Illegal Logging in the Philippines

The affect of environmental issues occur everyday and in particular deforestation is becoming a highly ranked subject. From animals to the human race, the alacrity of trees that are cut down affects every individual in a variety of ways. Not only do people need to help the planet but they need to help themselves and further generations to come, such as children and grandchildren because these natural resources that are being taken away from society are as well shaping the future. For comprehensible reasons, forests use to make up the world, until man made creatures started to destroy and destruct the most important supply to human kind which are trees. Trees are crucial to every living entity for the reason of providing oxygen to all.

Imagine a single event that can kill 57 people and 7000 deer and elk. Snap trees like a toothpick, and turn the sky grey for 15 days. Now, stop imagining, Mount St. Helens, in the Cascade Range of southwestern Washington State, erupted. On May 18th,1980. According to (Campbell 371), “At least $1 billion in economic damage was reported”. The eruption of Mount St. Helens took many lives, and devastated America. Mount St. Helens destroyed more than 230 square miles of ancient forest.

Deforestation is the destruction of a wide area of forest land into a cleared land that is used for a variety of reasons. The impact on the environment from cutting down, burning and damaging forests is very detrimental and there are severe consequences for the environment and future generations because of deforestation. According to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization approximately 7.3 million hectares of forests are being destroyed per year in the world (Bradford, 2015). In this essay, I will explore the impact that deforestation on the environment and I will also look at the actions that are being taken to prevent deforestation. There are various reasons why deforestation is occurring despite its negative effects on the environment. Deforestation can cause very serious environmental problems such as climate change, flooding, loss of habitats as well as others.

However, due to more people searching for plots there is greater pressure on the amount of available land. The logging industry is responsible for a relatively small level of deforestation, accounting for 3% in Brazil. Consequently, all these activity contribute together to the rapid loss of what is left of the rainforest and a large proportion of the world’s biodiversity. All of the resources that the rainforest provides could be lost in the next 40 years.

Clear cutting forests can be proven to be an unstable way of practising forestry as its long term affects to an environment target the climate, soil conservation, biodiversity and hydrological regimes. Depleting forest resources will be given strict and serious punishment as it affects society as a whole and not

Have you ever been in a deadly earthquake? In 2013, the people of the Philippines experienced one. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake that affected around 43,000 people with 2,211 aftershocks that ended up killing a total of 185 people. Earthquakes are known as one of the most dangerous natural disasters. This horrific event happened October 15th, 2013. The earthquake hit hardest in the central Philippines, it was reported to be caused by the East Bohol Fault. People act in a response to a natural disaster by gathering resources, spreading word, and government aid.

Deforestation is defined as: “the clearing of virgin forests, or intentional destruction or removal of trees and other vegetation for agricultural, commercial, housing, or firewood use without replanting and without allowing time for the forest to regenerate itself” (SCRIBD). Deforestation has been a problem in Latin America since the early 1900s and the severity of the dilemma is increasing rapidly. Deforestation not only has consequences for the environment, but also, the indigenous people and the national economy. The logging industry in Latin America is often exploited by multinational companies that are not properly regulated. The land that has provided a home and cultivated indigenous development for centuries is being dissipated rapidly. Due to an exponentially growing global population, there is an increased demand for low priced goods--like timber, crops, and meat. Many Latin American countries value revenue from selling these goods over the health of their local ecosystems. The crisis of deforestation and habitat loss is shifting from a local to global problem. As deforestation continues, global warming escalates worldwide, impacting every country and person. About 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from tropical deforestation, which is more than from all the world’s cars, trucks and buses combined (Schwartzman). Puerto Rico and Brazil provide contrasting examples of the impact of deforestation. Puerto Rico had an economic and environmental shift

As you can see deforestation is man made, not intentionally man made, but instead intentionally made for industrialization. Predominantly Indonesia has the highest rate of deforestation in the world and also is the world's third-largest producer of greenhouse gases behind China and the US, with 85% of its emissions coming from forest destruction and degradation (theG). The statistics as you can see are more alarming than perceived in the media and it is extremely imperative to help regulate and help with this mast tragedy of the

