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Essay on Deforestation

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Introduction:

Deforestation is the process of clearing trees and forest for other uses. Deforestation usually occurs due to city expansion. As habitats increase in cities, there is a need to create more space the for homes, organizations, and factories. This, however, has a damning effect on our environment.

Effect of Deforestation on the Environment:

Deforestation means fewer trees and more land. This has a serious adverse effect on our environment. On one hand, deforestation makes some animals homeless. Animals that survive in the forest might go extinct with less forest. On the other hand, deforestation is also the biggest cause of climate change around the world.

Preventing Deforestation:

Reducing or preventing deforestation is easier said than done. This is because trees are cut down because there is a pressing need to do so. Thus, to prevent deforestation we must try to reduce that need by making smarter choices in paper usage, city planning, migration, etc.

Conclusion:

The essence of plant life in the forest is unquestionable. To ensure a greener environment we must all join the efforts in reducing deforestation.

Deforestation is definitely one of the most troubling of all problems which has plagued our environment. It is important more than ever to take care of the green cover or else it can jeopardize the existence of life on Earth. It is owing to the presence of green trees that we get the oxygen needed to breathe in.

However, because of excessive exploitation by humans, it has been seen that the trees are being cut down mercilessly. This act of cleaning the green cover is known as deforestation.

Educate people:

The best way to handle the problem of deforestation is by making sure that we educate the masses regarding the importance of green cover. When people understand as to how deforestation is leading to grave consequences, they will get the incentive to plant trees rather than uproot them.

Protect the Environment:

As we have continued to exploit the environment in a way that it is hard to get things back to normal, it is now important to immediately start protecting the environment. A lot of natural calamities are occurring these days because the ecosystem balance has been disturbed. Deforestation alone is responsible for a major amount of problems.

So, you need to understand as to how you can come up with ways to excite people about planting more trees and doing their bit for the sake of the environment. Think of your children and grand children. If we continue with our aggressive deforestation campaigns, they are not likely to have a healthy environment for survival. Is that what we really want?

Deforestation can be defined as the removal of trees and clearing of forests for the personal and commercial benefits of human beings. Deforestation has emerged as one of the biggest man-made disasters recently. Every year, more and more trees and vegetation are being erased just to fulfill the various needs of the human race.

Deforestation happens for many reasons. The growing population is one of them. Rising human population needs more area for residential purpose. For this, forests are either burned down or cut to make space for constructing homes and apartments.

Deforestation is also done for commercial purposes. This includes setting up of factories, industries, and towers, etc. The enormous requirements of feeding the human race also create a burden on the land. As a result, clearing land for agricultural purposes leads to deforestation.

Deforestation impacts our earth in several ways. Trees are natural air purifiers. They absorb the carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen into the atmosphere. Deforestation results in uncontrolled air pollution. When there are fewer trees, there is lesser absorption of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

Deforestation also disturbs the water cycle. Forests absorb the groundwater and release the water vapors to form clouds, which in turn cause rains. Roots of trees hold the soil intact and prevent floods. But when there are no trees, different kinds of natural calamities are bound to happen.

With deforestation, chances of floods, drought, global warming, and disturbed weather cycle all come into the play. Not only that, the disappearance of forests means the extinction of wild animals and plants, which are highly important parts of our ecosystem.

In order to curb these disasters, we must plant more trees. Restoration of existing vegetation is equally essential. Population control is another indirect method to save trees and forest areas.

Deforestation is the process of cutting down of trees and forests completely or partially for different reasons like manufacturing different products with various parts of the tree as raw material, to build structures and other buildings, etc. Deforestation in recent days has become the curse of our world that resulted in the destruction of nature and the environment.

Cause and Drawbacks:

Deforestation is mainly done for making better living assets for humans and this one side thought is the biggest drawback of this issue. Instead of doing only the cutting part humans should practice forestation along with deforestation. Whenever a tree or a forest is cut, another one should be planted at the same place or on other lands to promote the forestation.

Deforestation is the main cause for many natural deficiencies and the destruction of many animal, plant and bird species. If the practice of cutting down trees continues, then eventually even the world may get destructed along with the extinction of the human race.

It’s not like trees shouldn’t be used for any kind of production and urbanization or industrialization shouldn’t be done for the development, but the main factor is to compensate for every minus done. Through this, there will be a balancing between the reduction and plantation which will help, to an extent, in the rectification of problems faced by the world due to deforestation.

Deforestation has also affected the atmospheric air combination. The carbon content in the atmosphere has considerably increased over years due to many human activities like uncontrolled fuel combustion.

Forest has played a massive function of inhaling the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and exhaling oxygen during the daytime while they prepare food for themselves. This process is the reason for maintaining a balanced oxygen and carbon level in the atmosphere and that makes the life of us humans to breathe free.

Population growth is undeniably the major factor behind the increased deforestation level. The increased demand for more assets for better living has increased the need for deforestation as well. In such cases forestation should also be made as a follow-up process.

Controlling the overuse of assets can also help in reducing the deforestation rate. If humans start to use products that use a tree as raw material reasonably then it will help in avoiding deforestation as well. Deforestation not only is a life-threatening scenario for many animals and birds, but also the whole human species.

Deforestation refers to the elimination of plants and trees from a region. Deforestation also includes the clearing of jungles and plants from the region due to the numerous commercial motives.

Different Causes of Deforestation:

The below are the different causes of deforestation:

1. Overgrazing:

Overgrazing in jungles finishes recently renewed development. It makes the soil additional compact and invulnerable. The fertility of the soil also reduces owing to the devastation of organic substance. Overgrazing also results in the desertification and the soil erosion. Deforestation results in decreasing the overall soil’s productivity.

2. Shifting Cultivation:

Numerous agriculturalists destroy the jungle for farming and commercial motives and once productiveness of soil is shattered owing to recurrent harvesting, a fresh forest region is devastated. Hence, farmers must be recommended to utilize a similar area for agriculture and use some upgraded farming techniques and stop the deforestation.

3. Fuel Wood:

The maximum amount of forest is destroyed for the fuel wood. Around 86% of the fuel wood is utilized in rural regions in comparison to the 14% in urban parts and hence lead to more deforestation.

4. Forest Fires:

Recurrent fires in the forest regions are one of the major reasons of deforestation. Few incidents of fires are minor whereas the maximum of them are huge.

The industries related to the plywood and timber is mostly accountable for the deforestation. In fact, the huge demand for wooden things has resulted in the quick reduction of the forest.

6. Industry Establishment:

At times the industrial unit is constructed after deforestation. It means for a small achievement of few people, all other people have to bear a permanent loss. In this procedure, wild animals, valuable plant, and unusual birds get devastated. In fact, it adversely affects the quality of the environment.

7. Violation of Forest:

One more reason of deforestation is a violation by tribal on the land of forest for cultivation and other motives. Even though such type of land has a virtuous support for agriculture creation but still it creates environmental threats.

8. Forest Diseases:

Numerous diseases are instigated by rusts, parasitic fungi, nematodes and viruses that result in demise and deterioration of jungle. Fresh saplings are devastated owing to the occurrence of nematodes. Numerous diseases like blister rust, heart rot, and phloem necrosis, oak will, and Dutch elm, etc. destroy the jungle in large quantities.

9. Landslide:

The landslide lead to the deforestation in the mountains is a question of worry. It happened largely in the regions where growing actions are proceeding for the previous few years. The building of highways and railways mainly in hilly lands as well as the structure of large irrigation plans have resulted in enough deforestation and speeded the natural procedure of denudation.

Worldwide Solution for the Deforestation:

The jungle is an essential natural reserve for any nation and deforestation slow down a nation’s growth. To encounter the necessities of the growing population, simple resources might be attained only with the help of afforestation. It is actually the arrangement of implanting plants for food and food growth. Moreover, the nurseries have a significant part in increasing the coverage of the forest area.

Deforestation is the cutting down of trees. It is basically changing the use of land to a different purpose other than the planting of trees.

There are many reasons which have led to large levels of deforestation all over the world. One of the major causes is ever growing population of the world. With the growth in population, the need for more land to live has been rising. This has further led to cutting down of trees. Also, with modernisation, there has been a substantial increase in the requirement of land for setting up of industries. This has again contributed to deforestation.

Mining is another activity of humans which has led to large-scale deforestation in many areas. The need to build road and rail network in order to increase connectivity to the mines has led to cutting down of trees. This has altered the climatic conditions in these areas.

Deforestation has had a huge impact on the environment. Lack of trees has led to less release of water vapour in the air. This has, in turn, led to the alteration of rainfall patterns in different regions. India is a country which is dependent on monsoon rains for agriculture. Frequent droughts and floods caused due to deforestation have affected the lives of many in different parts of the country.

Moreover, trees absorb the carbon-dioxide from the air and help to purify it. Without trees around us, the presence of harmful gases in the air has been rising. This has also led to global warming which is again a major environmental concern. Also, the ever-rising pollution level, especially in many cities in India is due to vast deforestation only.

Additionally, trees bind the soil around them and prevent soil erosion. Deforestation has led to the soil being washed away with winds and rain, making the land unfit for agriculture. Also, trees and forests are the homes to different species of wildlife. With shrinking forests, several of the wildlife has become extinct as they were not able to cope with the changing conditions. Also, there have been increased man and wildlife conflicts in recent times as the animals are forced to venture in the cities in search of food. All these are severe effects of deforestation and need urgent attention by all.

The Perfect Example:

New Delhi is the capital of India. There was once a time when Delhi was a beautiful city. But with modernisation, increase in population, deforestation and mining in the nearby Aravalli hills, Delhi has been reduced to a gas chamber. Such is the impact the Delhi has become one of the most polluted cities in the world. What better example can be there to understand what deforestation has led us to?

There are many ways in which we can reduce deforestation. We must protect our forests. Moreover, we must mark adequate land for our farming needs. There are some laws already in place which prohibit people from unnecessary felling of trees. What needs to be done is the proper execution of the rules so that everyone abides by it. Also, stricter punishments need to be in place for violators so as to deter other people from disobeying the laws. Alternatively, people need to ensure that for every tree felled, equal numbers of trees are planted so that the balance of nature can be maintained. Summarily, it has to be a collective duty of all and just the governments alone, if we really need to reduce deforestation.

It is true that we all need space to live. With the ever-growing population and urbanisation, there has been more than ever need to cut trees and make space. However, we must realise that it is not possible for us to live without having trees around us. Trees bring so many benefits such as giving us oxygen, utilising the harmful carbon dioxide and so many products we need in our daily lives. Without trees around us, there would be no life on the earth. We should all do the needful to protect trees and reduce deforestation.

Deforestation is also known as clearing or clearance of trees. It can be said to mean removal of strands of trees or forests and the conversion of such area of land to a use that is totally non-forest in nature. Some deforestation examples are the converting of areas of forest to urban, ranches or farms use. The area of land that undergoes the most deforestation is the tropical rainforests. It is important to note that forests cover more than 31 percent in total land area of the surface of the earth.

