Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation Essay

Over half of the world’s forests have been destroyed in the last 10,000 years. An extensive fire that destroys a great deal of land or property could be thought to help “benefit” the economic or environmental aspects of daily life, but the society is clueless on the harm it is causing. Nearly half of the Earth's original forest cover has already been lost and each year an additional 32 million acres are destroyed. Our world is facing the greatest extinction crisis since the fall of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago. The future of many of Earth's plants and animals will be determined within the next few decades. Hopefully, it comes as no great surprise to you that deforestation is a major problem in many areas of the world, both in terms of

Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change because they act as a carbon sink soaking up carbon dioxide that would otherwise be free in the atmosphere and contribute to ongoing changes in climate patterns. Deforestation undermines this important carbon sink function. It is estimated that 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions are the

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.

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

Speaking of the causes for this global issue, human activity is always considered as the primary driving force of deforestation, in which illegal logging is the first cause. Illegal logging stands for the action of harvesting, processing, transporting and buying or selling timber and wood products without the permission of law and regulation. Nowadays, people are not hesitating to cut down tons of trees and forest to earn more profits, but not being aware of deforestation. In the article “Deforestation and land use under insecure property rights”, the authors claimed that “Illegal logging decreases non-timber benefits to local people who have no means of safeguarding against it. Depending on the actual tree species composition of a given site, illegal logging in native forests arises in two forms, either by selective logging (also known as ‘high-grading’) of only the most valuable trees (such as mahogany or teak), or through excessive harvesting of timber volume beyond the allowed concessions size” (Gregory, Erkki, Markku, 2009, pp. 281-303). With lots of research, studies, and explanations, the authors strongly proved the direct relations between illegal logging and deforestation and lowering illegal logging and reinstating the law enforcement for insecure property use would be the key factors to decrease the deforestation rate.

Recently, Global Warming has been a huge topic of discussion for many people. Deforestation has specifically contributed to harmful gases, including CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), being emitted into the atmosphere. According to Cesareo and Walker, “deforestation is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions after fossil fuel burning, causing 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions”. Trees naturally absorb Carbon Dioxide, and when trees are removed from the environment,

Rainforest are being depleted at alarming rates for a number of reasons. A number of raw materials can be obtained from these regions, including oil, rubber, spices, and hardwoods, just to name a few. Industry from all over the world is obtaining these resources without regard for the adverse effects to the environment that will result. Vast areas are being burned and used as farm land. The remaining ash serves as a good fertilizer for the crops for two or three years, and then another patch must be cleared. As populations increase in some regions, rainforest is burned or cleared for development. Trees are cleared by cattle farmers for pasture. The grass is eliminated , the soil is washed away, and only a hard crust remains, leaving an area that probably won’t flourish again for many years.

Advocates for the preservation of these forests state that deforestation has devastating consequences including social conflict, extinction of plants and animals, and dangerous climate changes, and that local deforestation in these forests are causing damages that aren’t just local, but global. While opponents claim that tropical forests are destined to diminish as it is necessary for the growing human population to clear the natural landscape to make room for farms and pastures, to harvest timber for construction and fuel, to build roads and urban areas and to develop the economies of the often poor countries that surround the equator.

The biggest problem with deforestation is that we don’t cut down little areas at a time. We cut down trees in bulk. Some deforestation companies cut down trees football field lengths at a time. Indonesia once had one of the biggest rainforests in the world covering up about 95.4 to 112 million hectares before deforestation occurred( “Lambin” 3). After deforestation happened there rain forest is estimated to cover up about 52

We found that worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation website to be reliable and informative. The World Wildlife Fund organization was founded in 1961, and has been one of the top organizations working in the field of the wilderness preservation. The information they display on this website gives a deeper look on the reasons for deforestation, how it is affecting our earth, and how we can help. The information is more cut and dry, and would not be as effective for kids than it is for adults. We found this information valuable in our research in rainforests.

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.

Nowadays deforestation is the one of the most important and controversial environmental issues in the world. Deforestation is cutting down, clearing away or burning trees or forests. Particularly tropical rainforests are the most waning type of forests because of its location in developing countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, India, central African countries and Brazil. Deforestation rate in those regions is high enough to worry about, because of large economic potential of forest areas. As the result of causes such as agriculture land expansion, logging for timber, fire blazing and settling infrastructure there might be serious impacts in future. For instance, extinction of endemic species of animals and plants which will be

The rate of deforestation is increasing and the tropical forests are falling at approximately 140,000 acres per day (Miller & Tangley 1991: xvi). The forests are crucial to the environment. They are important in minimizing erosion, providing a stable habitat for many animals, and helping to keep the environment clean. Deforestation has devastating effects, not only on the biological dependents within the depleted forests, but also on the surrounding human-populated communities.

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is a program that, like its name suggests, has the main objective of reducing the emission levels of green-house gases from land uses, through incentives in developing countries. The program includes measures related to conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forests carbon stocks (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2008).

Modern methods of forest management should be practised.  A forest is a very vulnerable asset.  The slight neglect or unscientific working can rapidly deplete and may even annihilate it after which reforesting of the area may not be economically feasible.