforestation, which also adds to the pressure on global food supplies due to climate change.

Local People and Their Livelihoods

Communities who live in and near forests are deeply impacted by deforestation. According to the World Bank , rural households living near forests can derive as much as 22 percent of their income from forest resources including timber, food, fuel, fodder, construction materials and medicine. As these resources become more scarce due to tree clearing, communities from Cameroon to India are struggling to make ends meet. Deforestation can also lead to migration, social disruption and conflict .

Effects of Deforestation on Biodiversity

Habitat loss.

Forests are some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, providing homes to trees, plants, animals, insects, microorganisms and carbon-sequestering fungi . Deforestation fragments and degrades this habitat, reducing or destroying its capacity to support other species.

Wildlife Extinction

When their habitat is destroyed, many forest-dwelling species struggle to survive in the pockets of forest that are left. Smaller areas of habitat can only support smaller populations of a species, reducing their gene pool and leaving them more vulnerable to hunting, poaching and predators. As some species are unique to specific forest regions, they can easily become extinct when their habitat is destroyed.

Acidic Oceans

When carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves into the oceans, it lowers the pH of the water and causes acidification. Because forests are such important carbon sinks, another result of deforestation is that more carbon dioxide ends up in the oceans as less is absorbed by trees.

What Animals Are Affected By Deforestation?

Deforestation and unsustainable logging threaten more than 4,000 species . Forest-dependent animals that have gone extinct just this century include the Formosan clouded leopard of Taiwan, the cryptic treehunter bird of Brazil and the Mount Glorious torrent frog of Australia.

What Are the Causes of Deforestation?

Animal agriculture.

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation. A massive 41 percent of tropical deforestation — 2.1 million hectares a year — is directly linked to the expansion of pasture for grazing beef cattle, mostly in Brazil. In addition, nearly 500,000 hectares of forest is cleared every year to grow soy, the majority of which — around 77 percent — ends up as livestock feed.

Forest Fires

Fires are a naturally occurring event in some forest ecosystems and controlled fires have also been used sustainably by Indigenous communities for centuries to clear small pockets of land for agriculture. But forest fires are becoming more frequent and ferocious, breaking out in new regions as humid forests dry out . The remaining fragmented forests are more prone to fires as climate change is making conditions drier and hotter, which in turn makes it easier for fires to start and grow out of control.

In 2021, Russia had its worst fire season on record (monitoring began properly in 2001), with 18.13 million hectares of forest destroyed. The Amazon rainforest had a particularly bad year of fires in 2019 , with over 9,000 fires raging at one point. Last month, 17,000 hectares of pine forest burned to the ground in France.

Illegal Logging

There is a multi-billion dollar industry based on illegally harvested timber and related products such as paper and packaging. Some illegal logging also occurs to replace natural forest with monoculture plantations.

Around 44 percent of large-scale mining operations are located in forests, and experts have warned that granting new mining licenses in currently protected areas of the Amazon, as Brazil’s president wants to do, will result in thousands of square kilometers of new deforestation. Illegal mining, mainly for gold, drove the destruction of more than 40,000 hectares of forest in Tambopata National Reserve in Peru from 2001 to 2014.

Overpopulation

The human population already stands on the cusp of 8 billion and is projected to peak at 10.88 billion at the turn of the next century. If current unsustainable uses of land continue apace, including clearing forests for agriculture and exploitation of other resources, the growth in population will exert further pressure on forest ecosystems.

Around 66 million tons of palm oil is produced every year for use in household products, food, animal feed and as fuel for power and vehicles. The amount of land used to grow oil palm has grown from 4 million hectares in 1980 to 19 million in 2018. Along with soy, the expansion of oil palm plantations is the second biggest cause of deforestation globally after animal agriculture — though it accounts for less than half the amount of deforestation caused by cattle ranching. Nonetheless, it has been a disaster for forest wildlife, threatening nearly 200 species on the IUCN’s red list , including tigers and orangutans.

Around 405 million tonnes of paper and paperboard are produced annually, accounting for roughly 13 to 15 percent of total wood consumption — and demand for these products is increasing. Forests are being cleared in biodiversity hotspots to grow pulp plantations. Several forest regions, including the old-growth boreal forests of Canada, are also being clear-cut to produce pulp for making toilet paper and other tissue products.

Urbanization

It was once hoped that urbanization, the process by which a population moves to urban areas, would decrease pressure on forests by slowing down the clearing of land for agriculture. But instead, the key drivers of deforestation have shifted too, with more populous urban areas driving up demand for products like beef, as found in a study published in 2010 in Nature Geoscience and a more recent study published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research International in 2020 .

Where Is Deforestation Happening?

Deforestation in south america.

Brazil has by far the worst rate of deforestation in the world, with a net loss of 1.45 million hectares of forest per year. But all of South America, bar a handful of countries including Chile and Costa Rica, are losing more forest than they are gaining. Around 17 percent of the Amazon, the majority of which is in Brazil, had been cleared by 2018 — the same year Jair Bolsanaro was elected President, since when he has been loosening environmental protections for the rainforest and encouraging its development. The second largest forest in South America is the Cerrado, which covers more than 20 percent of Brazil but is often overlooked. It has suffered twice as much deforestation as the Amazon since 2008, mainly due to the expansion of animal agriculture.

Deforestation in Southeast Asia

Indonesia is another deforestation hotspot , with rates comparable to South America. Palm oil and logging are the main causes of deforestation in Indonesia as well as Malaysia. More than half of the natural forest cover of Southeast Asia has been lost — a catastrophe for the region’s wildlife.

Deforestation in Africa

Deforestation rates vary greatly between African countries. Agricultural expansion is a major driver, with cocoa playing a significant role, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Producing nearly 3 million tons of cocoa every year requires huge amounts of land. Protected areas and their wildlife have been ravaged by cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire, and 10 percent of Ghana’s forests were cleared for cocoa production between 2001 and 2014 . Logging for timber and demand for charcoal as a cooking fuel are also big drivers of deforestation in different parts of the continent.

How Can We Stop Deforestation?

Consuming less and more consciously.

There are several actions people can take as individuals to prevent further deforestation, including buying less and making more conscious choices about what to buy. For example, you could look for second hand wood products like furniture and recycled tissue and paper products, or reduce consumption of products containing palm oil.

Eating Less Meat

As animal agriculture is the biggest driver of deforestation, cutting down on or avoiding meat is another key action individuals can take. Even if the meat itself has not been imported from a country experiencing deforestation, feed for farmed animals including dairy cows, pigs and chickens is often sourced from deforested areas. A 2021 study published in Nature found that replacing half of global meat consumption with fungi-derived protein could prevent 82 percent of future deforestation.

Government Regulations

Governments must do more to end deforestation. At the 2021 UN Climate Summit, COP26, more than 100 world leaders committed to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030, offering up billions in funding to that end. But a similar pledge in 2014, the New York Declaration on Forests, was a failure .