There are several documented stories of individuals chaining themselves to trees in an effort to prevent loggers from removing them. In past instances, they have also been the cause of huge damage regarding fuels management plans created by U.S. Forestry workers. One such incident occurred in Tucson, Arizona in the year 2000 resulting in the catastrophic Rodeo-Chediski Fire. In response to growing concerns over fire dangers within the region, U.S. Forestry employee Kate Klein and her staff had spent the prior three years formulating a plan to log and rehabilitate an area of 28,000 forested acres in an effort to control and lower the incidences of out of control wild fires that threatened nearby homes and lives. During the group’s study of the land they met with extreme opposition from the local communities adjacent to the targeted wooded acreage. Environmentalists contested the team’s findings, and finally took the U.S. Forestry Department to court in 1999. Effort to slow the implementation of the proposed plans that were created to actively reduce ground-litter fuels and mid-canopy ladder fuels (these fuels carry fire from ground level up to the tops of the trees) within congested areas of woodland. The lawsuit lasted approximately two years before multiple fires started in the area of interest. Twenty days after the

Many people, due to simple logic, may believe that increasing deforestation will cut down on wildfires in dry conditions. If you consider it for a little while it seems to make sense. Less trees means less fuel for a fire to burn through. As said before, it’s simple logic. Except for the fact it isn’t. In fact according to Chad Hanson, commercial logging doesn’t stop wildfires, it causes them! In his article The Big Lie: Logging and Forest Fires, he wrote “Relentless clearing of forests in the Great Lakes region left huge areas largely devoid of the cooling shade of trees, replacing moist natural forest microclimates with the hotter, drier conditions characterized by stump fields.” (Hanson) He then explained that because of these dry and hot

The Amazon Rainforest is a mighty jungle filled with an array of exotic species of wood, like mahogany, and rich natural resources such as gold, copper, tin, and nickel. Naturally, people want to make a profit, but the rainforest’s trees stand in the way. Logging is the main source of deforestation. Every year, millions of trees are cut down to be made into timber. Many times, these logging operations are illegal. These operations will keep exploiting the Amazon for its exotic timber, not caring that many of these species of plants are either rare, or help support rare species and ecosystems. Mining also creates deforestation, but not as severely as logging. Trees are cut down to make way for mining operations that dig for non renewable resources like copper and gold. Trees are also used as charcoal to help produce pig iron. A third cause of deforestation is agriculture. Cattle ranches and soy plantations are created where the Amazon Rainforest once stood. As people expand their farms, they must cut down the areas they now use for farming. Trees are also cut to make space for animal pens. Governments also contribute to the deforestation problem by building roads and creating infrastructure. Although these roads help with communication and navigation, they cut through the rainforest, and often help illegal loggers create new roads from their operations in the jungle to these roads that connect with civilization. All of these factors have helped cut down the Amazon Rainforest. In the past

Victoria’s forest management police have reviewed in response to that logging may have contributed to the severity of bushfires in wet forests, such as the fires on Black Saturday in February 2009. In the areas affected by the Back Saturday fires research has shown that extensive logging had occurred before the fires. The most sever fires occur

Life was pretty simple back there, my grandparents farmed most of the things we eat from eggs, fruits and vegetables. Occasionally, we get our need for protein from our goats and chickens in the backyard. I am proud to say that life as a kid in the Philippines was the BEST! Because I get to play a lot outside, climb trees and just pretty be an actual KID having fun outdoors! After years of working in Saudi Arabia, my parents finally got a chance to move to the US. Even though life in the Philippines was great and all, I always have that longing to move here and experience that "American life" and more importantly to be with my parents. They worked so hard to bring me and my brother to the US, which is believed by most Filipinos as something that will give us better opportunities and success in life. Years have passed and the day of moving to the US finally came and I remember it as one of the best days of my life. I was so excited hearing the news that we are finally going

Deforestation is one of the most significant issues of our time; considerable measures must be taken to prevent further pillaging of our unique forest resource.

These issues may be exacerbated by mismanagement of central governments, heavy political and economic pressures, widespread corruption, cronyism (appointing familiars to positions of authority), and illegal logging operations (Speth & Haas, 2006, p. 30). Corruption and illegal extracting activities are especially problematic because they allow for further abuse and destruction to this environment.