According to the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), “the area of the continental Unites States covered by forests declined from 787,055 square miles in 2001 to 775,418 square miles in 2006.” (Clement et al. 630-631) Though 11,637 square miles doesn’t seem like a lot, that’s roughly around the size of Maryland. (Briney)
Deforestation
Deforestation, the removal of a forest or group of trees from an area, has a long history in all areas of the World. For thousands of years, humans have cleared large areas of forests to allow room for agricultural expansions and infrastructure, explains Texas State University assistant professor Matthew Clement.
Deforestation has four main reasons for why it is affecting our planet so much. Logging, infrastructure, population, and agricultural expansion.. Luckily, there are also ways to help prevent more deforestation from occurring, such as planting trees, going paperless, and recycling.
Agricultural expansion
Agricultural expansion is “estimated to be the proximate driver for around 80% of deforestation worldwide.” (Kissinger et al. 5) Agricultural expansion is the growth of agricultural land. That land can be used for anything from pastures for farm animals to fields for growing crops to industrial land for the mass production of crops.
A popular technique is slash and burn agriculture. This technique involves clearing a piece of land and planting crops. They plant as many crops as they can, or until the soil is no longer usable or it gets overgrown with weeds. After that happens they move on to a new piece of land and repeat the same process.
Around the world cattle and livestock ranches play a big part in deforestation. Farmers must clear away trees to make pasture areas. Livestock need large areas to graze in and they usually need multiple areas, so the grasses can grow back. “Twenty-six of the Planet’s ice-free land is used for livestock grazing.” (fao.org 1)
Much like agricultural expansion, logging is also a large reason why deforestation is growing. “Logging activities account for more than 70% of total [forest] degradation.” Kissinger et al. 5)
Logging, whether legal or illegal, involves cutting down trees for personal use or to sell. While “logging does not necessarily cause deforestation, it can seriously degrade forests.” (Putz et al., 2001, qtd. In Chakravarty et al., 8) Degradation is very similar to deforestation, it’s just more gradual. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) estimates that almost 500,000 hectares of forests are degraded each week. One hectare is 2.47 acres so 500,000 hectares is 1,235,000 acres. Over 1.23 million acres per week.
While logging can be very bad for forests it also has its benefits. Logging can open up the area to allow for new growth. Some areas participate in controlled burns to help open up the land. The controlled fires help to clear out dead bushes, trees, and shrubs, and they also help to clear out invasive species that can be detrimental to the native species.
Logging relates to another main cause of deforestation: infrastructure. In order to develop areas for human life the areas of forests must be cleared in order to make room.
“Some infrastructure activities, such as road building, have a large indirect effect”
in deforestation. (Deforestation Causes 1) There are thousands of roads in the world and in order to have space for them, trees must be cleared out of the area. In order to maintain the roads and the areas around them, trees that are too close may be removed in order to prevent them from falling on the road.
Infrastructure and population growth
Infrastructure also bases off the population of a country or a certain area. The more people that are in an area the more infrastructure that is going to be required. The more buildings and roads and area needs, the more land it will need to build on, which means clearing out trees.
The final main cause of deforestation is population. This cause ties back to each cause before it. More people means more need for agriculture, logging, and infrastructure.
“Deforestation and population growth are directly related to each other in such a manner that the rise in population invariably results in a rise in the rate at which deforestation occurs.” (Naik) The rising population of the world puts a strain on our forests. An influx of people means there needs to be in increase in buildings, agriculture, and resources.
“For instance, population growth is directly related to increase in the demand for food.” (Naik) More food means an increase in agriculture which requires more land. In order to process the food and be able to distribute it we need buildings to take the food to. Building these buildings requires materials such as wood, which in turn, requires more logging. Population causes a rise in everything else that plays a factor in deforestation.ion
Preventing deforestation
While deforestation has many causes there are also ways to help prevent it. Some of the ways that we can help to prevent deforestation is by recycling, going paperless, and mainly planting trees.
One way to help stop deforestation is to go paperless. Being in a world that is so technologically advanced its isn’t too hard to go without paper. Today most things are able to be done online like sending emails, filing out paperwork such as taxes and bills, and many other things.
A couples ways to help switch to going paperless can be to opt out of junk mail. “The average American receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year. Almost 50% of it winds up unopened, in a landfill.” (Levin) Another way is to sign up for “E-Statements.” This is an online way to receive statements from bills or your bank. You can also pay your bills online. It’s a lot faster and helps reduce the need for paper. Going paperless is a lot easier in today’s world than before.
Another way to help decrease deforestation is to recycle. Recycling can save paper which reduces the number of trees that need to be milled. Recycling also helps to reduce the number of things that go into landfill. Landfills require a large area of land to be completely cleared. Recycling not only helps the environment but it also helps against deforestation.
Planting trees
The simplest way to help stop deforestation is to plant a tree. Or many trees. The more the better. You can plant them by your house or in the woods. There are some local communities that help go around and plant trees in an area. If you are unable to plant a tree yourself, you can always donate to charities and foundations that work towards helping to protect our forests.
Deforestation is a big problem in our world. And it’s not just an issue for the environment. It is an issue for many, many things. While a couple major companies have agreed to being more environmentally friendly, deforestation still isn’t slowing down.
If we continue at the rate we are going, it is estimated that “there will be no forest left by 2100.” (Schwartz) Losing our forests will also cause other changes in the world. Climate change will happen much more rapidly. “Forest loss contributes about 15-20% of all annual greenhouse gas emissions.” (Schwartz) Forest loss would also result in the loss of many animal species. Many animals require some type of forest for their survival. If all the forests are gone they will go extinct.
If continued to go unchecked, deforestation can cause some major problems in our world. Knowing the major causes like, agricultural expansion, population, infrastructure, and logging, can help us to figure out what we can help do to lower the risks. We also know that there are many ways we can help prevent the problem from increasing any further, such as, going paperless, recycling, and planting trees. Knowing all these things can help us put an end to the problem of deforestation.