Still, because corporate deforestation commitments are insufficient on their own, government regulations remain essential. For example, the European Union, as the second biggest importer of agricultural products resulting from deforestation, has proposed mandatory due diligence requirements on companies to improve reporting and transparency in their supply chains. Both producer and consumer countries of products linked to deforestation need to improve forest governance such as better auditing, licensing and certification programs.

Spread Awareness About Deforestation

Research show the simple act of talking about climate change is one of the most effective forms of climate action. This could include discussing the larger role forests play in planetary health or highlighting products that are most likely to have come from deforested areas.

Leave Fossil Fuels and Palm Oil Behind

Burning fossil fuels is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, generating more than forests can absorb. As long as humanity keeps burning fossil fuels, climate change will keep negatively impacting forests and contribute to forest loss through worsening wildfires. But what we replace fossil fuels with matters to deforestation too. Palm oil is already being used as a replacement, but its environmental and climate costs are significant . Reducing the need for fossil and biofuels through, for example, improved transportation infrastructure, and replacing the remainder with cleaner sources of energy and fuel is crucial.

Reforestation and Afforestation

Reforestation involves the restoration of an area that was recently deforested, while afforestation means establishing forests where there were none or have been none for a long time. Allowing forests to naturally regenerate is gaining recognition as a cost-effective reforestation strategy. Reforestation is occurring in countries from Russia to China — but the key challenge is whether these efforts can outpace the rate at which trees are lost. There are notable afforestation efforts underway around the world, including China, which has increased its forest cover by 22 percent since the late 1970s.

Further Action

In addition to reducing your own consumption of deforestation-linked products, you can support or campaign for policies that aim to reduce such consumption at a larger scale. Another key form of action — support Indigenous communities who are defending forests from being cleared by corporations by donating to relevant nonprofits or to legal defense funds for Indigenous activists.

Independent Journalism Needs You

Claire is a freelance writer covering animals, climate, and the environment.

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Essay on Deforestation: 100 Words, 300 Words

Updated on
Apr 1, 2024

Deforestation means the widespread clearing of forests which has become a topic of global concern due to its severe environmental concerns. Deforestation as a topic is discussed and given as assignments to students for their better understanding. In this blog, we will learn the various facets of deforestation, its causes, consequences, and solutions. Also, there are some sample essay on deforestation to help students with their assignments.

Table of Contents

1 What is Deforestation?
2 Causes of Deforestation
3 Consequences of Deforestation
4 Solutions to Deforestation
5 Sample Essay on Deforestation in 100 words
6 Sample Essay on Deforestation in 300 words
7 FAQs

What is Deforestation?

Cutting down of trees on a large scale thus clearing forests which is then converted to land for human use is known as deforestation. The human use of land includes agriculture, making houses, commercial uses, etc. Almost 71.22 million hectare area of the total land of India is covered by forest. In the tropical and subtropical forests, deforestation is much more extreme. These areas are then converted into land for economical uses.

Causes of Deforestation

Logging – Trees are cut down to make furniture, paper, and other products.
Agriculture – Forests are cleared to make space for farming.
Urbanization – Cities expand, leading to the destruction of forests.
Mining – Trees are removed to extract minerals and resources.

Also Read – Essay on Environment: Examples & Tips

Consequences of Deforestation

Loss of Biodiversity – Animals lose their homes, and many become endangered or extinct.
Climate Change – Trees absorb carbon dioxide, so fewer trees mean more pollution and global warming .
Soil Erosion – Without trees, soil washes away, making it hard to grow crops.
Disruption of the Water Cycle -Trees help to control water, and without them, floods and droughts become more common.

Solutions to Deforestation

Planting Trees – People can plant new trees to replace the ones that were cut down.
Using Less Paper – If we use less paper, fewer trees will be cut for making paper.
Protecting Forest s – Governments can make rules to stop cutting down too many trees.
Supporting Sustainable Products – Buying things that don’t harm forests can help.

Sample Essay on Deforestation in 100 words

Deforestation is when trees are cut down and forests disappear. Trees give us clean air to breathe. Imagine if someone took away your home – that’s what happens to animals when forests are destroyed. It is a major environmental problem that has many negative consequences, such as climate change, soil erosion, and loss of biodiversity.

When we cut too many trees, it’s bad for nature. Animals lose their homes, and the air becomes dirty. When there are no trees, floods and droughts happen more often. We can help by planting new trees and taking care of the ones we have. Let’s protect the forests and the Earth!

Sample Essay on Deforestation in 300 words

Deforestation is when people cut down a lot of trees from forests. Trees are important because they make the air fresh and give animals a place to live. When we cut down too many trees, it’s not good for the Earth. Animals lose their homes, and the air gets polluted.

There are many causes of deforestation and one of the causes is Agriculture. Forests are cleared to make way for cropland and livestock grazing. Another reason is timber harvesting. Trees are cut down for timber, paper, and other wood products. Mining is also another cause and forests are cleared to access minerals and other resources. Even due to urbanization, trees are cut down to make way for roads, cities, and other developments.

Deforestation is the permanent removal of forests to make way for other land uses, such as agriculture, mining, and urban development. It is a major environmental problem that has many negative consequences. One of them is climate change. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, so deforestation contributes to climate change. Another consequence is soil erosion, when trees are removed, the soil is more easily eroded by wind and rain which can lead to flooding and landslides. Loss of biodiversity: Forests are home to a wide variety of plants and animals. Deforestation can lead to the loss of these species.

There are many things that can be done to reduce deforestation. Such as we must plant trees, they can help to offset the effects of deforestation by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Secondly, reduce our consumption of wood products by using less paper, buying furniture made from recycled materials, and avoiding disposable products. Thirdly, by supporting sustainable agricultural practices that do not require the clearing of forests. Lastly, by conserving forests, we can create protected areas and support sustainable forest management practices.

Deforestation is a serious issue that affects the whole planet. But there’s hope! By planting trees, using less paper, and taking care of nature, we can make the Earth a better place for everyone. Remember, even though we are small, our actions can make a big difference.

Rajshree Lahoty

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Essay on Effects of Deforestation for Students and Children

500 words essay on the effects of deforestation.

The world is losing most of its natural resources as and when you read this. There are many factors which are making this happen, however, one major concern is that of deforestation. Human activities are resulting in deforestation at a very rapid rate. Moreover, the effects of this activity are very dangerous. We do not realize the damage we are causing to living beings as well as the vegetation by cutting down trees. It will be clearer if we understand the impact of deforestation and make attempts to prevent it.

Impact of Deforestation

When we cut down even a single tree , the impact it has is huge. Now imagine if we clear out whole forests only altogether, how damaging would that be. We cut down forests to meet the needs of humans. In order to fulfill the agricultural , commercial , industrial , residential and other needs we remove forests . Most of the earth was covered with forests until a hundred years ago, however, now we don’t have much of them left.