There are a lot of different reasons why deforestation occurs: some tree are being cut down for building or as fuel (timber or coal), while areas of land are to be used as plantation and also as pasture to feed livestock. When trees are removed with properly replacing them, there can as a result be aridity, loss of biodiversity and even habitat damage. We have also had cases of deforestation used in times of war to starve the enemy.

Causes of Deforestation:

It has been discovered that the major and primary deforestation cause is agriculture. Studies have shown that about 48 percent of all deforestation is as a result of subsistence farming and 32 percent of deforestation is as a result of commercial agriculture. Also, it was discovered that logging accounts for about 14% of the total deforestation and 5% is from the removal for fuel wood.

There has been no form of agreement from experts on if industrial form of logging is a very important contributing factor to deforestation globally. Some experts have argued that the clearing of forests is something poor people do more as a result of them not having other alternatives. Other experts are of the belief that the poor seldom clear forests because they do not have the resources needed to do that. A study has also revealed that increase in population as a result of fertility rates that are very high are not a major driver of deforestation and they only influenced less than 8% of the cases of deforestation.

The Environmental Effects of Deforestation:

Deforestation has a lot of negative effects on our planet and environment.

A few of the areas where it negatively affects our environment are discussed below:

i. Atmospheric Effect:

Global warming has deforestation as one of its major contributing factors and deforestation is also a key cause of greenhouse effect. About 20% of all the emission of greenhouse gases is as a result of tropical deforestation. The land in an area that is deforested heats up quicker and it gets to a temperature that is higher than normal, causing a change in solar energy absorption, flow of water vapours and even wind flows and all of these affects the local climate of the area and also the global climate.

Also, the burning of plants in the forest in order to carry out clearing of land, incineration cause a huge amount of carbon dioxide release which is a major and important contributor to the global warming.

ii. Hydrological Effect:

Various researches have shown that deforestation greatly affects water cycle. Groundwater is extracted by trees through the help of their roots; the water extracted is then released into the surrounding atmosphere. If we remove a part of the forest, there will not be transpiration of water like it should be and this result in the climate being a lot drier. The water content of the soil is heavily reduced by deforestation and also atmospheric moisture as well as groundwater. There is a reduced level of water intake that the trees can extract as a result of the dry soil. Soil cohesion is also reduced by deforestation and this can result in landslides, flooding and erosion.

iii. Effect on Soil:

As a direct result of the plant litter on the surface, there is a minimal and reduced erosion rate in forests largely undisturbed. Deforestation increases the erosion rate as a result of the subsequent decrease in the quantity of cover of litter available. The litter cover actually serves as a protection for the soil from all varieties of surface runoff. When mechanized equipments and machineries are used in forestry operations, there can be a resulting erosion increase as a result of the development of roads in the forests.

iv. Effect on Biodiversity:

There is a biodiversity decline due to deforestation. Deforestation can lead to the death and extinction of a lot of species of animals and plants. The habitat of various animals are taken away as a result of deforestation.

The total coverage of forests on the earth’s landmass is 30 percent and the fact the people are destroying them is worrying. Research reveals that majority of the tropical forests on earth are being destroyed. We are almost at half the forest landmass in destruction. How would earth look life without forests? It will be a total disaster if deforestation is encouraged. Deforestation is a human act in which forests are permanently destroyed in order to create settlement area and use the trees for industries like paper manufacture, wood and construction. A lot of forests have been destroyed and the impact has been felt through climate change and extinction of animals due to destruction of the ecosystem. The impacts of deforestation are adverse and there is need to prevent and control it before it can get any worse.

Deforestation is mainly a human activity affected by many factors. Overpopulation contributed to deforestation because there is need to create a settlement area for the increasing number of people on earth and the need for urbanization for economic reasons. Recently, population has greatly risen in the world and people require shelter as a basic need. Forests are destroyed in order for people to find land to build a shelter and then trees are further cut to build those houses. Overpopulation is a major threat to the forest landmass and if not controlled, people will continue to occupy the forests until there is no more forest coverage on earth.

Another factor influencing deforestation is industrialization. Industries that use trees to manufacture their product e.g. paper and wood industries have caused major destruction of forests. The problem with industries is the large-scale need for trees which causes extensive deforestation. The use of timber in industries is a treat to forests all over the world. In as much as we need furniture, paper and homes, it is not worth the massive destruction of our forests.

Fires are also a cause of deforestation. During episodes of drought, fire spreads widely and burns down trees. The fire incidences could result from human activities like smoking or charcoal burning in the forests. Drought due to adverse weather changes in global warming is a natural disaster that claim the lives of people and living things.

Agricultural activities such as farming and livestock keeping also cause deforestation because of the land demand in those activities. Deforestation for farming purpose involves clearing all the vegetation on the required land and using it for and then burring the vegetation hence the name ‘slash and burn agriculture’. The ranches required for cattle keeping among other livestock require a large area that is clear from trees.

Impacts of Deforestation:

Deforestation has a great impact on the ecosystem in different ways. Climate change is influenced by deforestation because trees influence weather directly. Trees usually act to protect against strong winds and erosion but in its absence, natural disasters like floods and storms could be experienced. Also, tree are important in replenishing the air in the atmosphere. Trees have the ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen. Without trees, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be increased. Because carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, it causes global warming.

Global warming is a serious environmental issue that causes adverse climatic changes and affects life on earth. Extreme weather conditions like storms, drought and floods. These weather conditions are not conducive for humans and other living things on earth. Natural disasters as a result of global warming are very destructive both to animate and inanimate objects in the environment.

Loss of species due to deforestation has negatively affected biodiversity. Biodiversity is a highly valued aspect of life on earth and its interruption is a loss. There is a loss of habitat for species to exist in as a result of deforestation and therefore species face extinction. Extinction of some rare species is a threat we are currently facing. Animals that live and depend on forest vegetation for food will also suffer and eventually die of hunger. Survival has been forced on animals of the jungle due to deforestation and that is why human wildlife conflict is being experienced.

The water cycle on earth is negatively affected by deforestation. The existence of water vapor in the atmosphere is maintained by trees. Absence of trees cause a reduced vapor retention in the atmosphere which result in adverse climate changes. Trees and other forest vegetation are important in preventing water pollution because they prevent the contaminated runoff into water sources like rivers, lakes and oceans. Without trees, pollution of water is more frequent and therefore the water will be unsafe for consumption by human and animals.

Solutions to Deforestation:

Based on the serious impact of deforestation, it is only safe if solutions are sought to end this problem. The ultimate solution is definitely restoration of the forest landmass on earth. The restoration can be done by encouraging the planting of trees, a process called reforestation. Although reforestation will not completely solve the impacts of deforestation, it will restore a habitat for the wild animals and slowly restore the ecosystem. Major impacts like concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere require another approach. Human activities that contribute to carbon dioxide gas emission to the atmosphere have to be reduced through strict policies for industries and finding alternative energy sources that do not produce greenhouse gases.

Another solution is public awareness. People have to be made aware that deforestation has negative effects so that they can reduce the act. Through awareness, people can also be taught on ways of reducing the population e.g., family planning. On World Environment Day, people are encouraged to participate in activities like tree planting in order to conserve environment and that is how the awareness takes place.

In conclusion, deforestation is a human activity that is destructive and should be discouraged. Environmental conservation is our responsibility because we have only one earth to live in.

Deforestation , Environment , Forests

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• ENVIRONMENT

Why deforestation matters—and what we can do to stop it

Large scale destruction of trees—deforestation—affects ecosystems, climate, and even increases risk for zoonotic diseases spreading to humans.

As the world seeks to slow the pace of climate change , preserve wildlife, and support more than eight billion people , trees inevitably hold a major part of the answer. Yet the mass destruction of trees—deforestation—continues, sacrificing the long-term benefits of standing trees for short-term gain of fuel, and materials for manufacturing and construction.

We need trees for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that they absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale and the heat-trapping greenhouse gases that human activities emit. As those gases enter the atmosphere, global warming increases, a trend scientists now prefer to call climate change.

There is also the imminent danger of disease caused by deforestation. An estimated 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases come from animals, and a major cause of viruses’ jump from wildlife to humans is habitat loss, often through deforestation.

But we can still save our forests. Aggressive efforts to rewild and reforest are already showing success. Tropical tree cover alone can provide 23 percent of the climate mitigation needed to meet goals set in the Paris Agreement in 2015, according to one estimate .

Causes of deforestation

Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Since 1990, the world has lost more than 420 million hectares or about a billion acres of forest, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations —mainly in Africa and South America. About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise . The organization Amazon Conservation reports that destruction rose by 21 percent in 2020 , a loss the size of Israel.

Farming, grazing of livestock, mining, and drilling combined account for more than half of all deforestation . Forestry practices, wildfires and, in small part, urbanization account for the rest. In Malaysia and Indonesia, forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil , which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltine crackers. In the Amazon, cattle ranching and farms—particularly soy plantations—are key culprits .

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Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also fell countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally , also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl as land is developed for homes.

Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.

Why it matters

There are some 250 million people who live in forest and savannah areas and depend on them for subsistence and income—many of them among the world’s rural poor.

Eighty percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests , and deforestation threatens species including the orangutan , Sumatran tiger , and many species of birds. Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and retains heat at night. That disruption leads to more extreme temperature swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.

With wild habitats destroyed and human life ever expanding, the line between animal and human areas blurs, opening the door to zoonotic diseases . In 2014, for example, the Ebola virus killed over 11,000 people in West Africa after fruit bats transmitted the disease to a toddler who was playing near trees where bats were roosting.

( How deforestation is leading to more infectious diseases in humans .)

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Some scientists believe there could be as many as 1.7 million currently “undiscovered” viruses in mammals and birds, of which up to 827,000 could have the ability to infect people, according to a 2018 study .

Deforestation’s effects reach far beyond the people and animals where trees are cut. The South American rainforest, for example, influences regional and perhaps even global water cycles, and it's key to the water supply in Brazilian cities and neighboring countries. The Amazon actually helps furnish water to some of the soy farmers and beef ranchers who are clearing the forest. The loss of clean water and biodiversity from all forests could have many other effects we can’t foresee, touching even your morning cup of coffee .

In terms of climate change, cutting trees both adds carbon dioxide to the air and removes the ability to absorb existing carbon dioxide. If tropical deforestation were a country, according to the World Resources Institute , it would rank third in carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, behind China and the U.S.

What can be done

The numbers are grim, but many conservationists see reasons for hope . A movement is under way to preserve existing forest ecosystems and restore lost tree cover by first reforesting (replanting trees) and ultimately rewilding (a more comprehensive mission to restore entire ecosystems).

( Which nation could be the first to be rewilded ?)

Organizations and activists are working to fight illegal mining and logging—National Geographic Explorer Topher White, for example, has come up with a way to use recycled cell phones to monitor for chainsaws . In Tanzania, the residents of Kokota have planted more than 2 million trees on their small island over a decade, aiming to repair previous damage. And in Brazil, conservationists are rallying in the face of ominous signals that the government may roll back forest protections.

