Is the World in Grave Danger?

JONALYN M. SHENTON

Importance of Forests

Forests and biodiversity are key to all life forms. The richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical discoveries, economic development and adaptive responses to such new challenges as climate change. 

Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses.

Deforestation is when humans remove or clear large areas of forest lands and related ecosystems for non-forest use. These include clearing for farming purposes, ranching and urban use. In these cases, trees are never re-planted. The cutting down and removal of all or most of the trees in a forested area.

Deforestation is the clearing of trees, transforming a

forest into cleared land.

Clear-cutting in Borneo. (Photo by R. Butler)

NATURAL THREATS TO RAINFORESTS

Throughout their existence, tropical rainforests have been affected by natural forces like fire, volcanic eruption, drought, and storms.

Why do humans clear forest lands?

Trees are cut down (deforestation) for many reasons including

To be used, sold or exported as timber, wood or fuel (charcoal). This is called logging. 

To be used for farming purposes (grazing fields for livestock, or large-scale farming activities)

To make room for human settlement and urbanization (these include making space for shelter, industries, and roads)

To make room for mining.

The driving forces of deforestation are very complex, but weigh heavily towards economic needs of local communities, countries and large multinational industries. Here are a few:Soy, palm oil and other crop plantationsPalm oil, a very popular ingredient in many foods and now very common for its use for biodiesel (fuel for transport industry), together with soya, which is used in many foods and animal feed, are two major crops that require a lot of space to cultivate. These two, together with banana and others have contributed and still contribute to the loss of large forest areas.

Deforestation for palm oil production in Malaysian Borneo.

• Biofuels are produced from renewable resources such as: plants and organic waste and can be used as an alternative to fossil fuels

• Palm oil plantations are posed as a major threat• Destroying habitats of orangutans and other wildlife• Orangutans spend about 80-90% of their time in the trees• Demand for biofuels is on the rise

High demand for wood (logs or timber)More need for pulp and paper, wood for furniture, real estate construction fuel all mean that trees will be cut down. World population is growing and more than ever before, our needs have increased too. —Increasing demand was specifically cited as an underlying cause of deforestation by the workshops in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ecuador, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. El Salvador, for example pointed to the sale of timber to sawmills, and Nepal noted an increased number of furniture factories. Nepal and Kenya both listed the use of timber for house-building as a key issue1

— Logging is the principal threat to the tropical rainforests of Cameroon, Congo and Gabon. It is estimated that every year 137,000 hectares are logged in these three countries alone2

Animal grazing fields

n many places in the world, animal farms have contributed to large areas of green space being converted to grazing fields. Classic cases can be found in Brazil. Animal rearing in the Amazon has increased remarkable over the past few decades, obviously because of the increase in demand for meat products over the world. Since 2002 cattle rearing expansion increased about 30%. It is known that 80% of brazils livestock population can be found in the Amazon, specifically in the states of Mato, Grosso, Pará, and Rondônia, which were also the states with the greatest deforestation in 20023

ConstructionNew settlements, roads and industries springing up in many forest places surely add to the problem we face with deforestation today. As roads are constructed to access remote areas in these forests, they act as a magnet for new settlements. Once people begin to settle too close to forests areas, they begin to rely on the resources from that forest to make a living

OthersOther factors include trade policies such as those that discourage certain foods and rather encourage production of soy beans. Another cause of deforestation may be the poorly implemented environmental regulations that encourage land owners to covert forest lands to plantations, without any regard for authority and laws.

Mining is the big issue ( Gina Lopez)

Mining in PH: What Gina Lopez, Duterte have said

During their term, the Dutertes banned mining in Davao City. Meanwhile, Lopez, a known anti-mining advocate, has been involved in spats with big mining companies because of her strong statements against mining.

The strong waves in Siargao Island has made the province the Surfing Capital of the Philippines. ... There are six mining companies operating in the province.

Data according to the FAO. Note the differences from the chart above. FAO's data is based on self reporting from forestry departments, while Harris and colleagues used satellite imagery.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the leading source for information on the status of the world's forests, defines forests as land with a tree canopy cover of more than 10 percent and an area of more than half a hectare.