Deforestation causes disruption in the ecological balance. Moreover, it also interferes with the lives of wildlife and human beings as well. Firstly, when there won’t be many forests left, the water cycle of the earth will get disturbed. There won’t be enough trees left to absorb the water. Moreover, it will cause floods and droughts too. Similarly, soil erosion will be another effect of deforestation.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Other than that, the climate will experience massive change. Global warming is also happening partly due to deforestation only. The oxygen level in the atmosphere will drop down by a great number and thus naturally carbon dioxide levels will increase. Most importantly, the wildlife is losing their habitats due to deforestation. Forests are their only home and with no place left to go, they either lose their lives or wreak havoc in the cities.

Therefore, we must all come together to stop this from happening and saving our earth as well as our lives. Humans must not be so selfish so as to make other animals homeless to shelter themselves. We must not damage our vegetation to create a beautiful garden for ourselves.

How to Prevent Deforestation?

We can do a lot of things that will contribute to preventing deforestation. To begin with, do not waste paper. The more demand there will be the more supply will happen. This way, trees will keep getting cut to meet these needs.

Similarly, the government must put a ban on deforestation so the big firms can find other alternatives instead of clearing forests for commercial and industrial needs. The laws must be made stringent enough and also implemented properly to prevent it.

Moreover, there must be measures taken to control the increasing population . As there are more mouths to feed and fewer resources, our nature and forests are getting burdened. There is not adequate supply to meet the ever-increasing demands of the population. Thus, the lesser the demand, the better the conditions of the forests as well.

FAQs on Effects of Deforestation

Q.1 What is the impact of deforestation?

A.1 Deforestation has many seriously damaging effects. It disrupts the water cycle and increases the level of carbon dioxide and decreases oxygen levels. Further, it also causes floods, droughts, soil erosion and more.

Q.2 How can we prevent deforestation?

A.2 We can do a joint effort to prevent deforestation. Do not waste paper so there will be lesser cutting of trees. The government must put a ban on deforestation. The government must practice population control so as to not burden forests to meet the ever-increasing needs.

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Essay on Deforestation

Students are often asked to write an essay on Deforestation in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Deforestation

What is deforestation.

Deforestation is the removal of trees and forests, often to make space for farms or buildings. This process can harm the environment.

Causes of Deforestation

People cut down trees for many reasons. Some need land for farming or building. Others use wood for fuel, construction, or paper.

Effects of Deforestation

Deforestation can cause problems. Without trees, the soil can erode, leading to floods. It also means fewer habitats for animals and less oxygen production.

Solutions to Deforestation

There are ways to stop deforestation. We can plant more trees, protect existing forests, and use resources wisely.

Also check:

10 Lines on Deforestation
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250 Words Essay on Deforestation

Introduction.

Deforestation, the act of clearing or thinning forests, is a global concern with far-reaching implications. It is primarily driven by human activities such as agriculture, logging, and urbanization, resulting in a significant loss of biodiversity and contributing to climate change.

Impacts of Deforestation

Forests are vital for maintaining global biodiversity. They provide habitat to many species, and their destruction leads to a loss of habitat, threatening various species with extinction. Moreover, forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing CO2, which helps mitigate climate change. Deforestation disrupts this balance, releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming.

Economic Implications

While deforestation often provides short-term economic benefits, such as timber and land for agriculture, these are outweighed by the long-term costs. Forests provide ecosystem services like water filtration, soil preservation, and carbon sequestration, which are crucial for sustainable development. The loss of these services can lead to economic instability and increased vulnerability to environmental disasters.

Addressing deforestation requires a multi-faceted approach. It involves implementing sustainable forestry practices, promoting the use of alternatives to forest products, and enhancing legal frameworks to protect forests. Additionally, reforestation and afforestation initiatives can help restore degraded forest lands.

In conclusion, deforestation is a pressing issue that requires immediate global attention. It is crucial to balance economic development with environmental sustainability to ensure the survival of our planet’s diverse ecosystems. As stewards of the Earth, we must strive to protect and preserve our forests for future generations.

500 Words Essay on Deforestation

Deforestation, the act of clearing or thinning forests by humans, is a global issue with far-reaching implications. It is primarily driven by the need for agricultural expansion, urbanization, logging, and climate change. The impact of deforestation is not only environmental but also has significant social, economic, and political implications.

Agricultural expansion is a primary cause of deforestation, particularly in developing countries where agriculture forms the backbone of the economy. As the global population increases, so does the demand for food, leading to more forests being cleared to create farmland.

Urbanization, another major cause, is linked to population growth and economic development. As cities expand, forests are often destroyed to make way for new infrastructure. Additionally, logging for timber and fuelwood contributes to deforestation, driven by both local needs and global commerce.

Climate change exacerbates deforestation. As temperatures rise, forests become more susceptible to fires, pests, and diseases, leading to their decline. This, in turn, contributes to further climate change as forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere.

The impacts of deforestation are multifaceted. Environmentally, it leads to a loss of biodiversity as forests are home to more than 80% of terrestrial species. The destruction of habitats can lead to species extinction and disrupt ecological balances.

Deforestation also contributes significantly to climate change. Forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing large amounts of CO2. When they are cut down, this carbon is released into the atmosphere, exacerbating global warming.

Socio-economically, deforestation can lead to the displacement of indigenous communities who rely on forests for their livelihoods. It can also cause soil erosion and decrease agricultural productivity, impacting food security.

Countermeasures to Deforestation

Tackling deforestation requires a multi-pronged approach. Sustainable forest management practices, such as selective logging and replanting, can help maintain forest cover while meeting timber and fuelwood needs.

Promoting sustainable agriculture can reduce the need for new farmland. This includes practices like agroforestry, which integrates trees into farming systems, and conservation agriculture, which minimizes soil disturbance.

Policy interventions are also crucial. This includes strengthening land rights, particularly for indigenous communities, and enforcing regulations on logging and land use. International cooperation is also necessary to reduce demand for products driving deforestation, like palm oil and soy.

Deforestation is a complex issue with profound implications for our planet and its inhabitants. It is intrinsically linked to other global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, and poverty. Addressing it requires concerted efforts across sectors and borders, combining sustainable practices, policy interventions, and international cooperation. The urgency of the issue cannot be overstated, as the health of our forests is ultimately the health of our planet.

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Deep within the lush heart of the Amazon rainforest, the relentless rhythm of chainsaws echoes through the canopy, signaling a destructive force that is rapidly altering the face of our planet. Deforestation, the large-scale clearing of forests, is a global crisis that threatens not only the delicate ecosystems that sustain life but also the very future of our world. In this blog, you will get essay writing tips for Essays on Deforestation.

Table of Content

Causes of Deforestation

Effects of deforestation, precautions and solutions, 500+ words essay on deforestation.

The underlying causes of deforestation are complex and multifaceted, driven by a combination of human activities and economic pressures. One of the primary drivers is agricultural expansion, as vast swaths of forestland are cleared to make way for crops and grazing lands. The demand for commodities such as palm oil, soybeans, and beef has fueled the rapid conversion of forests into monoculture plantations and pastures.

Another significant contributor to deforestation is illegal logging, driven by the insatiable demand for timber and the lucrative profits that can be derived from this illicit trade. Poverty and lack of economic opportunities in rural areas also play a role, as communities turn to unsustainable practices like slash-and-burn agriculture to eke out a living.

