Forest Conservation

Name: Abdulkarem Alrasheed

Course: Meteorology 1010
Instructor: Barry Nielsen
Date: 4/28/2016
Slat Lake Community College

Deforestation is increasing with the increasing pace at which the world

is growing. The need for more space is proving to be a concern that
should be addressed with utmost seriousness. Following the desperate
need to acquire more land for agriculture, industrial purposes, and
urban needs, deforestation is bound to happen. Naturally, it involves the
permanent elimination of forest cover to access the land for residence,
commerce, and industry. Over the last a thousand years the globe has
significantly been compromised leading to a 30% reduction of green
cover. Each year sees the loss of more than 18 million acres of forests.
This report will be on the causes of this disaster, the region where it is
happening, why this catastrophe is happening, and the mitigation
measures to be put in place.

One of the causes of deforestation is agricultural activities. These

events occur due to the significant increase in the demand for food
products. Demand for food has grown due to the increasing population
growth. Massive amounts of trees are fell every month for growing
food and keeping livestock. Another cause of deforestation is logging.
Wood-based industries such as matchstick, paper making, and furniture
industries need trees as their raw materials. Wood is a source of fuel:
Therefore, industries have thrived on the illegal felling of trees (Clark,
2012).
Urbanization has also led to deforestation. Expansion of towns and
cities requires forest clearance to create more room for expanding.
Road construction is also undertaken to gain access to the same forests
being cleared. Desertification of land is a natural cause of deforestation
which occurs due to the abuse of land use which makes it unfit to grow
trees. This could happen when factories release harmful chemicals into
rivers which in turn contaminate soils making them unsuitable for
planting trees. Mining of oil and coal requires a considerable amount of
forest cover.
Rain forests all around the globe are still falling. Destroying tropical

rain forests harm humanity more than it does animals. There is a lot of
deforestation going on in the tropical forests, and this is affecting a lot
of life on earth. The Amazon forest, for example, is losing its trees at a
considerably high pace. The Amazon forest is home to half of the
worlds species, and man stands to lose a lot from such illegal
activities. The globalization market forces seem to be affecting the
Amazon Forest due to a group of corrupt and ineffective government
agents.
Apart from the corrupt government officials that foresee the
encroachment of this great forest, there are various other reasons why it
is beginning to diminish. When global warming worsens desiccation
there is an increase in a severe drought which in turn leads to many
forest fires that ravage the forest. One such drought attacked the forest
in 2005 resulting in the reduction in water levels to more than 40 feet. It
all starts with a road. The East-West Trans-Amazon Highway together
with the Soy Highway split the Amazon along 1800 kilometers.
Almost all the roads in the Amazon are not authorized.
Logging in the Amazon leads to events that are more harmful than the
logging itself. Activities done after the loggers have moved on such as

an explosion of squatters, farmers, ranchers, and gunmen could lead to

a further declination of the forest. Land thievery is committed through
strong arm tactics, corruption, and fraudulent titles which are so
widespread in Brazil. The practitioners have an experience in aging
phony land title deeds in a drawer full of grileiros (Clark, 2012).
Doing away with deforestation will help to protect our biodiversity and
preserve the rights of communities in the forests. One of the ways of
solving this menace is through pressurizing the same corporations that
encourage deforestation. Such companies should come up with policies
that will help protect forests against encroachers. This can be done by
regulating the production paper, timber, and palm oil to an amount that
does not cause a significant impact on the forests. Changing the politics
is an effective way of reducing deforestation. If the countrys leaders
are corrupt, the public has the power to vote them out of office and
elect more responsible leaders that have the best interests of the people
at heart.
From this report, there are a number of lessons learned that will help in
conserving our forests. The first lesson is that forests are a home for
many species that may go extinct if not properly preserved. Forests are

a source of life for humankind and should be retained at all costs for
greater sustainability. There has been an alarming rate of the decline of
forest and if this speed is not reduced the world will experience future
catastrophes.

References.
Clark, C. J., & Poulsen, J. R. (2012). Tropical forest conservation and
industry partnership: An experience from the Congo Basin. Chichester,
West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
Tacconi, L., Mahanty, S., & Suich, H. (2010). Payments for
environmental services, forest conservation, and climate change:
Livelihoods in the REDD?. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.