DEFORESTATION
BAMGBOSE Timothy
2nd Year M.Sc.
DOS Microbiology
CONTENTS
Deforestation
Facts about Deforestation
Causes of Deforestation
Impacts of Deforestation
Mitigation
News
Conclusion
Reference
Deforestation - Introduction
• Deforestation is the process whereby natural forests are cleared
through logging and/or burning, either to use the timber or to
replace the area for alternative uses.
• It is the permanent destruction of indigenous forests and
woodlands.
• The term does not include the removal of industrial forests such
as plantations of gums or pines.
• Deforestation is therefore, clearing Earth's forests on a massive
scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land.
• The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a
hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.
Deforestation - Introduction
• Some countries such as IVORY COAST, NIGERIA,
COSTA RICA, AND SRI LANKA are likely to lose all their
tropical forests very quickly if no conservation steps
are taken.
• Deforestation comes in many forms, including fires,
clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and
development, unsustainable logging for timber, and
degradation due to climate change.
• Deforestation is a particular concern in tropical
rainforests because these forests are home to much
of the world’s biodiversity.
Deforestation in Borneo Destructive logging in Malaysia
Small scale deforestation in Amazon Palm Oil Estate, Malaysia
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
• Forests cover 31% of the land area on our planet.
• They produce vital oxygen and provide homes for people and
wildlife.
• Many of the worlds’s most threatened and endangered animals
live in forests,
• and 1.6 billion people rely on benefits forests offer, including food,
fresh water, clothing, traditional medicine and shelter.
• But forests around the world are under threat from deforestation,
jeopardizing these benefits.
• The World Resources Institute regards deforestation as one of the
world's most pressing land-use problems.
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
• An area of forest equal to 20 football or rugby fields is
lost every minute.
• South Africa's climate is such that less than 0.5% of its
surface area is covered with indigenous forest - great
care should be taken to conserve the little they have.
• Tropical rainforests, which cover 6-7% of the earth's
surface, contain over half of all the plant and animal
species in the world!
• 57% of all rainforests remaining are located in the
Neotropics, with 30% located in Brazil.
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
Largest rainforests worldwide listed in descending
order (from largest to smallest).
❖Amazon basin of South America
❖Congo river basin of Central Africa
❖South East Asia
❖New Guinea
❖Madagascar
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
Overview of deforestation around the world:
Between 1960 and 1990, most of the deforestation
occurred globally, with an increasing trend every decade.
• Brazil has the highest annual rate of deforestation today.
• Atlantic coast of Brazil has lost 90-95% of its rainforest.
• Central America has 50% of its rainforests.
• South America has 70% of its rainforests.
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
Overview of deforestation around the world:
• The Philippines have lost 90% of its rainforests!
• Madagascar has lost 95% of its rainforests!
• El Salvador has lost 70-85% of its rainforest due to heavy
bombing during the civil war 1984-1985.
• Sumatra has 15% of its rainforests left.
• Only 6% of Central Africa's forests are protected by law.
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
Statistics on Global Rates of Rainforest Destruction:
• 2.4 acres (1 hectare) per second: equivalent to two U.S. football
fields
• 149 acres (60 hectares) per minute
• 214,000 acres (86,000 hectares) per day: an area larger than New
York City
• 78 million acres (31 million hectares) per year: an area larger than
Poland
• On average, 137 species become extinct every day; or 50,000
each year!
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
FACTS ABOUT DEFORESTATION
CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
• Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them
are related to money or to people’s need to provide for
their families.
• The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers
cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or
grazing livestock.
• Often many small farmers will each clear a few acres to
feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them
in a process known as “slash and burn” agriculture.
• Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and
paper products, also cut countless trees each year.
CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
Deforestation could also be brought about by the following:
1. Local, National, and International factors: development, land
titles, government subsidies to attract corporations into
developing countries, trade agreements (NAFTA, CAFTA), civil
wars, debt, lack of resources, and lack of law enforcement.
2. Conversion of forests and woodlands to agricultural land to feed
growing numbers of people;
3. Development of cash crops and cattle ranching, both of which
earn money for tropical countries;
4. Commercial logging (which supplies the world market with
woods such as meranti, teak, mahogany and ebony) destroys trees
as well as opening up forests for agriculture;
CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
Deforestation could also be brought about by the following:
5. Felling of trees for firewood and building material; the heavy
lopping of foliage for fodder; and heavy browsing of saplings by
domestic animals like goats.
6. Logging
7. Mining
8. Oil and gas extraction
9. Cattle ranching
10. Agriculture: Cash crops
CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
Not all deforestation is intentional.
Some is caused by a combination of
human and natural factors like
wildfires and subsequent
overgrazing, which may prevent the
growth of young trees.
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
* Alteration of local and global climates through disruption of:
a) The carbon cycle:
• Forests act as a major carbon store because carbon dioxide (CO2) is
taken up from the atmosphere and used to produce the
carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that make up the tree.
• When forests are cleared, and the trees are either burnt or rot, this
carbon is released as CO2. This leads to an increase in the
atmospheric CO2 concentration.
• CO2 is the major contributor to the greenhouse effect. It is
estimated that deforestation contributes one-third of all CO2
releases caused by people. Deforestation causes 15% of global
greenhouse gas emissions.
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
* Alteration of local and global climates through
disruption of:
b) The water cycle.