Furthermore, the construction of roads, mining operations, and infrastructure development projects often encroach upon forested areas, leading to further destruction and fragmentation of these vital ecosystems.

The consequences of deforestation are far-reaching and devastating, impacting not only the environment but also the well-being of countless species and human communities.

One of the most alarming effects of deforestation is its contribution to climate change. Forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing and storing vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When these forests are cleared, the stored carbon is released back into the air, exacerbating the greenhouse effect and accelerating global warming.

Deforestation also poses a grave threat to biodiversity. Forests are home to an astounding array of plant and animal species, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth. As their habitats are destroyed, these species face the risk of extinction, irreversibly diminishing the planet’s rich tapestry of life.

The loss of forests has severe implications for indigenous communities and local populations who rely on these ecosystems for their livelihoods, food, and traditional practices. Deforestation disrupts the delicate balance of these communities, often leading to displacement, loss of resources, and cultural erosion.

In addition, deforestation can have far-reaching impacts on water cycles and soil stability. Without the protective canopy of trees, the land becomes more susceptible to erosion, leading to sedimentation and degradation of water sources. This, in turn, can exacerbate the risk of floods and droughts, further compounding the environmental and social challenges.

Addressing the issue of deforestation requires a multifaceted approach that involves stakeholders at all levels, from governments and international organizations to local communities and individuals.

One crucial step is the implementation of stringent laws and regulations to protect forests and promote sustainable land management practices. Governments must prioritize the enforcement of these laws and hold accountable those who engage in illegal logging or unsanctioned deforestation activities.

Furthermore, there is a pressing need to support and incentivize sustainable agriculture and forestry practices. This can include promoting agroforestry systems, which integrate trees and crops on the same land, as well as encouraging the cultivation of crops that do not require extensive land clearing.

Efforts must also be made to empower and engage local communities in conservation efforts. By recognizing the traditional knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples, and involving them in decision-making processes, we can foster a sense of ownership and stewardship over these invaluable natural resources.

On a global scale, initiatives such as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) aim to provide financial incentives to developing countries that implement policies and measures to protect their forests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Consumer awareness and responsible consumption play a pivotal role in addressing deforestation. By making informed choices and supporting products and companies that prioritize sustainable practices, we can collectively reduce the demand for goods that contribute to deforestation.

Reforestation and restoration efforts are also critical in mitigating the impacts of deforestation. Organizations and governments must prioritize the planting of new trees and the restoration of degraded landscapes, helping to replenish the invaluable ecosystem services provided by forests.

With each resounding crash of a felled tree, the world’s forests are diminishing at an alarming rate, stripped away by the insatiable appetite of human activities. Deforestation, the large-scale clearing of forested areas, is a grave environmental crisis that demands immediate attention and action.

The primary driver behind deforestation is the expansion of agricultural land, as vast swaths of forests are cleared to make way for crops, grazing pastures, and plantations. The demand for commodities such as palm oil, soybeans, and beef has fueled this destructive process, leading to the rapid conversion of once-thriving ecosystems into monoculture landscapes.

Another significant contributor to deforestation is illegal logging, driven by the lucrative profits that can be derived from this illicit trade. Poverty and lack of economic opportunities in rural areas also compel communities to engage in unsustainable practices like slash-and-burn agriculture, further exacerbating the problem.

The consequences of deforestation are far-reaching and devastating. Forests act as essential carbon sinks, absorbing and storing vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When these forests are cleared, the stored carbon is released back into the air, exacerbating the greenhouse effect and accelerating global warming, which in turn contributes to more extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels.

Furthermore, deforestation poses a grave threat to biodiversity. Forests are home to an astounding array of plant and animal species, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth. As their habitats are destroyed, these species face the risk of extinction, irreversibly diminishing the planet’s rich tapestry of life.

The loss of forests also has severe implications for indigenous communities and local populations who rely on these ecosystems for their livelihoods, food, and traditional practices. Deforestation disrupts the delicate balance of these communities, often leading to displacement, loss of resources, and cultural erosion.

Addressing the issue of deforestation requires a multifaceted approach that involves stakeholders at all levels. Governments must prioritize the implementation and enforcement of stringent laws and regulations to protect forests and promote sustainable land management practices. Efforts must also be made to support and incentivize sustainable agriculture and forestry practices, such as agroforestry systems that integrate trees and crops on the same land.

Moreover, consumer awareness and responsible consumption play a pivotal role in reducing the demand for goods that contribute to deforestation. By making informed choices and supporting products and companies that prioritize sustainable practices, we can collectively drive positive change.

Ultimately, the preservation of our forests is not just an environmental imperative; it is a moral obligation to safeguard the intricate web of life that sustains our planet. As we confront the realities of deforestation, we must summon a renewed sense of urgency and collective action, recognizing that the fate of our forests, and ultimately our own fate, is inextricably intertwined with the health of our planet.

Also Read: 500+ Words Essay on Air Pollution 800+ Words Essay on My Dream For Students 500+ Words Essay on Mahatma Gandhi in English

Deforestation is a global crisis that demands our immediate attention and collective action. The consequences of our actions today will echo through generations to come, shaping the very future of our planet. It is our responsibility to serve as stewards of these vital ecosystems, ensuring that the majestic forests that grace our world are preserved for the benefit of all life.

By addressing the underlying drivers of deforestation, implementing sustainable land management practices, empowering local communities, and fostering global cooperation, we can begin to reverse the tide of destruction. It is a daunting task, but one that is essential for the survival of countless species, the preservation of invaluable cultural heritage, and the maintenance of the delicate balance that sustains life on Earth.

The time to act is now. Let us embrace the challenge with unwavering determination, recognizing that the fate of our forests, and ultimately our own fate, is inextricably intertwined. Together, we can forge a path towards a greener, more sustainable future, where the majestic canopies of our forests continue to flourish, providing sanctuary, sustenance, and hope for generations to come.

Essay on Deforestation- FAQs

What is deforestation in a paragraph.

Deforestation is the deliberate clearing of wooded areas. Throughout history and into the present, woods have been cleared to create way for agriculture and animal grazing, as well as to obtain wood for fuel, manufacture, and construction.

How do you write an introduction to deforestation?

Deforestation is gradually becoming one of the most serious environmental issues in the world. Humans frequently deforest for land development, roads, and railroads, as well as for economic reasons. Every year, almost eighteen million acres of forest are lost, having severe consequences.

Why deforestation is a problem?

The loss of trees and other vegetation can lead to climate change, desertification, soil erosion, less harvests, flooding, higher greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, and a variety of other issues for Indigenous people. Deforestation happens for a variety of reasons.

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Essay on Deforestation

Deforestation is cutting down a large number of trees and clearing out forest areas. The various reasons behind these human activities are increasing the space for human usage like logging or wood extraction, agricultural expansion, infrastructure expansion etc. Deforestation is harmful to the environment because it causes a lot of carbon emissions and alters the natural ecosystem. It also contributes to global warming and climate change because plants release the stored carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide when they are cutting down. The deforestation essay urges us to learn the causes, effects and preventive measures of deforestation.