Forest loss in the country is largely the result ofcenturies of unrestrained colonial and industriallogging practices. Logging and the export oftimber have been major sources of income forthe government, wood-based industries andassociated businesses, traders, entrepreneurs,employees, workers and upland communitiesthroughout the Philippines (DENR-FMB andCoDe REDD-plus Philippines 2010). Thecountry’s history of deforestation began duringthe Spanish occupation, where the estimated27 million ha in the 1500s would drop to a littlemore than 7.2 million ha in 2003 (PhilippineClimate Change Commission 2010)

In 1987, the DENR was reorganized throughExecutive Order No. 192, to better addresspressing environmental concerns. The PAWBwas also created to formulate and recommendpolicies, guidelines, rules and regulations for theestablishment and management of an IntegratedProtected Areas System (IPAS) such as nationalparks, wildlife sanctuaries, marine parks andbiosphere reserves (Calderon 2013).

Causes of deforestation and forestdegradationThere are a number of factors that havecontributed to deforestation in the Philippines,including illegal logging, fuel wood and timberpoaching, agricultural expansion, strip-mining,migration and plantation development (DENRFMB and CoDe REDD-plus Philippines 2010).The most serious threat to forest ecosystemshas been logging (both legal and illegal) (DENR2009). History of commercial logging that beganduring the Spanish occupation has severelydecimated forest resources in the country. Illegallogging operations have continued because ofpoor law enforcement and the growing demandfor timber and wood products

Rapid population growth is another drivingforce in the deterioration of the country’s forest resources. With a population of around 92.34 million as of May 2010 (NSO 2012). Forest continue to be converted for infrastructure development including housing, and building of hospital and schools.

Census Year Census Reference Date

Population(in millions)

2000 May 1, 2000 76.51

2010 May 1, 2010 92.34

2015 August 1, 2015 100.98

Table 1. Population of the Philippines(Based on the 2000, 2010, and 2015 Censuses)

 

Economic Implications

• Industries are over-using and over-cutting trees for prosperity and mostly for profit

• Rapid globalization around the world is a major concern• Increase in Supply & Demand• Since the population around the world is constantly growing on a daily basis,

many corporations are clearing forests to build infrastructures• Poverty stricken countries give their natural resources away to earn foreign

currency to pay off loans

• Increase in Global warming and Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions• Tropical rainforests are disappearing causing alterations to the climate• Each day at least 80,000 acres (32,300) hectares of these forests disappear from

the earth• Ozone depletion• Forest fires (release about 370 million tons of greenhouse gases into the

atmosphere every year)• Deforestation rates in the Amazon Rainforests have not slowed

Deforestation in Brazil Brazil looses the largest area of forest cover annually

Increase in Tropical Deforestation Around the World

Major Deforestation in Brazil

~~~ If everybody does not stay ignorant and take little steps or solutions to prevent deforestation from occurring in the future, then overall we all will have a better world to live in. ~~~

• Reduce wasteful land use practices• Improve already developed lands• Businesses and corporations have to be more aware of the effects that

deforestation causes and they have to take little initiatives to prevent it from increasing

• Governments have to make citizens aware of the issue• Each person can plant trees once in a while to maintain the ecosystem• Groups can be formed to decrease deforestation• The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Global Forest Watch Canada (GFWC)

are groups that have already been formed to prevent deforestation

References• “A World Imperiled: Forces behind forest loss.” Mongabay. Online. Available.

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0801.htm• Astor, Michael. “Global Warming could transform Amazon into savanna in 100 years:

researchers.” Canadian Press. 29 Dec. 2006. pg. A12• Brummit, Chris. “Biofuel boom has hidden costs; producing palm oil for biofuels is boosting

Indonesia’s economy, but the resulting deforestation contributes to global warming and is destroying the habitat of orangutans and other wildlife.” Record, The (Kitchener/Cambridge/Waterloo, ON). 19 Sept. 2007. pg. A5

• Butler, Rhett. “Regional Deforestation”. Mongabay. 1994-2007. Online. Available. http://photos.mongabay.com/07/regional_defor.jpg

• Forge, Frederic. “Biofuels- An Energy, Environmental or Agricultural Policy?”. Library of Parliament- Parliamentary Information and Research Service. Online. Available. http://www.parl.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0637-e.htm

• Friends of Red Hill Valley. Online. Available. http://www.hwcn.org/~forhv/expressway/expresswaytitlepage.htm

• Hagan, Kevin. “Deforestation: An International Crisis.” Online. Available. http://www.american.edu/TED/projects/tedcross/xdefor21.htm

• “Share of tropical deforestation”. Mongabay. 2000-2005. Online. Available. http://photos.mongabay.com/07/trop_defor_pie-max.jpg

• Suzuki, David. “Forest protection vital to stem Global Warming.” Western Star, The (Corner Book,NL). 19 May. 2007. pg 12.