• Trees draw ground water up through their roots and
release it into the atmosphere (transpiration). In
Amazonia over half of all the water circulating through
the region's ecosystem remains within the plants.
• With removal of part of the forest, the region cannot hold
as much water as a result trees no longer evaporate
groundwater, which can cause the local climate to be
much drier. The effect of this could be a drier climate.
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
* Soil erosion:
• Deforestation accelerates rates of soil erosion, by
increasing runoff and reducing the protection of
the soil from tree litter.
• With the loss of a protective cover of vegetation
more soil is lost.
• Soil erosion occurs when trees and plants are
removed; the rain water washes the nutrients in
the top soil away.
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
* Soil erosion:
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
* Extinction of species:
• Forests contain more than half of all species on our
planet - as the habitat of these species (that
depends on the forest for survival) is destroyed, so
the number of species declines.
• Edge effects can change microclimates (small
climates) which affect endemic species (native
species which can only live in specific
environmental and habitat conditions).
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
* Extinction of species:
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
*Reduced biodiversity:
• Deforestation and forest degradation can cause
biodiversity to decline. When forest cover is removed,
wildlife is deprived of habitat and becomes more
vulnerable to hunting.
• Considering that about 80% of the world's documented
species can be found in tropical rainforests, deforestation
puts at risk a majority of the Earth’s biodiversity.
• For example, Extinctions or loss of microbes (bacteria),
plants, insects, animals, indigenous peoples, etc.
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
* Desertification:
The causes of desertification are complex, but deforestation
is one of the contributing factors
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
* Disrupted livelihoods:
• Millions of people rely directly on forests,
through small-scale agriculture, hunting and
gathering, and by harvesting forest products
such as rubber.
• Deforestation continues to pose severe
social problems, sometimes leading to
violent conflict.
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
* Disrupted livelihoods:
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
*Habitat fragmentation:
• This disturbs the animals' habitat and may force
them to enter habitats which are already
occupied.
• This can pose many problems such as territorial
conflicts, homelessness (loss of habitat), lack of
food availability, migration disturbances, etc.
• Social conflicts and struggles over land and
natural resources. Also, conflicts over racial and
ethnic rights.
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION
*Habitat fragmentation:
MITIGATION
Combating deforestation is a complex issue that requires a variety of
approaches. Here are a few key solutions:
1. Corporations & Markets
If corporations have the ability to destroy the world's intact forests, they
also have the power to help save them.
Companies can make an impact by introducing zero-deforestation policies
that require suppliers to produce commodities such as timber, beef, soy,
palm oil and paper fibre in a way that has a minimal impact on natural
forests and the climate.
Companies can also introduce paper procurement policies that set
ambitious targets to maximize use of post-consumer recycled wood, pulp,
paper and fibre in their products and ensure that any virgin fibre used is
certified by a rigorous third party certification system such as the Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC).
MITIGATION
Combating deforestation is a complex issue that requires a variety of
approaches. Here are a few key solutions:
2. Sustainable consumer options
Even as an individual we can make a difference in saving forests by
setting the best example. It is a crucial part of the solution to ending
worldwide deforestation.
As a consumer, we have the power to put pressure on companies that
have bad environmental practices. By buying recycled or certified
wood products, only supporting brands with zero deforestation
policies and getting others to do the same through this we send a
message to companies to embrace zero deforestation policies.
MITIGATION
Combating deforestation is a complex issue that requires a
variety of approaches. Here are a few key solutions:
3. Politics
In order to achieve zero deforestation by 2020 there is
need for ambitious and science-based domestic and
international forest policies from our government.
Forests for Climate is a landmark proposal for an
international funding mechanism to protect tropical
forests.
MITIGATION
Combating deforestation is a complex issue that requires a variety of approaches.
Here are a few key solutions:
4. Wield our consumer power!
• Make sure that the forest derived products you buy are made from
100% post-consumer content materials.
• Always use both sides of paper when writing, drawing, photo-
copying, faxing, etc.
• Read the newspaper on-line.
• Trees get cut down for cattle to graze. Instead of eating meat,
think of eating other sources of protein such as fish, soy, beans,
CONCLUSION
The most important points in forest preservation has to do with protecting the trees, which
means:
T – Teach others about the importance of the environment and how they can help save
rainforests
R – Restore damaged ecosystems by planting trees on land where forests have been cut
down.
E – Encourage people to live in a way that doesn’t hurt the environment
E – Establish parks to protect rainforests and wildlife.
S – Support companies that operate in ways that minimize damage to the environment.
REFERENCES
Botanical Society of South Africa. Kirstenbosch, P/Bag X7, Claremont, 7735. Tel. 021-797 2090
Dendrological Society. P O Box 104, Pretoria, 0001. Tel. 012-574009
Green peace http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/forests/solutions-to-
deforestation/
Institute of Natural Resources. University of Natal. PO Box 375, Pietermaritzburg, 3201. Tel.
0331-68317.
Kricher, J. (1997). A Neotropical Companion: An introduction to the animals, plants, &
ecosystems of the New World Tropics. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
NASA web-site: http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftp_docs/Deforestation.pdf
Rainforest Action Network web-site: http://ran.org/info_center/factsheets/04b.html
The Guardian Newspaper http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/15/amazon-
deforestation-increased-one-third
http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/envfacts/facts/deforestation.htm