Deforestation is a severe problem, and we must stop cutting down precious trees. Trees are destroyed to make way for urban development and the cultivation of crops. To expand the land area and construct buildings, production houses and manufacturing plants, we are cutting down trees, and the government is trying its best to avoid deforestation. The process of deforestation also increases the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change on the planet. Once the kids have understood the causes and effects of this issue, you can engage them in writing an essay on deforestation by referring to BYJU’S deforestation essay pdf.

Causes of deforestation, effects of deforestation, preventive measures to avoid deforestation.

Deforestation is a global phenomenon, and one of the leading causes of deforestation is the expansion of cities. People want to live in cities, but they often don’t realise how dangerous this can be to the environment and contributes to environmental pollution . Let us learn the causes that have led to deforestation and destroying the planet by reading the deforestation essay in English.

Other causes of deforestation are urbanisation, farming and a massive population explosion at a global level. As the population increases at a tremendous rate, the space for people to live is shrinking. Hence, people destroy forests to create living space, roads and excellent infrastructure.

As our wants and greed have increased, it has destroyed the environment. Mining is one of the main causes of deforestation and is destroying mother Earth . Another cause of deforestation is wood harvesting or logging for domestic fuel (charcoal).

As we have learned about the causes of deforestation, let us move on to the next segment – the effects of deforestation by reading the deforestation effects essay.

Deforestation has had many adverse effects on the planet. Significant effects of deforestation are climate change, soil erosion, global warming , wildlife extinction and underground water depletion. Besides, there are other consequences such as flooding, shrinking wildlife habitats, and reduced water quality. The essay on deforestation explains the negative effects of deforestation on the Earth.

The decrease in trees and vegetation can lead to an increase in the emission of greenhouse gases and other forms of pollution . Moreover, trees are essential and provide habitats for countless species, and they lose their habitats because of these human activities. They also store large amounts of carbon that can be used as a renewable energy source. When forests are destroyed, carbon is released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change and global warming.

After learning about the adverse effects of deforestation by reading BYJU’S deforestation effects essay , let us move on to learn how to prevent deforestation.

To maintain the ecological balance, we need to take preventative measures to avoid deforestation. Deforestation can be eradicated by taking the necessary steps to save Earth . The government has to take strict action against deforestation and encourage people to plant more trees. This certainly helps in resolving the after-effects of the loss of trees. In addition, we can start growing plants at home and help our environment heal from the loss of trees and forests .

To conclude, deforestation is a major concern. Hence, we all must join hands in eradicating this issue and help our planet retain its ability to thrive. Provide the little ones with a deforestation essay pdf, and for more kids learning activities, visit BYJU’S website.

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What is desertification and why is it important to understand?

Currently, around 2 billion people live in drylands, which are most prone to desertification, according to Earth.org. Image: REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

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Factors including climate change, deforestation, overgrazing and unsustainable agricultural practices are increasingly turning our world’s drylands into deserts.
Degradation of productive soil along with the loss of biodiversity, bodies of water and vegetation also impacts human life, leading to poverty, food and water scarcity and poor health.
But 2024 could become a seminal year for the fight against desertification, with a series of events including the World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting and COP16 focused on tackling the issue.

When we think of deserts, regions such as the Middle East, Northern Africa or Central Asia may spring to mind. But growing desertification in the wake of climate change is increasingly drawing ever wider circles across the globe, increasing steadily . United Nations’ latest data, as presented by 126 Parties in their 2022 national reports, show that 15.5% of land is now degraded, an increase of 4% in as many years.

But this could become a seminal year for the fight against desertification, with two major events scheduled for 2024 in Saudi Arabia to mobilize support. Tackling this growing problem will be a major focus at the World Economic Forum’s forthcoming Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in May, and the16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP16 in December.

The UNCCD is one of the three Rio Conventions, along with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

What does desertification mean for our planet and people, and how can we mitigate against it?

Have you read?

These start-ups are helping to make life in the sahel more sustainable, why investing in land is a business imperative for a sustainable future, women's land rights: a key to combating desertification and drought, what is desertification and what causes it.

Desertification is a type of land degradation in which an already relatively dry land area becomes increasingly arid , degrading productive soil and losing its bodies of water, biodiversity and vegetation cover.

It is driven by a combination of factors, including climate change, deforestation, overgrazing and unsustainable agricultural practices .

The issue reaches far beyond deserts like the Sahara, Kalahari or Gobi deserts. The UNCCD says that 100 million hectares of productive land are degraded each year . Droughts are becoming more common, and three-quarters of people are expected to face water scarcity by 2050.

Currently, around 2 billion people live in drylands, which are most prone to desertification , according to Earth.org.

Among the most affected regions are Africa and Eastern and Central Asia.

Current and projected population (under SSP2) in drylands, in billions. Source: van der Esch et al. (2017).

Who is most affected by desertification?

In Africa, some 40 million people are living in severe drought conditions already , according to the World Economic Forum report Quantifying the Impact of Climate Change on Human Health 2024.

And, in Asia, China, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan are among the countries that have seen temperatures soaring, according to Earth.org. While some of these areas had been classed as having a desert climate since the 1980s, desertification has continued, leading to hotter, wetter climates. In the mountains, a lack of snow has led to the gradual disappearance of glaciers, threatening water security that affects both people and agriculture.

Biodiversity loss and climate change are occurring at unprecedented rates, threatening humanity’s very survival. Nature is in crisis, but there is hope. Investing in nature can not only increase our resilience to socioeconomic and environmental shocks, but it can help societies thrive.

There is strong recognition within the Forum that the future must be net-zero and nature-positive. The Nature Action Agenda initiative, within the Centre for Nature and Climate , is an inclusive, multistakeholder movement catalysing economic action to halt biodiversity loss by 2030.

The Nature Action Agenda is enabling business and policy action by:

Building a knowledge base to make a compelling economic and business case for safeguarding nature, showcasing solutions and bolstering research through the publication of the New Nature Economy Reports and impactful communications.

Catalysing leadership for nature-positive transitions through multi-stakeholder communities such as Champions for Nature that takes a leading role in shaping the net-zero, nature-positive agenda on the global stage.

Scaling up solutions in priority socio-economic systems through BiodiverCities by 2030 , turning cities into engines of nature-positive development; Financing for Nature , unlocking financial resources through innovative mechanisms such as high-integrity Biodiversity Credits Market ; and Sector Transitions to Nature Positive , accelerating sector-specific priority actions to reduce impacts and unlock opportunities.

Supporting an enabling environment by ensuring implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and mobilizing business voices calling for ambitious policy actions in collaboration with Business for Nature .

But land degradation also affects more temperate regions. In the US, nearly 40% of the lower 48 states are facing drought, the Forum’s report says, quoting statistics from the US National Integrated Drought Information System.