( Which tree planting projects should you support ?)

Stopping deforestation before it reaches a critical point will play a key role in avoiding the next zoonotic pandemic. A November 2022 study showed that when bats struggle to find suitable habitat, they travel closer to human communities where diseases are more likely to spillover. Inversely, when bats’ native habitats were left intact, they stayed away from humans. This research is the first to show how we can predict and avoid spillovers through monitoring and maintaining wildlife habitats.

For consumers, it makes sense to examine the products and meats you buy, looking for sustainably produced sources when you can. Nonprofit groups such as the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance certify products they consider sustainable, while the World Wildlife Fund has a palm oil scorecard for consumer brands.

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• DEFORESTATION
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How to tackle the global deforestation crisis

Imagine if France, Germany, and Spain were completely blanketed in forests — and then all those trees were quickly chopped down. That’s nearly the amount of deforestation that occurred globally between 2001 and 2020, with profound consequences.

Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change, producing between 6 and 17 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2009 study. Meanwhile, because trees also absorb carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere, they help keep the Earth cooler. And climate change aside, forests protect biodiversity.

“Climate change and biodiversity make this a global problem, not a local problem,” says MIT economist Ben Olken. “Deciding to cut down trees or not has huge implications for the world.”

But deforestation is often financially profitable, so it continues at a rapid rate. Researchers can now measure this trend closely: In the last quarter-century, satellite-based technology has led to a paradigm change in charting deforestation. New deforestation datasets, based on the Landsat satellites, for instance, track forest change since 2000 with resolution at 30 meters, while many other products now offer frequent imaging at close resolution.

“Part of this revolution in measurement is accuracy, and the other part is coverage,” says Clare Balboni, an assistant professor of economics at the London School of Economics (LSE). “On-site observation is very expensive and logistically challenging, and you’re talking about case studies. These satellite-based data sets just open up opportunities to see deforestation at scale, systematically, across the globe.”

Balboni and Olken have now helped write a new paper providing a road map for thinking about this crisis. The open-access article, “ The Economics of Tropical Deforestation ,” appears this month in the Annual Review of Economics . The co-authors are Balboni, a former MIT faculty member; Aaron Berman, a PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Economics; Robin Burgess, an LSE professor; and Olken, MIT’s Jane Berkowitz Carlton and Dennis William Carlton Professor of Microeconomics. Balboni and Olken have also conducted primary research in this area, along with Burgess.

So, how can the world tackle deforestation? It starts with understanding the problem.

Replacing forests with farms

Several decades ago, some thinkers, including the famous MIT economist Paul Samuelson in the 1970s, built models to study forests as a renewable resource; Samuelson calculated the “maximum sustained yield” at which a forest could be cleared while being regrown. These frameworks were designed to think about tree farms or the U.S. national forest system, where a fraction of trees would be cut each year, and then new trees would be grown over time to take their place.

But deforestation today, particularly in tropical areas, often looks very different, and forest regeneration is not common.

Indeed, as Balboni and Olken emphasize, deforestation is now rampant partly because the profits from chopping down trees come not just from timber, but from replacing forests with agriculture. In Brazil, deforestation has increased along with agricultural prices; in Indonesia, clearing trees accelerated as the global price of palm oil went up, leading companies to replace forests with palm tree orchards.

All this tree-clearing creates a familiar situation: The globally shared costs of climate change from deforestation are “externalities,” as economists say, imposed on everyone else by the people removing forest land. It is akin to a company that pollutes into a river, affecting the water quality of residents.

“Economics has changed the way it thinks about this over the last 50 years, and two things are central,” Olken says. “The relevance of global externalities is very important, and the conceptualization of alternate land uses is very important.” This also means traditional forest-management guidance about regrowth is not enough. With the economic dynamics in mind, which policies might work, and why?

The search for solutions

As Balboni and Olken note, economists often recommend “Pigouvian” taxes (named after the British economist Arthur Pigou) in these cases, levied against people imposing externalities on others. And yet, it can be hard to identify who is doing the deforesting.

Instead of taxing people for clearing forests, governments can pay people to keep forests intact. The UN uses Payments for Environmental Services (PES) as part of its REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) program. However, it is similarly tough to identify the optimal landowners to subsidize, and these payments may not match the quick cash-in of deforestation. A 2017 study in Uganda showed PES reduced deforestation somewhat; a 2022 study in Indonesia found no reduction; another 2022 study, in Brazil, showed again that some forest protection resulted.

“There’s mixed evidence from many of these [studies],” Balboni says. These policies, she notes, must reach people who would otherwise clear forests, and a key question is, “How can we assess their success compared to what would have happened anyway?”

Some places have tried cash transfer programs for larger populations. In Indonesia, a 2020 study found such subsidies reduced deforestation near villages by 30 percent. But in Mexico, a similar program meant more people could afford milk and meat, again creating demand for more agriculture and thus leading to more forest-clearing.

At this point, it might seem that laws simply banning deforestation in key areas would work best — indeed, about 16 percent of the world’s land overall is protected in some way. Yet the dynamics of protection are tricky. Even with protected areas in place, there is still “leakage” of deforestation into other regions. 

Still more approaches exist, including “nonstate agreements,” such as the Amazon Soy Moratorium in Brazil, in which grain traders pledged not to buy soy from deforested lands, and reduced deforestation without “leakage.”

Also, intriguingly, a 2008 policy change in the Brazilian Amazon made agricultural credit harder to obtain by requiring recipients to comply with environmental and land registration rules. The result? Deforestation dropped by up to 60 percent over nearly a decade. 

Politics and pulp

Overall, Balboni and Olken observe, beyond “externalities,” two major challenges exist. One, it is often unclear who holds property rights in forests. In these circumstances, deforestation seems to increase. Two, deforestation is subject to political battles.

For instance, as economist Bard Harstad of Stanford University has observed, environmental lobbying is asymmetric. Balboni and Olken write: “The conservationist lobby must pay the government in perpetuity … while the deforestation-oriented lobby need pay only once to deforest in the present.” And political instability leads to more deforestation because “the current administration places lower value on future conservation payments.”

Even so, national political measures can work. In the Amazon from 2001 to 2005, Brazilian deforestation rates were three to four times higher than on similar land across the border, but that imbalance vanished once the country passed conservation measures in 2006. However, deforestation ramped up again after a 2014 change in government. Looking at particular monitoring approaches, a study of Brazil’s satellite-based Real-Time System for Detection of Deforestation (DETER), launched in 2004, suggests that a 50 percent annual increase in its use in municipalities created a 25 percent reduction in deforestation from 2006 to 2016.

How precisely politics matters may depend on the context. In a 2021 paper, Balboni and Olken (with three colleagues) found that deforestation actually decreased around elections in Indonesia. Conversely, in Brazil, one study found that deforestation rates were 8 to 10 percent higher where mayors were running for re-election between 2002 and 2012, suggesting incumbents had deforestation industry support.

“The research there is aiming to understand what the political economy drivers are,” Olken says, “with the idea that if you understand those things, reform in those countries is more likely.”

Looking ahead, Balboni and Olken also suggest that new research estimating the value of intact forest land intact could influence public debates. And while many scholars have studied deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia, fewer have examined the Democratic Republic of Congo, another deforestation leader, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Deforestation is an ongoing crisis. But thanks to satellites and many recent studies, experts know vastly more about the problem than they did a decade or two ago, and with an economics toolkit, can evaluate the incentives and dynamics at play.

“To the extent that there’s ambuiguity across different contexts with different findings, part of the point of our review piece is to draw out common themes — the important considerations in determining which policy levers can [work] in different circumstances,” Balboni says. “That’s a fast-evolving area. We don’t have all the answers, but part of the process is bringing together growing evidence about [everything] that affects how successful those choices can be.”

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Essay on Deforestation: 100 Words, 300 Words

• Updated on  
• Apr 1, 2024

Deforestation means the widespread clearing of forests which has become a topic of global concern due to its severe environmental concerns. Deforestation as a topic is discussed and given as assignments to students for their better understanding. In this blog, we will learn the various facets of deforestation, its causes, consequences, and solutions. Also, there are some sample essay on deforestation to help students with their assignments.

Table of Contents

• 1 What is Deforestation?
• 2 Causes of Deforestation
• 3 Consequences of Deforestation
• 4 Solutions to Deforestation
• 5 Sample Essay on Deforestation in 100 words
• 6 Sample Essay on Deforestation in 300 words
• 7 FAQs 

What is Deforestation?

Cutting down of trees on a large scale thus clearing forests which is then converted to land for human use is known as deforestation. The human use of land includes agriculture, making houses, commercial uses, etc. Almost 71.22 million hectare area of the total land of India is covered by forest. In the tropical and subtropical forests, deforestation is much more extreme. These areas are then converted into land for economical uses.

Causes of Deforestation

• Logging – Trees are cut down to make furniture, paper, and other products.
• Agriculture – Forests are cleared to make space for farming.
• Urbanization –  Cities expand, leading to the destruction of forests.
• Mining – Trees are removed to extract minerals and resources.

Also Read – Essay on Environment: Examples & Tips

Consequences of Deforestation

• Loss of Biodiversity –  Animals lose their homes, and many become endangered or extinct.
• Climate Change – Trees absorb carbon dioxide, so fewer trees mean more pollution and global warming .
• Soil Erosion – Without trees, soil washes away, making it hard to grow crops.
• Disruption of the Water Cycle -Trees help to control water, and without them, floods and droughts become more common.

Solutions to Deforestation

• Planting Trees – People can plant new trees to replace the ones that were cut down.
• Using Less Paper – If we use less paper, fewer trees will be cut for making paper.
• Protecting Forest s – Governments can make rules to stop cutting down too many trees.
• Supporting Sustainable Products – Buying things that don’t harm forests can help.

Sample Essay on Deforestation in 100 words

Deforestation is when trees are cut down and forests disappear. Trees give us clean air to breathe. Imagine if someone took away your home – that’s what happens to animals when forests are destroyed. It is a major environmental problem that has many negative consequences, such as climate change, soil erosion, and loss of biodiversity.

When we cut too many trees, it’s bad for nature. Animals lose their homes, and the air becomes dirty. When there are no trees, floods and droughts happen more often. We can help by planting new trees and taking care of the ones we have. Let’s protect the forests and the Earth!

Also Read- Essay on Waste Management

Sample Essay on Deforestation in 300 words

Deforestation is when people cut down a lot of trees from forests. Trees are important because they make the air fresh and give animals a place to live. When we cut down too many trees, it’s not good for the Earth. Animals lose their homes, and the air gets polluted. 

There are many causes of deforestation and one of the causes is Agriculture. Forests are cleared to make way for cropland and livestock grazing. Another reason is timber harvesting. Trees are cut down for timber, paper, and other wood products. Mining is also another cause and forests are cleared to access minerals and other resources. Even due to urbanization, trees are cut down to make way for roads, cities, and other developments.

