Deforestation

Deforestation

Forests are the important renewable resources. They cover about 30 percent of the world’s land surface. They produce oxygen and maintain the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Forests provide many important goods such as timber, paper and medicinal plants. They control water runoff, protect soil, and regulate climate changes. But the forests all around the world are being destroyed. Destruction of forests in order to make the land available for different uses is known as deforestation. Deforestation has resulted in several ecological imbalances such as increase in temperature, deficiency in rainfall etc. It has also resulted in the extinction of several species of animals and plants.

Causes of Deforestation

Deforestation may be caused by nature or it may be due to human activities. Fires and floods are the natural causes for deforestation. Human activities which are responsible for deforestation include agricultural expansion, cattle breeding, illegal logging, mining, oil extraction, dam construction and infrastructure development. Let us study about some of them in this section.

a. Agricultural Expansion

With increasing population, there is an overgrowing demand for food production. Hence, large amount of trees are chopped down for crop production and for cattle grazing. More than 40% of the forests are cleaned to obtain land and to meet the needs of agriculture.

b. Urbanization

With the expansion of cities more land is needed to establish housing and settlement. Requirements like construction of roads, development of houses, mineral exploitation and expansion of industries also arise due to urbanisation. Forests are destroyed to meet all these needs.

c. Mining

Mining of coal, diamond and gold require a large amount of forest land. So, a large number of trees is cut down to clear the forest area. Moreover, the waste that comes out from mining pollutes the environment and affects the nearby plants.

d. Construction of dams

To provide water supply to the increasing population, large size dams are constructed. Hence, a great extend of forest area is being cleared.

e. Timber Production

 We need wood to meet the needs of our daily life. Wood-based industries like paper, match-sticks, furniture need a substantial amount of wood supply. Wood is the most commonly used fuel. Thus, a large number of trees are being cut down for fuel supplies. Some people are involved in illegal wood cutting and destroy more number of trees. This is the main reason for the destruction of some valuable plants.

Chipko Movement is primarily a forest conservation movement. The word ‘Chipko’ means ‘to stick’ or ‘to hug’. Sunderlal Bahuguna was the founder of this movement. It was started in 1970s with the aim of protecting and conserving trees and preserving forest from being destroyed.

f. Forest fire

In many forests, fires are usually expected from time to time. They may be caused by humans, accidents or natural factors. Forest fires wipe out thousands of acres of forest land each year all over the world. This has tremendous effects on biodiversity and the economy as well.

g. Cyclones

Cyclones destroy the trees on a massive scale. They not only destroy the trees but also affect the livelihood of so many people who depend on them.

More to know

Effects of Deforestation

There has been a long history of interdependence between man and the forests. Our survival without forest will be very difficult. They supply us the oxygen we need, cause rainfall and provide so many things needed for our life. But increase in population has resulted in the destruction of forests. Every year 1. 1 crore hectares of forests have been cut down around the world. In India alone 10 lakh hectares of forests are destroyed which has resulted in so many harmful effects. Let us study about some of them.

a. Extinction of species

Deforestation has resulted in the loss of many wonderful species of plants and animals and many are on the verge of extinction. More than 80% of the world’s species remain in the tropical rainforest. Reports say that about 50 - 100 species of animals are being lost each day as a result of destruction of their habitats.

b. Soil Erosion

Widespread trees in the forests protect the soil from the heat of the sun. When the trees are cut down, soils are exposed to the sun’s heat. Extreme temperature of the summer dries up the moisture and makes the nutrients to evaporate.

Long distance travel by birds to escape severe environmental conditions is called migration. Many birds and many other animals migrate long distances during unfavourable season. Siberian Crane migrates from Siberia to India during winters to escape harsh conditions in Siberia and to get comfortable conditions and food in India. Siberian crane, on an average can travel 200 miles in a single day.

It also affects the bacteria that helps in the breakdown of organic matter. The roots of the trees retain the water and the top soil which provides nutrients to the plants. When the trees are cut down, soil is eroded and washed away along with the nutrients.

c. Water cycle

Trees suck the water from the roots and release the water into the atmosphere in the form of vapour during transpiration. When trees are cut down the amount of water vapour released decreases and hence there is a decrease in the rainfall.

d. Floods

Trees absorb and store a large amount of water with the help of their roots. When the trees are cut down, the flow of water is disrupted and it leads to flooding in some areas.

Amazon forest is the largest rain forest in the world, located in Brazil. It covers 6000000 square km. It helps to stabilize the earth’sclimate and slow global warming by fixing Co2, and producing 20% of the world’s oxygen in the process. It has about 390 billion trees. It is the lungs of the planet.

e. Global warming

We inhale oxygen present in the atmosphere and release carbon dioxide as waste. In turn trees absorb the carbon dioxide and provide us the oxygen during photosynthesis. Deforestation reduces the number of trees and hence more amount of carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide along with water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone forms the green house gases. These gases are responsible for global warming.

The solar energy falling on the earth’s surface is reflected into the atmosphere. A part of this energy is reflected by the green house gases back to the earth to keep it warm and a part goes into the space. But gases such as methane and carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere trap the heat energy inside the atmosphere leading to increase in temperature. This is called global warming. This results in the melting of glaciers in the polar region and affects the living organisms like polar bear.

f. Destruction of home land

Indigenous people live in and depend on forests for their survival. They get their food and many other resources from the forests. Destruction of forests affects their livelihood .

Activity 1

Collect information about a nearby forest in your area and find out the rare species of plants and animals found there. Collect some pictures of plants and animals which you do not find around you and prepare an album.