Southern Europe has seen some of its worst droughts in recent years. In Spain, desertification and overexploitation have severely affected what’s known as “Europe’s kitchen garden”. The European Union has flagged the vulnerability of its southern members to desertification in recent years, pointing not only to Spain but also Portugal, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania.

World Atlas of Desertification - Aridity

What are the impacts of desertification?

According to the UNCCD, around 500 million people live in desertified areas .

They can experience exacerbated poverty, lack of food security and poor health due to malnutrition and lack of access to clean water. They are also more vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather such as droughts and natural disasters. With their livelihoods at stake and a greater risk of conflict over declining resources , they may also face forced migration.

One of the most prominent examples of desertification is the Aralkum desert in central Asia. In the 1960s, the area was covered by the fourth-largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea. Since then, it has shrunk to a tenth of its former size, with only three small, highly salty lakes remaining. In Soviet times, its waters were used for irrigating a semi-desert region to grow cotton, leading to a drop in water levels. Climate change added further impetus to this over time, turning the dry seabed into a salt-covered desert, leaving fishing boats stranded, rusting and livelihoods destroyed.

How can we mitigate against desertification?

There are a wide variety of approaches to address desertification , with many programmes underway around the globe.

Reforestation and afforestation can help revive degraded soil. In Uzbekistan, a regreening programme has planted trees and shrubs across one million hectares along the Aral desert. This includes the black saxual shrub, which is highly drought resistant and can fix salt and sand, stopping it from being swept up and carried inland by sandstorms.

In the Sahel and Sahara region in Africa, the “Great Green Wall” – launched in 2007 by the African Union – aims to restore plant life across 100 million hectares of degraded land. Involving 22 African countries, this initiative will revive the land, store more than 220 million tonnes of carbon and create 10 million jobs by 2030.

Another big part of tackling land degradation is introducing sustainable land management practices, ranging from agroforestry to sustainable grazing and can also improve crop yields and livelihoods.

Water management practices such as rainwater harvesting, drip-water irrigation and planting drought-resistant crops can address the impact of water scarcity.

Other remedial steps include re-vegetation and restoring natural habitats such as wetlands or entire river beds.

The World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting in Saudi Arabia will see a series of announcements and sessions on the topic of desertification, including support for Saudi Arabia as the host of COP16 and joint work between the Forum and Saudi Arabia to compile a programme for December’s event.

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License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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Study sheds new light on cross-species virus spillovers that can cause pandemics

by University of Stirling

A study led by the University of Stirling jointly with the University of Wisconsin-Madison has shed new light on cross-species virus spillovers that can cause pandemics.

A researcher from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Stirling discovered animals in an African forest eating bat excrement known as guano after a key food source in the region disappeared following selective deforestation. The paper "Selective deforestation and exposure of African wildlife to bat-borne viruses" was published in the journal Communications Biology .

Lab analysis of the bat guano identified a range of viruses, including a betacoronavirus related to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. It remains unknown whether the betacoronavirus found in the guano is transmissible to humans, but it does offer an example of how new infections might jump species barriers.

The study was prompted when Dr. Pawel Fedurek observed wild chimpanzees consume bat guano from a tree hollow in Budongo Forest, Uganda.

Dr. Fedurek then set up cameras which recorded chimps, monkeys and antelope eating the excrement.

The guano is an alternative source of crucial minerals after the palm trees the mammals once consumed were harvested to extinction locally. The palm was used by people in Budongo to dry tobacco leaves which are then sold to international companies.

Scientists do not yet fully understand the earliest stages of virus spillovers, which can lead to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, but they are thought to involve complex causal chains that begin with humans altering the environment.

Dr. Pawel Fedurek, an expert in animal behavior at the University of Stirling, said, "Our research illustrates how a subtle form of selective deforestation, ultimately driven by a global demand for tobacco, can expose wildlife and, by extension, humans to viruses residing in bat guano, increasing virus spillover risk.

"Studies like ours shed light on the triggers and pathways of both wildlife-to-wildlife and wildlife-to-human virus transmission, ultimately improving our abilities to prevent outbreaks and pandemics in the future.

"Most research into outbreaks and pandemics has focused on curtailing the spread of the virus, by finding an effective vaccine for example, rather than preventing animal-to-human virus transmission from happening in the first place. Our work stresses the importance of studying disease ecology before diseases enter humans."

After discovering mammals consuming guano, Dr. Fedurek and the project co-lead Dr. Caroline Asiimwe (then Conservation Coordinator of the Budongo Conservation Field Station, Uganda) involved Professor Tony Goldberg (University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.), who is a world-renowned expert in epidemiology and evolution of infectious diseases.

Professor Goldberg identified the viruses in the guano in collaboration with researchers who quantified the mineral content of the guano (Professor Jessica Rothman, Hunter College of the City University of New York, U.S.) and established the probability of the novel betacoronavirus to infect the three mammalian species and humans (Gregory K. Rice, Naval Medical Research Command, U.S.).

Due to the magnitude and complexity of the laboratory analyses involved, the entire project took around six years to complete.

Textbook example

Professor Goldberg said, "Our study links tobacco farming to exposure of at least three species of African wildlife to viruses of bats. We believe this is a textbook example of how new infections might jump species barriers even before they get into humans.

"This is important since the initial stages of the onset of outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics have been particularly elusive for science.

"We may have stumbled upon a series of events that is usually hidden from the view of epidemiologists and public health officials. Our study might be particularly relevant to the origins of bat-borne disease such as coronaviruses and, perhaps, Ebola."

It is hoped the discovery may make it possible to enact interventions that break these sorts of causal chains, ultimately helping prevent future pandemics.

Health consequences

Dr. Asiimwe said, "Our study demonstrates that human activities that alter the environment can lead to devastating health consequences to both wildlife and humans and thus we should urgently learn to use natural resources sustainably.

"Considerable research efforts are also needed to investigate how forest degradation, and other forms of human activity, can affect wildlife's behavior in a way that exposes them and humans to dangerous viruses."

Journal information: Communications Biology

Provided by University of Stirling

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What caused Dubai floods? Experts cite climate change, not cloud seeding

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The Impact of Logging and Deforestations on an Ecosystem Essay (Critical Writing)

Introduction, background and overview, reasons for deforestation, effects of deforestation.

The ability to understand and address the effects of deforestation and logging forms the basis towards sustainability of resources, greater social-economic development, political stability and ecological sanctity in the fast globalizing society. Deforestation is not a one state issue as it was previously thought.

In fact, it is a highly diverse aspect with far reaching implications to all environmental aspects. Lawrence et al (2012) point out that the current trend in deforestation around various countries across the world is shocking.

If this trend is not addressed, its cumulative effects would be irreversible and therefore greatly risk the existence of future generations. At this point, key questions that have frequently been asked have included the following: What entails deforestation?

How does deforestation affect a natural forest ecosystem? What are the main causes and resulting effects? What are some of the current efforts that have been put in place to address deforestation? Are these efforts efficient?