Deforestation is the permanent removal of forests to make way for other land uses, such as agriculture, mining, and urban development. It is a major environmental problem that has many negative consequences. One of them is climate change. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, so deforestation contributes to climate change. Another consequence is soil erosion, when trees are removed, the soil is more easily eroded by wind and rain which can lead to flooding and landslides. Loss of biodiversity: Forests are home to a wide variety of plants and animals. Deforestation can lead to the loss of these species.

There are many things that can be done to reduce deforestation. Such as we must plant trees, they can help to offset the effects of deforestation by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Secondly, reduce our consumption of wood products by using less paper, buying furniture made from recycled materials, and avoiding disposable products. Thirdly, by supporting sustainable agricultural practices that do not require the clearing of forests. Lastly, by conserving forests, we can create protected areas and support sustainable forest management practices.

Deforestation is a serious issue that affects the whole planet. But there’s hope! By planting trees, using less paper, and taking care of nature, we can make the Earth a better place for everyone. Remember, even though we are small, our actions can make a big difference.

Related Reads

Deforestation is cutting down trees and wiping out wide areas of forest. The major reasons behind these cutting down is because of human activities that are increasing the space for human usage like agricultural expansion, logging, agriculture,  expansion of infrastructure, etc.

Deforestation means the large-scale cutting down of trees or forests causing great concern and environmental hazards. It is predicted that if humans continue wiping the forest areas, we will no longer be able to breathe in a greener world. So, plant trees and make people aware of the concerns of deforestation.

There are many ways through which we can try to stop deforestation some of which are – planting trees, less use of paper, judicious buying, selling, and use of products, incorporating various recycling methods, aware and educating people, etc 

Hence, we hope that this blog has assisted you in comprehending what an essay on deforestation must include. If you are struggling with your career choices and need expert guidance, our Leverage Edu mentors are here to guide you at any point of your academic and professional journey thus ensuring that you take informed steps towards your dream career.

Rajshree Lahoty

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Deforestation Causes and Effects Essay

Deforestation refers to the act of clearing trees without replacing them. This often happens when someone is creating land for uses such as settlement and cultivation, among others (Spilsbury 9). Currently, it is one of the biggest threats to human life, owing to the fact that forests provide a support system for all living organisms. Forests are a crucial element of the ecosystem, and human beings have an ethical responsibility to conserve them. However, due to natural occurrences and human activities, a lot of forest cover is lost every year. Deforestation is a global challenge that has caused a lot of pain in different parts of the world. Finding a lasting solution to the problem of deforestation is of paramount importance because its effects are unmanageable.

The challenge of deforestation has existed for centuries, leading to the loss of a huge percentage of forest cover across the world. One of the major causes of deforestation is the increasing need for fuel (Spilsbury 12). It also happens due to the need for more settlement land, the growth of the global timber industry that has increased the demand for commercial items such as furniture, as well as the scarcity of adequate land for cultivation. Wildfires are also a contributor to deforestation, albeit in small percentages compared to the other causes (Spilsbury 19). People should be more environmentally conscious because forest clearing is destroying the ecosystem.

Deforestation causes serious effects on the environment. One of the major effects is the loss of natural habitats for thousands of species. Forests are an essential support system for the livelihoods of many plants and wild animals. Climate change is also caused by deforestation (Spilsbury 27). Over the last century, global weather patterns have drastically changed. Deforestation has resulted in irregular and extreme climatic conditions that have rendered life unbearable. The global temperatures have increased, while the amount of rainfall received has greatly reduced (Spilsbury 32). The lack of trees increases the effect of greenhouse gases, which in turn affects the life cycle.

Deforestation also leads to a general decline in the quality of life. Trees are essential in maintaining the water cycles, reducing soil erosion, and regulating the effect of greenhouse gases (Spilsbury 41). They also help to prevent all types of pollution, which is crucial in maintaining a high quality of life. This element should not be ignored because trees play an important role in the ecosystem. Effective management of deforestation will require all the relevant stakeholders to come up with a strong legal framework.

Deforestation is a serious global challenge that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. It is important for people to understand the value of trees with regard to maintaining the life cycle. This will help in encouraging good stewardship. Several causes of deforestation, such as clearing land for cultivation and settlement, are influenced by human activities. These activities have led to serious effects such as climate change, whose effects are costly to address. Proper coordination between respective government authorities and their citizens can lead to finding a lasting solution to this challenge. It is very important to protect the forests in order to avoid the loss of biodiversity, plant and animal species, as well as manage the effects of climate change.

Spilsbury, Richard. Deforestation . The Rosen Publishing Group, 2011.

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IvyPanda. (2023, October 30). Deforestation Causes and Effects. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deforestation-causes-and-effects/

"Deforestation Causes and Effects." IvyPanda , 30 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/deforestation-causes-and-effects/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Deforestation Causes and Effects'. 30 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Deforestation Causes and Effects." October 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deforestation-causes-and-effects/.

1. IvyPanda . "Deforestation Causes and Effects." October 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deforestation-causes-and-effects/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Deforestation Causes and Effects." October 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deforestation-causes-and-effects/.

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We're a long way from ending deforestation, but we can still stop it

Time to change direction on deforestation. Image:  REUTERS/Mick Tsikas

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Nancy harris, katie reytar.

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Stay up to date:, climate change.

• In 2014, governments, companies, NGOs and Indigenous groups committed to 10 goals to protect trees, under the New York Declaration on Forests.
• The goals intended to halve deforestation by 2020, and stop it by 2030.
• But assessments have concluded we're actually further from stopping deforestation now than we were six years ago.
• Despite the challenges, the goals can still be achieved with the right measures.

In 2014, the future of forests looked bright. Governments, companies, non-governmental organizations and Indigenous groups committed to ten ambitious goals under the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF). This major international declaration aims to protect forests, driven by the understanding that halting deforestation is essential to mitigating climate change and maintaining other benefits of forests. These goals include halving deforestation by 2020 and stopping it by 2030, while restoring an area of degraded land larger than the size of India.

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The african country that inspired more and more countries to plant billions of trees.

This year’s assessment of progress on the NYDF firmly concludes that deforestation is not slowing enough to achieve this goal. In fact, by some measures, we are further from stopping deforestation now than we were six years ago. On top of that, limited data is making it difficult to fully assess progress on forest restoration. Although this reality presents a steep uphill battle, rapidly accelerating actions to end deforestation and restore forests offer hope that the 2030 goals can still be achieved.

We’re Headed in the Wrong Direction to End Deforestation

Two independent datasets show that the world is not on track to halt deforestation. Global Forest Watch data — created using a globally standardized remote sensing methodology — indicates that annual tropical primary forest loss has actually increased by 41% since the NYDF was signed, and annual global deforestation has increased between 55% and 64%. The United Nations Forest Resources Assessment 2020 also indicates insufficient progress toward the NYDF goals. This aggregation of country-reported statistics on forest change shows a slight drop in deforestation since 2000, but nowhere near the amount required to achieve the 2020 or 2030 targets.

Despite the differences between the two datasets, they share a key message: the world failed to halve deforestation by 2020 and, as a result, is not on a trajectory to stop it by 2030.

Each year, the world loses about 10 million hectares (24.7 million acres) of forest area — equivalent to 27 soccer fields per minute. Every year that deforestation is not reduced as quickly as possible will require even larger reductions in the following years to achieve our goal. In the meantime, deforestation will continue to cause emissions, the loss of forest benefits and the curtailment of Indigenous rights. If the past 19 years are any indication, the necessary decrease in forest loss seems unlikely in the next decade. Although unlikely, the world can’t afford to not attempt reaching this goal.

Why is progress so slow?

The issue largely arises from the disparity between the commitments made and the actions taken to meet them. Goals two through four of the NYDF track specific contributing factors to global deforestation, while goal five outlines restoration targets. In each of these categories, actions fell short of what is needed.

Goal 2 : Ending Deforestation from Agricultural Commodities

Forest clearing for new agricultural land is the largest cause of deforestation. However, removing deforestation from supply chains is happening unevenly. Even where commitments exist, implementation and consequences are hard to trace through complex supply chains. Last year, nearly one-third of 350 major companies with supply chains at risk of causing deforestation did not report anything about their activities to stop deforestation. Some sectors are progressing faster than others — 81% of Indonesian palm oil exports in 2018 came from companies with no-deforestation pledges, while just 32% of Brazilian beef exports in 2017 were produced under a commitment.

Goal 3 : Reducing Deforestation from Other Sectors

Although mining and infrastructure like roads and dams are not globally major causes of deforestation, they can heavily impact forests at local scales. Companies in these sectors generally provide even less information than the agricultural sector on what they are doing to prevent deforestation. For example, a recent World Bank report could not identify any mining operations that comprehensively addressed and mitigated their environmental risks, and financial institutions are generally not providing data on the extent to which their mining and infrastructure investments align with their sustainability principles. The forest impacts of these sectors are expected to intensify as the demand for mined materials increases, and as infrastructure projects bring farmers, loggers and poachers to forest frontiers.

Goal 4 : Support Alternatives for Basic Needs

Efforts are increasing to find ways to meet the basic needs of communities, such as fuelwood and food, without further deforestation. However, these efforts aren’t happening at the necessary scale and are generally not addressing the root causes of poverty, limiting their effectiveness. For example, programs that seek to take pressure off forests by improving the agricultural productivity of smallholders’ existing farms often fail to invest in underlying conditions to secure farmer livelihoods such as land tenure, public services and market access, alongside improvements in governance to ensure forest protection measures are respected. But some governments, like Malawi ’s, have begun doing that hard work and helping communities manage their forests sustainably while planting fast-growing trees to meet immediate demand for firewood.

Goal 5 : Restore Forests

For restoration, the shortcomings can be linked to a lack of investment at scale and a dearth of globally consistent data. Restoring 350 million hectares will require billions of dollars . Funders have committed $4 billion through the AFR100 Initiative in Africa and Initiative 20x20 in Latin America. Even that is not enough to reach the NYDF’s goal, though there are dozens of successful projects in each region. The Great Green Wall in Africa’s Sahel, for example, faces a $4.3 billion yearly funding gap through 2030. There is also no systematic and independent way to track where or how much of that funding has reached projects, though reports indicate that governments, private investors and entrepreneurs are starting to incentivize, finance and scale up their work.

This underscores the importance of developing a global method that consistently tracks where those trees are growing and that complements existing tree cover loss data. That approach will need to work inside the forest and outside it on farms and pasture, where restoration has the most benefits for people . Regional pilots of this method in Central America and Southeast Asia , conducted as part of the 2019 and 2020 NYDF Progress Assessments, are promising. But understanding tree cover gain and loss together — and assessing the overall health of forests — will require improved data and techniques .

