Deforestation - An Introduction

Picture from: http://worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation

'People of our generation will have an unenviable task: to explain to our grandchildren what it was like to watch the world's great rainforests disappear.' - William F. Laurance

Deforestation is happening all over the world, particularly in developing countries such as Brazil, and is a major global concern. Over 13 million hectares of forest are disappearing every year ^[1]. It occurs for a variety of reasons, most of which are due to human intervention. Forests are fragmented by timber extraction or cleared and replaced by farms, ranches or urban areas.

Wood is an important material for humanity. Its uses as fuel, building material and paper, to name a few, have a vast integration in our society and it is something we have relied on for hundreds of thousands of years. The oldest known use of wood is that of the Clacton Spear, a 450,000 year old spear found in 1911 ^[2]. However our current usage is ultimately unsustainable. The map below shows how much devastation we are causing, particularly in the tropics.

Picture from: http://myclimatechange.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/DeforestationMap.jpg

In William F. Laurance's paper, Reflections on the tropical deforestation crisis, he explains exactly what we are losing by destroying the rainforests - and it's not just the trees! Plants provide a basis for all animals to survive, including us. Without these little (and big) photosynthetic organisms, life on earth just couldn't be the same. They produce the oxygen in the atmosphere and are a sustainable food source for many animals. On top of this they provide a habitat more diverse than any other place on the planet. It is estimated that over half of Earth's species reside in the rainforests ^[3], which if you ask me, isn't something I'm willing to lose.

And it's not just animals that are dying off. Indigenous tribes whose homes and livelihoods are provided by the trees are losing all that they have ever known. Laurance also talks about pharmacopeias, plant products that we need – I mean who knows, maybe there is a cure for cancer in those forests. Do we really want to lose rare cultures and potentially life-saving substances?

On a more global scale the tropical rain forests control a lot more than you would initially think. They trap solar radiation, regulate precipitation patterns and even act as a large carbon sink ^[3]. As more of the forests are removed less CO₂ is being absorbed and the deforestation itself causes massive greenhouse gas emission – hardly helping us reach the safe CO₂ level of 350ppm.

All I can say is that this does not sound like human-nature harmony to me and something has to be done. Future posts will look at what is being done, can be done and will be done.

Until then, hug a tree, you never know when you might lose it.


References:
[1] FAO. (2005). Global Forest Resources Assessment. Available: http://www.fao.org/forestry/fra/fra2005/en/. Last accessed 17/10/2013.

[2] The Natural History Museum, London. (2013). The Clacton Spear. Available: http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/results.asp?image=001066. Last accessed 17/10/2013.

[3] William F. Laurance. (1999). Reflections on the tropical deforestation crisis. Biological Conservation. 91, p.109-117.