The current concerns on global deforestation have been examined in this paper as part of underscore its magnitude on a global scale and the litany of the disaster in the market. To indicate the road path that has resulted into the current precarious position and how it can be addressed, the national policy options have also been evaluated.

Finally, using the market to address the problem of deforestation and logging, the paper indicates the opportunities that can be assimilated to promote sound environmental practices that are equally sustainable while maximizing the returns to the people.

The ability to balance between economic development and natural resources capacity to sustainably maintain profitability forms the basis of the human race to match into the future with dignity and vitality.

Though the understanding of deforestation and logging as analysts concur is highly contested, the revelation of its related impacts has created a critical niche that demands involvement by all stakeholders.

Over the last few decades, the problem of global warming in conjunction with aspects such as deforestation have been cited as the most dangerous disasters in waiting on a global scale.

This has been the case due to its expansive deforestation and destruction of nature that makes even those not involved directly in its destruction to severely suffer the negative effects.

In their publication, Lawrence et al (2012) define deforestation as a permanent destruction of woodlands and forests. The definition points out at indigenous tree as well as vegetation cover which does not include plantations of pines and gums or industrial forests. The role that forest plays in the balancing of an ecosystem is very crucial.

Environmentalists indicate that besides being a source of materials human beings use every day, it serves as a habitat for endemic plants, birds and wild animals. The problem of deforestation has been massive in most regions in the world with recent reports from the World Bank showing a four fifth reduction of indigenous forest.

Other reports indicate that by 2011, half the total forest of the world had disappeared posing a threat to the majority of plant species and animals living in the tropical forests.

On the other hand, logging is part of deforestation whereby trees are cut, processed on-site and loaded into trucks. The latter is a silviculture activity with similar effects like deforestation.

While some would argue that the logistics behind logging is to remove wood from forest to a lumber yard outside a forest, it is imperative to note that the practice directly connects with deforestation. It is a theft of timber and violates the law.

Figure1: A figure showing the effect of logging

https://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/3483/

The current fast deteriorating status of natural environment has greatly been caused by poor domestication, articulation, and harmonization of international laws by individual countries and states.

This has been prompted by lack of enough good will to address all issues relating to environment in a holistic outlook thereby compromising the overall resilience of the same natural resources.

Due to much bitterness, scholars have lamented about the reduced capacity to comprehend the inability of their non-inclusive sole conservation strategies which factors not the interconnectedness of the natural environment.

As a result, this has created a strong rift between the conservations and implementing bodies over who is to blame for the mayhem. Over the years, the desire to advance and grow both economically, socially, and culturally have been entirely dependent on nature.

Whereas various countries lag behind in implementation of different conservation laws in their jurisdictions, it is clear that the practice of deforestation and logging is committing the world into a more perilous state than it is currently.

Virtually all products and services are nature-derived. Even for the few that may claim non-derivative status, their transport and eventual spatial temporal application have great connotation of nature.

Studies indicate that deforestation is not a new phenomenon since it has been a difficult issue blamed on numerous factors. Lindsay and Thornton (2012) indicate that some one of the reasons behind deforestation is the growing need among agricultural dependent communities to convert forest and woodland areas into agricultural lands.

It is imperative to highlight that this has been a factor that has been motivated by the demand to feed the ever growing populations. Besides, many societies in tropical countries have over the years turned to cattle ranching and growing of cash crops to earn money and foreign exchange.

As a result, many large forest areas have been cleared and turned into farming zones for livestock breeding and cash crop farming.

Figure 2: A diagram showing deforestation

Additionally, deforestation occurs when businesses within an industry practice commercial logging. The latter has been a method widely used by industries that supply the world market with a variety of wood such as ebony, mahogany, teak, and meranti.

This practice has not only destroyed forests, but has opened up large tracts of land for agriculture. The felling of trees has not only stopped with businesses, but also the construction sector which relies on trees for building.

Global warming and climate change

Global warming is the increase in the average temperatures on the troposphere due to excessive emissions of green house gases into the atmosphere. Scientifically, green house gases allow easy penetration of short wavelength radiations from the outer space while obscuring escape of the long wave radiations from the earth surface.

As a result, there has been a direct build up of the surface temperatures in the earth thereby causing vast climate changes. As a concern by the natural laws, this change has been directly linked to massive destruction of natural ecosystems in the world.

Excessive thawing in the polar regions, rising levels of the sea, loss of forests, flooding, higher levels of tropical weather systems and most importantly desertification.

Scientifically, carbon dioxide is an important component in green plants’ photosynthetic process. However, Lindsay and Thornton (2012) point out that human beings have constantly been clearing forests for agricultural purposes, urban development, settlements and industrial development.

Besides, forests have also been cleared as raw materials for wood based industries. On average, Masood and Shah (2012) indicate that about 80,000 acres of forests are cleared every day globally. As a result, the critical role of sinking the atmospheric carbon has greatly been compromised and therefore resulting to greater accumulation of greenhouse gases.

High levels of poverty

While many human activities on forest have been aimed at improving living standards through agriculture, it goes without mentioning that the deforestation has instead increased global poverty levels that have plagued the society today.

In their publication, Lawrence et al (2012) indicate that the immediate concerns for individuals clearing forests for agriculture or burning charcoal for money is neither conservation nor environmentalism. Rather, they are mostly concerned with basic survival. This practice therefore puts the environment under great pressure.

This coupled with intensified mechanization of deforestation by industries has resulted to extremely high rates of forest cover removal. The impact has been a devastating 13 million hectares of land being cleared down every year around the world.

This puts pressure on the natural resources and forest clearance either for alleviating poverty, raising economic status or promoting greater development through mechanization affects the balance in the ecosystem leading to poverty.

A more worrying effect to agree with Bonan(2008) is desertification. The rising temperatures as recorded over the years intensify the severity of draughts, by making more land uncultivable and less habitable.

Floods and submergence of coastal lowlands

According to Betts et al (2001), the rising temperatures over the years have resulted to excessive thawing of ice waters at the Polar Regions.

Consequently, the additional waters has resulted to key submergence and flooding of the low lying costal lands. Islands and low lying regions such as Venice, New Orleans and Indonesia have recorded key losses from floods (Lindsay & Thornton, 2012).

In the Caribbean, nations such as Cuba, Haiti and the Domican Republic which rely on beach tourism to support their economies have started experiencing major losses from floods and could be headed to major disasters if the problem is not addressed.

From the above analysis, it is clear that deforestation is one of the most critical aspects that require immediate address if the earth is to avoid major disasters. Cooperation and ethical responsibility is therefore critical for the risk to be effectively addressed.

Of greater importance is the need to assimilate better mechanisms based on research that provides empirical information on how to address the problem.

Besides, the future of individuals and businesses in the world is considered to be on a critical balance as states and their associated social-economic and political systems appear to differ greatly on the model that could be used to address deforestation and the awaiting disaster.

It is critical that the society at large take a leading role in progressively assimilating models that reduced felling of trees for whatever reasons. Due to the extent of the negative effects, corporate social responsibility by businesses should be taken with greater emphasis to link the respective stakeholders in addressing the problem.