Transforming commitments into real action

While the latest NYDF report is stark in its message, new initiatives that can turn the tide are gaining momentum. The growth of zero-deforestation commitments shows that motivation to halt deforestation still exists across governments, companies, financial institutions and civil society. And innovative restoration programs like the more than 50 private-sector projects aligned with Initiative 20x20 and the growing Land Accelerator network , whose entrepreneurs are helping 120,000 farmers produce more sustainably, are boosting funding for forest protection and restoration.

Moving forward will require coordinated effort, improving transparency, employing environmental safeguards, reducing consumption of high-deforestation goods and increasing ambition and financing from companies and governments alike. Growing investments and commitments to protecting and restoring forests must pair with equivalent action. Failing to do so will seal the fate of forests for years to come.

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Deforestation Environmental Effects and Solution

Deforestation is one of the most urgent environmental problems in the 21st-century world. It refers to “the indiscriminate cutting of forest trees to satisfy man’s immediate needs” (Aba et al., 2017, p. 12696). These economic needs include but are not limited to agricultural work, urban expansion, livestock overgrazing, and exploitation of natural resources. Deforestation triggers numerous harmful and irreversible environmental effects. Therefore, it requires careful consideration and searches for ways to solve this issue and ultimately reduce the scope of deforestation.

It is necessary to point out the decision to conduct deforestation usually relies on a specific number of factors. Busch and Ferretti-Gallon (2017) refer to these factors as “drivers” (p. 4). According to the researchers, the primary driving forces are “the biophysical characteristics of the land,” such as the fertility of the soil (Busch & Ferretti-Gallon, 2017, p. 4). Further, one should always pay due attention to relevant market requirements. Hence, the scholars emphasize the need for “agricultural and timber commodities” (Busch & Ferretti-Gallon, 2017, p. 4). Finally, the surrounding infrastructure is essential, including nearby settlements and available transportation framework. The researchers argue that these drivers usually work in an intrinsic complexity, and thus become the decisive factor in undertaking deforestation. It is also expedient to keep in mind that these driving forces often contribute to further aggravation of cutting forests. For instance, when the first two factors trigger the deforestation process, one may require further expansion of transportation infrastructure for this purpose. As one can observe, this vicious circle of devastation is virtually endless.

Indeed, the environmental effects of deforestation are highly alarming. First of all, it disrupts carbon dioxide and oxygen exchange with subsequent global warming of the planet. This phenomenon constitutes “a universal crisis which threatens environmental sustainability and is capable of making human life unbearable” (Oladipo, 2015, p. 109). Hence, “human activities are changing the composition of the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate” (Aba et al., 2017, p. 12697). To be more specific, cutting forests increases the “buildup of CO2 and other atmospheric impurities” (Aba et al., 2017, p. 12702). As a result, deforestation significantly contributes to climate warming. In other words, there is an obvious threat to the future of our planet.

Furthermore, deforestation directly affects water resources, both in terms of their availability and quality. That is to say, cutting forests disrupts the balance of evapotranspiration and precipitation. It is evident that the problem of impaired water resources also logically stems from the issue of global warming, as discussed above. Climate change triggers the “melting of ice sheets in the Polar Regions and mountain glaciers” (Aba et al., 2017, p. 12697). It is necessary to observe that water is essential not only for human consumption but also for “irrigation and energy production” (Jusys, 2018, 1). Therefore, climate warming will have an irreversible and disastrous impact on the water cycle. Eventually, the adverse effect of deforestation will be catastrophic for everyone in the world.

It may seem that deforestation is a natural and indispensable prerequisite of the economy. However, it can potentially bring to nothing not only the human activities but the existence of humankind as such. For example, the adverse effect on agriculture is another detrimental consequence of deforestation. Indeed, cutting forests reduces soil moisture and leads to land degradation (Aba et al., 2017). Besides, deforested areas are subject to such natural disasters as “flooding and erosion” (Aba et al., 2017, p. 12698). As a result, the nutrients of the soil will deplete, which causes vegetation loss and thus undermines the agricultural sector. All these effects are detrimental to biodiversity. Consequently, the agriculturally used areas will inevitably decrease. As one can easily observe, there is a real threat of food shortage on a global basis. It is also evident that deforestation has both biophysical and socio-economic impacts, as discussed above. More importantly, these two types of effects are virtually inseparable from each other since human economic activity largely depends on the biophysical profile of the environment.

Specific and well-coordinated activities are required to address this urgent issue. First of all, it is necessary to overcome the widespread concept of modern civilization, which “prioritizes economic wealth over nature conservation” (Jusys, 2018, p. 13). In other words, people must understand the value of sustainable development, which implies using the available resources carefully and thoughtfully, intending to preserve them for the needs of future generations. To this end, supporting and educational activities are valid, starting from sustainability-tailored curricula at schools. In such a manner, understanding the significance of preserving forests will develop in people since their childhood. Moreover, careful monitoring of the population’s attitudes and tendencies is of utmost importance. For instance, Jusys (2018) conducted a cross-sectional analysis to reveal the changing behavioral deforestation patterns, as exemplified by the Brazilian Amazon region. That is to say, a constant focus on a particular context is crucial.

Apart from nurturing the psychological foundation for sustainability, specific regulatory steps are essential. Indeed, tackling the problem of deforestation requires the establishment of targeted programs, whose responsibilities will focus specifically on this issue. For example, international organizations develop numerous projects and policies, including “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)” (Oladipo, 2015, p. 110). The program has elaborated a range of targets, aimed at limiting and reducing deforestation. Currently, specific monetary policies and other incentives are applied in different countries all around the world to monitor the adherence to REDD strategies (Oladipo, 2015). Similarly, Busch and Ferretti-Gallon (2017) performed a meta-analysis study to explore the effectiveness of policies aimed at slowing deforestation. In particular, the authors identified such effective strategies, as road network planning, enforcement of forest legislation, “moratoria on agricultural concessions, and agricultural credit restrictions” (Busch & Ferretti-Gallon, 2017, p. 15). In addition, Aba et al. (2017) advocate the program, directed at coordinated integration of plantation in “the agricultural systems, homes, institutions, markets, parks and other public places” (p. 12702). In such a manner, the scholars expect to mitigate the detrimental effects of deforestation.

Hence, the process of deforestation aggravates the problem of global warming. Indiscriminate cutting of forests violates the delicate balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen exchange, which is vital for all living organisms. It is also detrimental to biodiversity, water cycles, and the condition of soils. Therefore, universally coordinated intervention efforts are of paramount importance to reduce deforestation. Such actions include relevant policies, regulatory standards, and strategic planning. Besides, careful consideration of a particular context in each country is crucial. In such a manner, humanity will ultimately succeed in this struggle for survival and preserve our planet for future generations, thus achieving sustainable development.

Aba, S.C., Ndukwe, O.O., Amu, C.J., & Baiyeri, K.P. (2017). The role of trees and plantation agriculture in mitigating global climate change. The African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 17 (4), 12691–12707.

Busch, J., & Ferretti-Gallon, K. (2017). What drives deforestation and what stops it? A meta-analysis. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy , 11 (1), 3–23.

Jusys, T. (2018). Changing patterns in deforestation avoidance by different protection types in the Brazilian Amazon. PLoS ONE , 13 (4), e0195900. 1–16.

Oladipo, E. (2015). Global impact of environmental sustainability on deforestation. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research , 6 (9), 103–115.

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How Can We Stop Deforestation?

Discover how to stop deforestation and protect our planet. learn impactful actions for individuals, communities, and governments..

The World Counts • Impact through Awareness

The world counts impact through awareness.

7,558,448.11

Hectares of forests cut down or burned

Globally, this year

One football field of forest gone every second 

Since 2016, 28 million hectares of forest have been cut down every year on average. That’s one football field of forest lost every SECOND of every day, year in and year out. 

From 2001 to 2018, a forest area larger than India was lost worldwide (3,610,000 square kilometers). The loss is equivalent to a 9 % reduction in global tree cover since 2000.

Why deforestation? Our everyday products

The main drivers for the loss of forests are production of timber and the clearing of land for cattle, soy, and palm oil production. 

“The main reason tropical forests are disappearing is not a mystery – vast areas continue to be cleared for soy, beef, palm oil, timber, and other globally traded commodities.''

- Frances Seymour, the World Resources Institute.

The Trees have no Tongues…

We’ve heard about how we’re losing vast tracts of forests each year – for many reasons. We’ve also learned about the negative effects. Trees are a very important part of our biodiversity. It is vital to life on Earth. So how come we’re killing them? How can we stop deforestation?

Tropical rainforests have more than 210 gigatons of carbon stored within its trees. When we cut them now, not only are we reducing our supplier of oxygen, we are releasing all that carbon in our atmosphere.

To date, more than 4.6 million hectares of forests have been cut down or burned – to supply our ever increasing demand for wood and land.

What is the Solution to Deforestation?

Deforestation is one of the most pressing environmental issues we face today, with vast tracts of forests disappearing at an alarming rate. It not only leads to the loss of habitat for countless species but also accelerates climate change due to the significant amounts of carbon dioxide stored in these ecosystems. 

However, it's not an unsolvable problem. Each one of us can contribute to the solution. Below we have collected 15 practical ways that you can help stop deforestation and promote a more sustainable relationship with our planet's precious forests.

15 Practical Ways to Stop Deforestation

You can contribute to the efforts against deforestation by doing these easy steps:

1. Plant More Trees Engage in tree-planting initiatives in your community or through global organizations.

2. Go Paperless Reduce paper consumption by going digital at home and in the office. When you do need to print, use both sides of the paper.

3. Support Responsible Companies Choose to support companies that are committed to reducing deforestation and use sustainable practices.

4. Buy Certified Wood Products Opt for wood or paper products that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or similar organizations.

5. Buy and Use Responsibly Consider your purchases carefully. Buy only what you need, and prioritize items with less packaging or reusable containers.

6. Avoid Palm Oil Palm oil production contributes significantly to deforestation. Check labels and avoid products containing palm oil where possible.

7. Recycle and Buy Recycled Products Support the recycling economy by buying recycled products and recycling them again after use.

8. Educate Others Raise awareness about deforestation in your social circle and community. The more people know, the more they can help.

9. Support Sustainable Agriculture Buy from local farmers who practice sustainable agriculture, helping to reduce the demand for deforested land.

10. Advocate for Forest Protection Policies Support policies and politicians that prioritize forest conservation and responsible land use.

11. Support Indigenous Rights Support Indigenous communities who often are excellent stewards of the forests they inhabit.

12. Offset Your Carbon Footprint Consider supporting carbon offset programs that protect existing forests or plant new trees.

13. Reduce Meat Consumption Livestock farming is a major cause of deforestation. Consider reducing your meat intake or choose products from sustainable farms.

14. Use Renewable Energy Using renewable energy reduces the need for deforestation caused by mining and drilling.

15. Volunteer or Donate Consider donating your time or money to organizations that work to prevent deforestation.

Remember, every action counts. By making informed choices, we can contribute to preserving our forests and securing the future of our planet. And remember… every product that is made out of trees is Recyclable. So practice recycling diligently.

