Essay on Deforestation and its Implications

Essay on Deforestation and its Implications Deforestation and its Implications May 16, 2019 in Ecology Introduction Deforestation refers to the destruction of forest cover and tree stands for the purposes that are not related to forest regeneration, for instance, building, agriculture, grazing fields, destruction of trees, and abandoning the land. However, the term differs from tree harvesting, whereby trees are entirely removed from temperate areas (regeneration harvesting), where trees cannot regenerate naturally without natural or human disturbance (Oliver, 1980). Regeneration of harvesting has been praised by many scholars who argue that in cases of human interference in an environment, biodiversity regenerates in the same way as in cases of natural disturbance (Patel-Weynand, 2002). If destruction of forests is not accompanied by adequate reforestation, then desertification, loss of biodiversity, destruction of habitat, as well as increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are likely to be the consequences. Body The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change attributes the increasing destruction of forests to agriculture whereby subsistence farming leads to deforestation at the rate of 48%, commercial farming at 32%, fire wood harvesting at 5%, and logging at 14% (UNFCC, 2007). Apart from agriculture, urbanization, road building, building of schools and other social amenities are also reasons why forests have been cleared to create space for developmental purposes. Deforestation has been used as a war tactic whereby forest cover is destroyed to deprive the enemies of hideouts as well as resources. Globally, deforestation is a thorny issue that has had many impacts including atmospheric, health, economic, and geological among others. Below is a discussion of the aftermaths of deforestation citing specific impacts in given geographical areas.