For many years, trading in timber has been claimed to be a negligible factor in loss of forests. There has been a notion that wood fuel and agricultural land clearance are the most harmful forms of deforestation (Masood & Shah, 2012).

Growth in population is believed to be the cause of the major scourge in forestation. Industrial exploitation of wood is also a valid problem when it comes to the impacts of deforestation. Research has proven that there has been a misconception in the determination of the most relevant cause of forest loss.

Besides, the efforts by the international board of bio diversity preservation to define this problem are quite reliable. In its mission to enhance survival of the ecosystems, they have managed to give a clear picture of the problem at hand. It has been concluded that trading in timber is the most significant factor which leads to forest loss and degradation of the environment.

It is possible to conduct a detailed discussion which gives an account of how logging is harmful to forestation. This can be attained through pointing out realities which are on the ground. It is not easy to find a rich endowment of forests in areas which have large or small scale operations in timber harvesting.

Regions which have a high diversity of tree coverage have both old and valued trees. These are the major targets of commercial activities. It goes without saying that the more valuable a certain species is, the scantier it becomes as time progresses.

Hence, natural forests have been devastated. This is more rampant in areas where stewardship of forests is done by indigenous people or groups who are politically not empowered. A nominal state of control is experienced which later opens up forests towards deforestation.

The fact that these high diversified forests have a rich value has continued to draw growing attention. They have an established flow to markets given that they are easily acquired.

Commercial activities in timber industry have also led to reduction in the quality of forests. In a conservation perspective, it is true that there is no positive difference brought by replacing the world’s forest cover with plantations of trees. It should be noted that a principle of destroying in order to repair is not helpful at all.

It is a destructive plot which continues to abhor efforts of saving our ecosystems. It is also worth noting that the majority of native wildlife should not be destroyed intentionally with a mentality that replacement will be done in the near future.

Original native species should be left intact to continue multiplying. Even though it is impossible to retain a constant number of a given species, it is important to keep all rare trees alive. Replacing them with exotic types leads to the growth of weed species. This is as a result of cross pollinations which may not be easily curbed.

Poor quality of forests is being experienced across the globe. Most parts of Australia, North America, Europe and Africa at large have suffered greatly due to this problem. This is more felt in the biological value of forests. Analysis shows that the loss of trees which cover land has a far reaching impact than it is thought.

Quality in composition of forests is a basic intrinsic element which should be preserved to keep good ecosystems. This is because trees have different values. If ecosystems are not given a natural chance to have full development, then there is likelihood that forests will suffer numerous extinctions in the near future.

The impact of forest loss continues to be felt as time goes by. Forests have continued to grow scantly in different areas. Many countries have remained with fragments of what used to be areas of high forest cover. The only regions which seem to have rich forests are those which are next to human habitations.

The latter have proved to be less reliable due to the fact that timber trade has continued to grow. Actions of timber traders are at a critical level with the survival of biological forest. Ecosystems have been significantly affected in pursuit of timber (Lindsay & Thornton, 2012).

There have been years of continued degradation and as such, forests have terribly suffered. Areas with natural forest cover have remained to be the hope for future forestry. The earth has reached a point where it has vast pieces of land which had adequate forest cover but was cleared.

Young regenerations of such forests have minimal chances of survival because logging has devastated the available tree cover. Old forests have reached a point of no return. Research shows that if forests were not tempered with by timber harvesting, then flora and fauna would retain their primary growth.

Undisturbed forests are rear to obtain. They have been left in the hands of merciless activities of logging. It is evident that the quality of ecosystems in the current world has undergone gross degradation.

In a pursuit of what is believed to be sustainable development, nations have destroyed their rich natural ecosystem. Natural ecosystems are barely able to support life. There is a clear representation of the picture when chances of survival of given species of organisms are under the care of human beings.

The fact that people cannot stop commercial logging even after seeing its adverse effects is a solid prove of how tree life is no longer given the reverence it deserves. It should be noted that the activity of commercial logging is going to dilapidate ecosystems and posses a threat to the biological well being of both fauna and flora.

Assessments show that legal timber trade is harmful. In fact, deforestation due to illegal logging is negligible. Timber from illegal activities is a small percentage of the bulk that circulates in the global timer industry.

Logging has therefore proven to be a major cause of loss of forest cover. It is true that countries which carry out logging have a relatively high impact of losing sustainable ecosystems.

Indeed, the period of 30 years from now is very pivotal as far forest ecosystems are concerned. According to the current rate of commercial logging and deforestation for the sake of habitation, this period is going to determine the future of diverse natural forest ecosystems.

Policies interventions made during this period will play a vital role. An implicit decision of saving the world’s ecosystems is indeed vital (Masood & Shah, 2012).

This is a serious situation and more united stewardship of forests needs to be put in place. Governments should take this issue without hesitation. This is the time to regulate the international timber industry.

Betts, R. A., Falloon, P. D., Goldewijk, K. K. and Ramankutty, N. (2001) Biogeophysical effects of land use on climate: Model simulations of radiative forcing and large- scale temperature change . Agriculture for Meteor , 142, 216-233.

Bonan, G. B., (2008) Forests and climate change: Forcings, feedbacks, and the climate benefits of forests. Science , 320 (3), 1444- 1449.

Lawrence, P. et al (2012). Simulating the biogeochemical and biogeophysical impacts of transient land cover change and wood harvest in the community climate system model (CCSM4) from 1850 to 2100. Journal of Climate , 25(9), 3071-3095.

Masood, M., & Shah, F. (2012). Dilemma of third world countries – problems facing Pakistan energy crisis a case-in-point. International Journal of Business and Management , 7(5), 231-246.

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IvyPanda. (2024, February 26). The Impact of Logging and Deforestations on an Ecosystem. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-impact-of-logging-and-deforestations-on-an-ecosystem-critical-writing/

"The Impact of Logging and Deforestations on an Ecosystem." IvyPanda , 26 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/the-impact-of-logging-and-deforestations-on-an-ecosystem-critical-writing/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'The Impact of Logging and Deforestations on an Ecosystem'. 26 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "The Impact of Logging and Deforestations on an Ecosystem." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-impact-of-logging-and-deforestations-on-an-ecosystem-critical-writing/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Impact of Logging and Deforestations on an Ecosystem." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-impact-of-logging-and-deforestations-on-an-ecosystem-critical-writing/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Impact of Logging and Deforestations on an Ecosystem." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-impact-of-logging-and-deforestations-on-an-ecosystem-critical-writing/.

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What Are the Causes and Effects of Deforestation?

What Is Deforestation?

What Are the Effects of Deforestation?

What Are the Negative Effects of Deforestation on the Environment?

Climate Change

How Does Deforestation Affect Us?

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What Are the Causes of Deforestation?

Forest Fires

Illegal Logging

Overpopulation

Urbanization

Where Is Deforestation Happening?

Deforestation in Southeast Asia

Deforestation in Africa

How Can We Stop Deforestation?

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Essay on Deforestation: 100 Words, 300 Words

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