Your power as a consumer is vital to stopping deforestation. Just like any business, if there’s no demand the supply will be lessened. Fortunately, there are environmentally and forest friendly businesses that are helping to stop deforestation. They need your support. Let’s encourage their efforts by patronizing their products.

113,417,257

Tons of paper produced

In the world, this year

75 y 266 d 08 h 44 m 58 s

Time left till the end of rainforests

If current trends continue

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Essay on Effects of Deforestation for Students and Children

500 words essay on the effects of deforestation.

The world is losing most of its natural resources as and when you read this. There are many factors which are making this happen, however, one major concern is that of deforestation. Human activities are resulting in deforestation at a very rapid rate. Moreover, the effects of this activity are very dangerous. We do not realize the damage we are causing to living beings as well as the vegetation by cutting down trees. It will be clearer if we understand the impact of deforestation and make attempts to prevent it.

Impact of Deforestation

When we cut down even a single tree , the impact it has is huge. Now imagine if we clear out whole forests only altogether, how damaging would that be. We cut down forests to meet the needs of humans. In order to fulfill the agricultural , commercial , industrial , residential and other needs we remove forests . Most of the earth was covered with forests until a hundred years ago, however, now we don’t have much of them left.

Deforestation causes disruption in the ecological balance. Moreover, it also interferes with the lives of wildlife and human beings as well. Firstly, when there won’t be many forests left, the water cycle of the earth will get disturbed. There won’t be enough trees left to absorb the water. Moreover, it will cause floods and droughts too. Similarly, soil erosion will be another effect of deforestation.

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Other than that, the climate will experience massive change. Global warming is also happening partly due to deforestation only. The oxygen level in the atmosphere will drop down by a great number and thus naturally carbon dioxide levels will increase. Most importantly, the wildlife is losing their habitats due to deforestation. Forests are their only home and with no place left to go, they either lose their lives or wreak havoc in the cities.

Therefore, we must all come together to stop this from happening and saving our earth as well as our lives. Humans must not be so selfish so as to make other animals homeless to shelter themselves. We must not damage our vegetation to create a beautiful garden for ourselves.

How to Prevent Deforestation?

We can do a lot of things that will contribute to preventing deforestation. To begin with, do not waste paper. The more demand there will be the more supply will happen. This way, trees will keep getting cut to meet these needs.

Similarly, the government must put a ban on deforestation so the big firms can find other alternatives instead of clearing forests for commercial and industrial needs. The laws must be made stringent enough and also implemented properly to prevent it.

Moreover, there must be measures taken to control the increasing population . As there are more mouths to feed and fewer resources, our nature and forests are getting burdened. There is not adequate supply to meet the ever-increasing demands of the population. Thus, the lesser the demand, the better the conditions of the forests as well.

FAQs on Effects of Deforestation

Q.1 What is the impact of deforestation?

A.1 Deforestation has many seriously damaging effects. It disrupts the water cycle and increases the level of carbon dioxide and decreases oxygen levels. Further, it also causes floods, droughts, soil erosion and more.

Q.2 How can we prevent deforestation?

A.2 We can do a joint effort to prevent deforestation. Do not waste paper so there will be lesser cutting of trees. The government must put a ban on deforestation. The government must practice population control so as to not burden forests to meet the ever-increasing needs.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Environmental Issues — The Importance of Deforestation

The Importance of Deforestation

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Published: Mar 6, 2024

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Table of contents

The environmental impact, the economic benefits, the importance of sustainable practices, the role of government and international cooperation.

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• Deforestation Essay for Students in English

Essay on Deforestation

Deforestation is a removal or clearing of trees and forest which is converted into use for human, like for agricultural use, making houses, for commercial purpose and other development. About 31% of earth’s land surface is covered by forest, just over 4 billion hectares area and about 71.22 million hectares area of India’s total land is covered by forest. Deforestation is more extreme in the tropical and subtropical forests. These areas are converted into economical uses. The total area of tropical rain forest on Earth is about 16 million square kilometres but because of deforestation, only 6.2 square kilometres are left. According to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, the global rate of net forest loss in 2010-2020 was 7 million hectares per year.

Causes of Deforestation

The primary reason for deforestation is agricultural. According to FAQ, agriculture leads to around 80% of deforest. For the survival of the livelihood, the farmer cut trees of the forest and use that land for the purpose of cultivation. Due to the increasing population, the demand of food product is also increasing, because of this large amount of land is needed for the cultivation of crops hence farmers are bounded to cut down the forest to grow crops on that land.

Apart from this, the demand for paper, match-sticks, furniture, etc. are also increasing. Therefore the wood-based industries needs a substantial amount of wood supply to make this product. Paper plays an important role in everyone life. The paper is thrown away every year like to make accounts for approximately 640 million trees. That’s why it is said that we always have to recycle paper. Wood is used as fuel, many people cut trees and burn them for the purpose to make food. Wood is also used as coal. In every house, there is a wooden door, window and many more things. These things create a very large demand for wood which results in the cause of deforestation.

Further, to gain access to these places, the construction of roads is undertaken. Trees are again cut to build roads. The expansion of cities is also responsible for the cutting of trees, this expansion of cities is directly responsible for the growing population, people of these places need houses, roads and other facilities so that they cut trees for their livelihood.

Many industries in petrochemicals release their waste into rivers, which result in soil erosion and make it unfit to grow plants and trees on these places. The oil and coal mining requires a large amount of forest land. The waste that comes out from mining pollutes the environment and affects other species.

Another reason is forest fire. Thousands of trees every year lost by a forest fire. The reason for forest fire is the hot temperature of that place and milder winter. On many places, the fire is caused because of human’s irresponsibilities. Fires, either caused by human or by nature, results in a massive amount of loss of forest covers.

We all know that the population of the world is increasing rapidly, which is also a reason behind deforestation. People cut down trees and on that place they make houses.

Effect of Deforestation

Forest are the lungs of our planet. Trees take carbon dioxide and release oxygen which is responsible for our living. Trees also provide shed to soil because of which soil remain moist. Trees also release water vapours, that’s why climate remains humid but due to the process of deforestation the climate becomes drier and hotter which make ecology difficult that leads to climate change. Also, this factor is mainly responsible for the forest fire.

Animal and plants which form flora and fauna across the world have to suffer due to the deforestation. Various animal species are lost, they loos their habitat and forced to move to a new location. It is very difficult for them to adopt new habitats. The cutting of trees is responsible for soil erosion. The fertile soil is held in place by intricate root structures of many layers of trees. Without trees, erosion often occurs and sweeps the land into nearby rivers. With the cutting of trees the soil is directly exposed to the sun which dries them dry. Deforestation is mainly responsible for floods, loss of biodiversity, food ecosystem, wildlife extinction and habitat loss.

FAQs on Deforestation Essay for Students in English

Question 1:- How Deforestation is Responsible for Land Degradation?

Answer:-Trees provide shed to soil because of which soil remain humid. Also, the fertile soil is held in place by intricate root structures of many layers of trees. When the trees are cut down then the soil becomes loose and also there is no shed for soil which results in soil erosion. So, we concluded that trees prevent soil erosion and thus land degradation.

Question 2:- What are the Causes of Deforestation?

Answer:- There are several reasons for deforestation like agriculture, logging, cattle ranching, for making furniture from wood, constriction of roads and forest fire.

Question 3:- Where is the Largest Rainforest Located in the World?

Answer:- The largest rainforest is the Amazon Basin in South America.

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500+ Words Essay on Deforestation For Students

Deep within the lush heart of the Amazon rainforest, the relentless rhythm of chainsaws echoes through the canopy, signaling a destructive force that is rapidly altering the face of our planet. Deforestation, the large-scale clearing of forests, is a global crisis that threatens not only the delicate ecosystems that sustain life but also the very future of our world. In this blog, you will get essay writing tips for Essays on Deforestation.

Table of Content

Causes of Deforestation

Effects of deforestation, precautions and solutions, 500+ words essay on deforestation.

The underlying causes of deforestation are complex and multifaceted, driven by a combination of human activities and economic pressures. One of the primary drivers is agricultural expansion, as vast swaths of forestland are cleared to make way for crops and grazing lands. The demand for commodities such as palm oil, soybeans, and beef has fueled the rapid conversion of forests into monoculture plantations and pastures.

Another significant contributor to deforestation is illegal logging, driven by the insatiable demand for timber and the lucrative profits that can be derived from this illicit trade. Poverty and lack of economic opportunities in rural areas also play a role, as communities turn to unsustainable practices like slash-and-burn agriculture to eke out a living.

Furthermore, the construction of roads, mining operations, and infrastructure development projects often encroach upon forested areas, leading to further destruction and fragmentation of these vital ecosystems.

The consequences of deforestation are far-reaching and devastating, impacting not only the environment but also the well-being of countless species and human communities.

One of the most alarming effects of deforestation is its contribution to climate change. Forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing and storing vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When these forests are cleared, the stored carbon is released back into the air, exacerbating the greenhouse effect and accelerating global warming.

Deforestation also poses a grave threat to biodiversity. Forests are home to an astounding array of plant and animal species, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth. As their habitats are destroyed, these species face the risk of extinction, irreversibly diminishing the planet’s rich tapestry of life.

The loss of forests has severe implications for indigenous communities and local populations who rely on these ecosystems for their livelihoods, food, and traditional practices. Deforestation disrupts the delicate balance of these communities, often leading to displacement, loss of resources, and cultural erosion.

In addition, deforestation can have far-reaching impacts on water cycles and soil stability. Without the protective canopy of trees, the land becomes more susceptible to erosion, leading to sedimentation and degradation of water sources. This, in turn, can exacerbate the risk of floods and droughts, further compounding the environmental and social challenges.

Addressing the issue of deforestation requires a multifaceted approach that involves stakeholders at all levels, from governments and international organizations to local communities and individuals.

One crucial step is the implementation of stringent laws and regulations to protect forests and promote sustainable land management practices. Governments must prioritize the enforcement of these laws and hold accountable those who engage in illegal logging or unsanctioned deforestation activities.

Furthermore, there is a pressing need to support and incentivize sustainable agriculture and forestry practices. This can include promoting agroforestry systems, which integrate trees and crops on the same land, as well as encouraging the cultivation of crops that do not require extensive land clearing.

Efforts must also be made to empower and engage local communities in conservation efforts. By recognizing the traditional knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples, and involving them in decision-making processes, we can foster a sense of ownership and stewardship over these invaluable natural resources.

On a global scale, initiatives such as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) aim to provide financial incentives to developing countries that implement policies and measures to protect their forests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Consumer awareness and responsible consumption play a pivotal role in addressing deforestation. By making informed choices and supporting products and companies that prioritize sustainable practices, we can collectively reduce the demand for goods that contribute to deforestation.

Reforestation and restoration efforts are also critical in mitigating the impacts of deforestation. Organizations and governments must prioritize the planting of new trees and the restoration of degraded landscapes, helping to replenish the invaluable ecosystem services provided by forests.

