Introduction
Deforestation represents the decrease in forest areas worldwide, which are lost for different uses, including urbanization, mining activities, and agriculture. The issue represents an important study topic in the fields of biology and ecology because the cutting down of forests has significantly changed landscapes on a global scale.
Deforestation
Around two thousand years ago, 80% of Western Europe was forested, while today, only 34% of the land is filled with forests (National Geographic, 2022). In China, which has lost significant expanses of forests over the last four thousand years, only 20% of the land is forested (National Geographic, 2022).
From the perspective of biology, deforestation leads to climate change, poor air and water quality, the changes in fauna, such as species endangerment as well as desertification.
The problem remains relevant today because deforestation has not stopped but continues to occur, especially due to the rising need to urbanize areas to meet the needs of the growing population in cities.
Deforestation is the most prevalent in tropical forests, with 95% of the global loss of trees occurring there (Derouin, 2022).
Notably, Indonesia and Brazil account for almost half of the deforestation that affects land across the globe. The areas that used to be inaccessible previously now have built roads through dense forests.
The world has lost around 10% of its tropical tree cover since the year 2000, with around 47,000 square miles being destroyed in 2019 alone (Fountain, 2020).
Thus, tropical forests’ ecosystems suffer the most from deforestation as they lose their biodiversity, with many animals that rely on forests being lost as a result of tree loss. Besides, local ecosystems suffer from decreased air quality and increased climate change.
Because forests are a natural resource, they are treated as commodities, while the true impact of their removal is often overlooked.
Deforestation occurs as large areas of forest and rainforest are removed in order for the land on which they used to be to be used for livestock or farming, construction, manufacturing, or mining. Besides the trees being cut down, the timber is used as fuel (Derouin, 2022).
In addition, fires are set in forests for the land to be cleared for agricultural use.
Initially, valuable timber is harvested while the remaining plants and different vegetation are burned. This allows making way for crop planting either for commercial use or cattle grazing.
Despite the adverse effects on forest ecosystems, deforestation is beneficial for several groups of people whose livelihood depends on land and forest use.
Specifically, the patches of land that become available after trees are cut down are used by farmers who can plant crops and complete other agricultural work, such as livestock raising.
Farmers can practice both commercial and sustenance agriculture as a result of deforestation.
Workers engaged in the commercial fields also benefit from deforestation because it provides them with employment. Work becomes available to individuals who manufacture products from lumber, ranging from paper to wood furniture.
Conclusion
Finally, deforestation provides developing countries in Africa, Asia, and South America with monetary resources as governments can sell lumber to countries such as the US and use the money to sustain their living.
References
Derouin, S. (2022). Deforestation: Facts, causes & effects.
Fountain, H. (2020). ‘Going in the wrong direction’: More tropical forest lost in 2019. The New York Times.
National Geographic. (2022). Deforestation.