Vento 1

Alex Vento

Klimas

English Pre-AP H

16 January 2018

Deforestation

“Causes and Effects of Deforestation | Global Witness.” Global Witness,

www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/forests-under-threat/#more.

For humans to live, we need forests. Forests give us certain necessities we need to be able

to survive. Without even knowing, we depend on the help from forests for medicine to food to

shelter. The more trees are being cut down, the less carbon dioxide is being absorbed into the

forest. This carbon dioxide being consumed is emitted from our transportation vehicles such as

cars, planes, and busses which are very critical in climate change. Global witnesses, a campaign

to end abuse towards the global system, are trying to make a change so there’s more growth

within the forest instead of destruction. Also, corrupting the forests take tens of millions of

dollars of of the global financial system. This money could go towards more important needs

such as food and shelter for those around the world who are dying from not being able to have

these necessities. Many rich countries are cutting down these trees for their multi-million dollar

companies. For example, China is logging illegally to make chic furniture to sell from their

companies. Cambodia is trading their timber from their national parks in exchange for their

luxuries. These are rare tree species being cut down and shipped out to Hong Kong on boats just

so they have the best looking furniture. The outcome from cutting down these trees for
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unnecessary stuff like furniture, is our forest will rapidly become more bare. There is a countless

amount of substitutes for the useless stuff they are destroying the forests for. the forests for

The article uses logos to explain reasoning on the amount of trees being taken at a time.

Only ⅓ of the forests are primary forests on the planet. An area of the forest the size of Belgium

is being destroyed each year. This means the forests are extremely decreasing faster than what is

noticed. Plus, primary forests hold up to seventy percent more of carbon than other forest types.

This benefits our atmosphere because it delays the solar energy entering our space which has to

do with climate change also. Another example of logos is that 8/10 of the known abundance is

plant and animal species. By cutting down these trees, homes of thousands of species are being

destroyed which is also a decrease in animals. The last example is every minute an area of the

forest is cut down, it adds up to the size of about fifty soccer fields. That is only one minute of

every day someone decides to take away trees. If this just keeps adding up there’s not going to be

enough trees in the forest to fill up ten soccer fields. Because deforestation is occurring today

and is a serious matter, it is affecting other aspects of the Earth and leading to multiple other

environmental issues. Because deforestation is occurring today and is a serious matter,

“Tropical Deforestation : Feature Articles.” NASA, NASA,

earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestation_update3.php.

“Reforestation and Deforestation.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Nov. 2006,

www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/opinion/20mon4.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollectio

n%2Fopinion-

editorials&action=click&contentCollection=editorials®ion=stream&module=stream_unit

&version=search&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront.
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Tabuchi, Hiroko, et al. “Amazon Deforestation, Once Tamed, Comes Roaring Back.” The New

York Times, The New York Times, 24 Feb. 2017,

Stewart Lindsay, the vice president of Bunge’s global corporate affairs, tells his opinion

on deforestation, how to stop or decrease the problem, and how it has started. His idea is for

companies aware of the situation to prohibit a zero tolerance for deforestation. He thinks the

crops should have automatic block controls around the areas so it is illegal to enter their supply

chain. This will avoid any contact with the crop being grown. He made a good point when he

stated that soy is only one crop being deforested. There are thousands of crops that people feel

they need. All these crops being taken down at once is the problem. The rapid decrease within

every crop being taken down during the same period of time, allows other issues around the

world to affect us without a fight. The companies are studying the allegations of deforestation of

Bolivia. David MacLennan, the executive chief of Cargill, thinks it is unacceptable how pictures

of Bolivia from many years ago is completely different from now. The land that was once

covered in green is now covered in buildings. Although this is occurring, the ministry of the

environment is aware of it and tends to fix it by the following year. To fix this, they came up

with situations to increase trees in the areas. President Evo Morales, a socialist, is driving

Bolivia’s agriculture by looking more depth in securing food sovereignty. There is minimal

security around the forests which tend to let people get away with illegal logging and farming.

The country has made a prediction that by 2025 more than 14 million acres will be turned into

farmland if they don’t act now.

Looking towards 2030, Holly Gibbs, an expert in tropical deforestation, believes there

will be no forest left if they wait to do something. A picture of cleared acres of forest is shown in

the article to prove logos. It proves the fact that more than just talk about deforestation needs to
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be done for a change to be shown. More acres will be cleared if nothing is acted upon, and by the

year 2030 more health and wealth problems with occur. Victoria Yucra, the director general of

Bolivia’s forest and land management, strives to balance the protection with the need of

agricultural sector. She argues, “Our concern is in ensuring that intensive agricultural production

takes place within framework that also provides sustainable forestry and protection for standing

forests”. Basically Ms, Yucra is making sure her company is one of the few to actually take act

upon bringing safety towards their nearby forests. David Maclennan shares his experience when

flying over the amazon on a plane. He said you will see kilometers after kilometers of beautiful

forest and then all random chunks of dirt spots. His reaction was, “Holy cow. That’s what's

happening”. He decided to plead environmentalist to pledge to a “no-deforestation” pledge

regarding palm oil to cover every commodity their company handles. This pledge was called to

be one of the most sweeping environmental pledges which earned Mr. Maclennan a photo with

United Nations secretary. This pledge was called to be one of the most sweeping environmental

pledges which earned Mr. Maclennan a photo with United Nations secretary.