With each resounding crash of a felled tree, the world’s forests are diminishing at an alarming rate, stripped away by the insatiable appetite of human activities. Deforestation, the large-scale clearing of forested areas, is a grave environmental crisis that demands immediate attention and action.

The primary driver behind deforestation is the expansion of agricultural land, as vast swaths of forests are cleared to make way for crops, grazing pastures, and plantations. The demand for commodities such as palm oil, soybeans, and beef has fueled this destructive process, leading to the rapid conversion of once-thriving ecosystems into monoculture landscapes.

Another significant contributor to deforestation is illegal logging, driven by the lucrative profits that can be derived from this illicit trade. Poverty and lack of economic opportunities in rural areas also compel communities to engage in unsustainable practices like slash-and-burn agriculture, further exacerbating the problem.

The consequences of deforestation are far-reaching and devastating. Forests act as essential carbon sinks, absorbing and storing vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When these forests are cleared, the stored carbon is released back into the air, exacerbating the greenhouse effect and accelerating global warming, which in turn contributes to more extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels.

Furthermore, deforestation poses a grave threat to biodiversity. Forests are home to an astounding array of plant and animal species, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth. As their habitats are destroyed, these species face the risk of extinction, irreversibly diminishing the planet’s rich tapestry of life.

The loss of forests also has severe implications for indigenous communities and local populations who rely on these ecosystems for their livelihoods, food, and traditional practices. Deforestation disrupts the delicate balance of these communities, often leading to displacement, loss of resources, and cultural erosion.

Addressing the issue of deforestation requires a multifaceted approach that involves stakeholders at all levels. Governments must prioritize the implementation and enforcement of stringent laws and regulations to protect forests and promote sustainable land management practices. Efforts must also be made to support and incentivize sustainable agriculture and forestry practices, such as agroforestry systems that integrate trees and crops on the same land.

Moreover, consumer awareness and responsible consumption play a pivotal role in reducing the demand for goods that contribute to deforestation. By making informed choices and supporting products and companies that prioritize sustainable practices, we can collectively drive positive change.

Ultimately, the preservation of our forests is not just an environmental imperative; it is a moral obligation to safeguard the intricate web of life that sustains our planet. As we confront the realities of deforestation, we must summon a renewed sense of urgency and collective action, recognizing that the fate of our forests, and ultimately our own fate, is inextricably intertwined with the health of our planet.

Also Read: 500+ Words Essay on Air Pollution 800+ Words Essay on My Dream For Students 500+ Words Essay on Mahatma Gandhi in English

Deforestation is a global crisis that demands our immediate attention and collective action. The consequences of our actions today will echo through generations to come, shaping the very future of our planet. It is our responsibility to serve as stewards of these vital ecosystems, ensuring that the majestic forests that grace our world are preserved for the benefit of all life.

By addressing the underlying drivers of deforestation, implementing sustainable land management practices, empowering local communities, and fostering global cooperation, we can begin to reverse the tide of destruction. It is a daunting task, but one that is essential for the survival of countless species, the preservation of invaluable cultural heritage, and the maintenance of the delicate balance that sustains life on Earth.

The time to act is now. Let us embrace the challenge with unwavering determination, recognizing that the fate of our forests, and ultimately our own fate, is inextricably intertwined. Together, we can forge a path towards a greener, more sustainable future, where the majestic canopies of our forests continue to flourish, providing sanctuary, sustenance, and hope for generations to come.

Essay on Deforestation- FAQs

What is deforestation in a paragraph.

Deforestation is the deliberate clearing of wooded areas. Throughout history and into the present, woods have been cleared to create way for agriculture and animal grazing, as well as to obtain wood for fuel, manufacture, and construction.

How do you write an introduction to deforestation?

Deforestation is gradually becoming one of the most serious environmental issues in the world. Humans frequently deforest for land development, roads, and railroads, as well as for economic reasons. Every year, almost eighteen million acres of forest are lost, having severe consequences.

Why deforestation is a problem?

The loss of trees and other vegetation can lead to climate change, desertification, soil erosion, less harvests, flooding, higher greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, and a variety of other issues for Indigenous people. Deforestation happens for a variety of reasons.

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Ecological Economics: A Solution to Deforestation?

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This essay is part of the Pluralist Economics Fellowship, jointly put together by the Minerva Schools at KGI & The Network for Pluralist Economics. For more information on this and a collection of the other student essays check out this page .

Author: Maike Pfeiffer

Review: prof. dollie davis.

• Introduction

Deforestation is estimated to be responsible for about 12-29% of global greenhouse gas emissions (Fearnside 2000, 155-158). Though solutions are negotiated on a transnational basis, such as through the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, logging a forest is often more financially profitable than conserving it (Environmental Defense Fund 2018). Commonly, the economics behind forest conservation relies on a mainstream economic framework while conservation efforts are lagging behind. This essay will explore ecological economics as an alternative lens through which to approach forest conservation and the acceleration of climate change.

Ecological economics differs from mainstream economics in the role that the environment plays in the system. In mainstream economics, the environment is one part of the economy (Figure 1) to be considered. Thus, the environment becomes a factor, or a sub-sector, of the economy. Ecological economics, on the contrary, considers the environment to be an all-encompassing framework (SOAS 2018). The environment does not exist within the economy, it is the economy that exists within the natural environment (Figure 2). While this might appear as a purely theoretical difference, it has numerous implications. For instance, an economy that exists within the natural environment is inevitably constrained by the laws that govern nature, such as the laws of physics (Perrings 1995, 60-64). These external constraints imposed on the economy question many economic models, such as models of growth which, traditionally, focus on measuring the gross domestic product (GDP). Economic growth is finite when it depends on the laws of physics, and has to take into consideration, finite natural resources such as crude oil, minerals, or precious metals. In a traditional model, GDP could grow indefinitely if consumption increases. In an ecological model, there is a physical end to consumption as long as it relies on finite resources.

Figure 1: The Mainstream Economic Approach                                  Figure 2 : Ecological Economic Approach (Boulding, 1966)

• Environmental vs Ecological Economics

Ecological economics is easily confused with environmental economics. Environmental and ecological economics are approaching the environments from the two different frameworks illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. Environmental economics uses a version of the mainstream economic framework. It focuses on the use and allocation of resources between the economy and the environment, thereby acknowledging the value of the environment to humanity (Managi et al. 2017). However, one should note that this approach, while granting nature an inherent value, still treats the economy and the environment as two distinct nodes of the network, connected through various interactions. This does not necessarily acknowledge the limitations that the natural environment imposes on the economy as a constructed system of rules and transactions within the natural world.

The inherent value provided by nature is referred to as natural capital (Helm 2013, 16-19). Mainstream economics sees the price to be reflective of a product’s value. This logic, however, also suggests that zero price is equal to zero value. In other words, something that doesn’t have a price, such as forests or landscapes that are freely available to be accessed by anyone, also doesn’t have a value that needs to be considered in an economic calculation. One could argue that nature can be considered a public good. The shortcoming, however, is that a destruction of nature can’t be attributed to a single institutional body that fails to provide this public good as in the case of safety or healthcare. Ecological economics is countering this notion by considering natural capital as opposed to nature as a public good.

Another key distinction between mainstream and ecological economics is the allocation of resources as an end to all economic activity (Daly et al. 2004). In most economic considerations, the efficient allocation of resources is an end in itself. Markets are seen as the mechanism to achieve efficient resource allocation. Ecological economics, on the contrary, rejects efficiency as the single end to economic activity and sees markets as one of many mechanisms for allocating resources. While allocation is also important, other factors are considered, such as welfare to human communities and the environment.

However, even within ecological economics, different streams exist. While all of them challenge the mainstream economic approach, some of them do so more radically than others. One such stream is degrowth theory (Demaria et al. 2016, 390-400). Degrowth theory “implies perceiving ecosystems as having value in themselves, and not only as providers of useful environmental resources or services (Ibid.).” Using resources to produce consumer goods to sell on the market is seen as opposing the protection of nature’s inherent value. To reduce human impact and preserve ecosystems, degrowth suggests cutting back on production and sales, essentially inducing the economic recession mainstream economics seeks to avoid. An economic recession is typically measured in terms of a country’s GDP. By definition of a GDP being the total value produced within a country’s border in a given time period (Segal 2003), this measurement also suggests that value is considered in monetary terms. Ecological economics advocates for a shift in the mindset surrounding the monetary understanding of value. Thus, the preservation of natural capital should be included in any value calculation. This justifies the choice to decrease production and value brought to the market, leaving natural resources untouched instead. The incompatibility of degrowth with today’s international market economy will be examined below.

• Internalizing Externalities: Carbon Licenses and Carbon Taxes

Within mainstream economics, a common response to environmental concerns is the internalization of externalities. For example, carbon licenses are introduced to internalize the cost of and limit CO2 emissions. Under an ecological framework, there are several shortcomings to this approach. Firstly, ecological economics would not see environmental damage as an externality, to begin with. The environment does not take the role of an ‘unrelated third party’ (“Externality” 2013) that experiences damage but is seen as a key stakeholder to be considered. Secondly, the determination of the ‘price’ of carbon is not reflective of the damage done by CO2 emissions. Even if all revenue from carbon licenses was re-invested into environmental conservation efforts, they would still fail to fully internalize the damage done by CO2 emissions, mostly due to the market price of carbon being too low (Dove 2018).

Another approach is carbon taxes. While carbon taxes might be effective in incentivizing individuals and firms to reduce their CO2 emissions, they also fail to compensate for the damage done by CO2 emissions. However, they are worth considering as a policy on a local or national level. As a simple example, if a carbon tax was added to every litre of fuel, using one’s car becomes more costly, and people would be incentivized to find alternatives. Carbon taxes are therefore a cost-effective way to reduce future carbon emissions, however, they are not aimed at leveraging the damage done by carbon emissions.

• The Challenges: Can Ecological Economics become a new status quo?

Many assumptions behind ecological economics contradict those of mainstream economics. The logic behind ecological economics sounds ideologically compelling: It factors in human and non-human well being alike, so why shouldn’t ecological thought be a more dominant force in economics?

To address this question, it is important to recognize the incompatibility of streams like degrowth theory with the international market economy today. From an ecological perspective, loosely- or unregulated markets are not creating the most efficient outcome as they don’t always address who owns certain assets or who pays for pollution in the production process. They also fail to account for the factor of finite resources. For example, if the market price of crude oil is US$ 70/ barrel, then this price is reflective of the supply and demand for crude oil at this time. Supply and demand, in turn, encapsulate factors such as the cost of extraction, transportation, or tariffs. However, the price fails to reflect the fact of oil being a finite resource. While the price accounts for current supply and demand, it doesn’t account for the fact that consuming oil is bringing global oil reserves one step closer to depletion. Ecological economics would require such a measure and hence a fundamental change in the way markets operate.

Another issue that illustrates that ecological economics contradicts many ideas in mainstream economics is that environmental protection faces the challenge of temporal discounting. Temporal discounting, simply put, refers to the phenomenon of ascribing less value to outcomes in the far future than to outcomes in the present (Behavioral Economics 2018). In other words, we tend to give less weight to a reward lying 10 years into the future than we do to a reward that occurs tomorrow. Environmental processes span over long time-periods which pose challenges to policy makers and economists. Temporal discounting in ecology is in fact intergenerational. For instance, the preservation of forests may not necessarily affect current generations directly, but will certainly impact generations to come by preserving earth’s CO2 absorption capacity and keeping vital ecosystems intact.

Finally, it is important to identify that the exploitation of resources currently stands in a non-linear relationship to internalization of environmental costs. An example can be global discrepancies between deforestation and reforestation. In a sustainably managed forest, an initial loss of tree coverage should result in a gain in coverage a few years later, once young trees grow large enough to appear as a gain in forest cover (Global Forest Watch, 2018). According to Global Forest Watch (2018), the opposite is the case when it comes to reforestation. In fact, reforestation efforts lack behind deforestation, leading to the permanent loss of tree cover (Ibid.). This indicates that reforestation efforts are not currently able to compensate for deforestation as total tree coverage decreases. This non-linear relationship makes it hard to internalize the real environmental cost resulting from economic activity.

• What Does a Forest Cost? Carbon Licenses as a Means to Stop Indonesia’s Deforestation

Ecological economics, as seen in Figure 2, is based on the environment being the all-encompassing framework of economic and other activity. Thus, to sustain any human activity on earth, the environment has to be kept intact first. In the case of deforestation, this poses several challenges, most prominently the question “what does a forest cost?”. To determine the real value of choosing to keep a forest rather than logging it, ecological economics takes into account multiple factors (Warren-Thomas et al. 2018):

• The opportunity cost (forgone economic return) of deforestation. Like in mainstream economics, one needs to estimate the revenue from logging, subtracting the monetary cost of logging.
• The cost of implementation to conserve forest. This could include patrols; free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of indigenous communities living in the area, or institutional and administrative costs (Luttrell 2018, 291-310). Many implementation costs are likely to be carried out by the central government of a country . In mainstream economics, a problem arises when the cost of implementation exceeds the opportunity cost. In other words, when the cost of implementation is larger than the revenue that could have been generated from logging the forest. If keeping the forest is not considered inherently valuable, this scenario makes forest conservation the least economical decision for a government. (Fisher et al., 2011)
• The benefit of keeping the forest. This cost is the hardest to estimate as this would require a cost to be put to benefits such as carbon absorption, providing a habitat for local species, or keeping a greater ecosystem intact.

An example of estimating the cost and benefits of keeping a forest can be seen by examining select details surrounding rainforests in Indonesia. The expansion of rubber plantations in Indonesia is the main driver for deforestation and the resulting loss of biodiversity. To stop deforestation, the revenue from rubber plantations will have to at least be matched. In other words, the opportunity cost would have to be alleviated by giving rubber producers at least as much as they would earn from cutting down rubber trees (Warren-Thomas et al. 2018). In their paper, Warren-Thomas et al. (2018) found that different types of opportunity costs arise in Indonesia’s rainforests and thus depend on the institutionally regulated selection criteria for logging. The two most prominent types of opportunity costs are the revenue from timber and the revenue from rubber where carbon is accounting for about 75% of the opportunity cost of conserving a dense forest (Warren-Thomas et al. 2018). Per hectare of dense forest, deforestation in Indonesia comes at the cost of an average of 194 tons of carbon that the forest could have absorbed. (Ibid.)

Using carbon financing as a common way to internalize externalities under a mainstream economic framework, deforestation could thus be stopped at the cost of high enough carbon prices + transaction costs + implementation costs . Revenues could go to the development of green technology, or conservation and reforestation projects that compensate for the carbon absorption capacity lost through deforestation. However, this calculation works only under the assumption that the market price of carbon is high enough to offset the incurring cost. This ‘real’ carbon cost can be seen as an attempt to estimate the benefit, in carbon terms, of keeping the forest (as discussed in factor “c” above). Warren-Thomas et al. (2018) yet concluded that the current market price of carbon is insufficient to offset the cost of deforestation. While the required market price for carbon should oscillate somewhere between $30 - $51 per ton of carbon, the current price oscillates between $5-$20 per ton (Carbon Brief 2017).

This price often neglects the, more policy-relevant, social cost of carbon. The social cost of carbon refers to “economic harm […] expressed as the dollar value of the total damages from emitting one ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere” (Environmental Defense Fund 2017), including compromised health around the world, increasing food prices, or the destruction of property.

From an ecological economic perspective, carbon financing is an insufficient way to address commodity-driven deforestation in Indonesia. Carbon prices should be increased to at least offset the damage done with regards to carbon emissions and absorption. However, even a carbon price of $30- $51 doesn’t address all aspects of deforestation that ecological economics would consider such as the loss of biodiversity, or the long-term effects of bringing an existing ecosystem out of balance. It also fails to account for changes in soil brought about by monocultures for rubber plantations, or the social cost occurring from deforestation, for example, the destruction of property of Indonesia’s indigenous communities (IUCN 2018).

• Conclusion: Current Trends and Alternatives

Carbon Financing is one solution that is currently being implemented to offset some of the damage done by deforestation. However, carbon financing is not excluded from the phenomenon of non-linearity outlined in section 3. The market price of carbon is currently too low to make carbon financing an adequate solution (Dove 2018), yet, it can be seen as one step in decreasing opportunity cost and incentivizing communities and governments to preserve forests. Other trends and alternatives include mechanisms like corporate zero-deforestation pledges in which corporation pledge to “eliminate deforestation from their supply chain” (Riley 2017). Also, the general focus on local, community-based solutions is frequently discussed, such as protecting and supporting smallholder agriculture and restricting agriculture on a larger corporate scale. Most of these trends share the common element of tending to deviate from what is the most economically efficient way to produce commodities in a mainstream economic framework. This is because mainstream economics disregards many of the environmental values that are a focus of ecological economics. From an ecological point of view, smallholder agriculture or costly-alternatives to commodities like rubber and palm oil seem much more attractive and worthwhile. While it may decrease the global supply of a commodity and increase prices, it preserves the environment and therefore takes into account the quality of life for current as well as future generations. Approaches like replacing large corporations and their environmental impact with smaller subsistence-based solutions are especially in line with degrowth theory as a more radical stream within ecological economics. All in all, Ecological economics poses significant challenges to mainstream economics that make it difficult to be adopted as a new status-quo in economic thought. Yet, it can be utilized as a lens to re-think the role nature plays in economic consideration and identify necessary steps to avoid traps like generational discounting or the illusion that economic growth can be sustained independently from the natural world.

References:

For more recent statistics on deforsestation, see https://www.treetriage.com/tree-removal/deforestation/

Boulding, Kenneth E. “The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth.” (1966).

Daly, Herman E, and Joshua C Farley. 2004. Ecological Economics: Principles and Applications . Washington: Island Press.

"Deforestation: Solved Via Carbon Markets?". 2018. Environmental Defense Fund . Accessed November 20, 2018. https://www.edf.org/climate/deforestation-solved-carbon-markets .

Demaria F, Schneider F, Sekulova F, Martinex-Alier J. "What Is Degrowth?: From an Activist Slogan to a Social Movement." In The Environment in Anthropology (Second Edition): A Reader in Ecology, Culture, and Sustainable Living , edited by Haenn Nora, Wilk Richard R., and Harnish Allison, 390-400. NYU Press, 2016.

Dove, M. (2018). 'Rubber versus forest on contested Asian land'. Nature Plants, 4(6), 321-322.

"Externality". 2018. Investopedia. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/externality.asp .

Fisher B, Lewis S, Burgess N, Malimbwi R, Munishi P, Swetnam R, Turner R, Willcock S, and Balmford A. “Implementation and opportunity costs of reducing deforestation and forest degradation in Tanzania” Nature Climate Change 1 (2011): 161–164.

“Global Forest Watch”. 2018. Global Forest Watch.Com. Accessed November 21, 2018. http://www.globalforestwatch.org/

Helm, Dieter. "NATURAL CAPITAL." RSA Journal 159, no. 5553 (2013): 16-19.

"Indonesia’s Last Frontier: Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Key to Forest Preservation". 2018. IUCN . Accessed November 24, 2018. https://www.iucn.org/news/forests/201802/indonesia%E2%80%99s-last-frontier-indigenous-peoples%E2%80%99-rights-key-forest-preservation .

Luttrell C, Sills E, Evinke M.F, Aryani R, and Ekaputri A.D. 2018. “Beyond Opportunity Costs: Who Bears the Implementation Costs of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation?” Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 23 (2): 291–310. doi:10.1007/s11027-016-9736-6 .

Managi, Shunsuke, and Kuriyama Kōichi. 2017. Environmental Economics . Routledge Textbooks in Environmental and Agricultural Economics, 17. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Philip Fearnside (2000). "Global warming and tropical land-use change: Greenhouse gas emissions from biomass burning, decomposition and soils in forest conversion, shifting cultivation and secondary vegetation". Climatic Change . 46 : 115–158. doi : 10.1023/a:1005569915357

Perrings, Charles. "Ecology, Economics and Ecological Economics." Ambio 24, no. 1 (1995): 60-64

"Q&A: Will the Reformed EU Emissions Trading System Raise Carbon Prices? | Carbon Brief". 2017. Carbon Brief . Accessed November 24, 2018 . https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-will-reformed-eu-emissions-trading-system-raise-carbon-prices .

Riley, T. (2017). Companies' ‘zero deforestation’ pledges: everything you need to know. the Guardian. Retrieved 16 October 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/sep/29/companies-zero-deforestation-pledges-agriculture-palm-oil-environment

Segal, Troy. 2003. "Gross Domestic Product - GDP". Investopedia . Accessed November 3, 2018. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gd

"The True Cost of Carbon Pollution". 2017. Environmental Defense Fund . Accessed November 24, 2018. https://www.edf.org/true-cost-carbon-pollution .

"Time (Temporal) Discounting | Behavioraleconomics.Com | The BE Hub". 2018. Behavioraleconomics.Com | The BE Hub . Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.behavioraleconomics.com/resources/mini-encyclopedia-of-be/time-temporal-discounting/ .

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Essay on Deforestation Solution

Students are often asked to write an essay on Deforestation Solution in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Deforestation Solution

Understanding deforestation.

Deforestation means cutting down trees in large numbers. This happens in forests, which are full of trees. People cut down trees for many reasons, like making furniture or paper. But, this is harmful to our planet. It causes problems like global warming and loss of animal homes.

Why We Should Stop Deforestation

We must stop deforestation to protect our planet. Trees give us oxygen, which we need to breathe. They also provide homes for many animals. If we cut down all the trees, we will lose these benefits. So, saving trees is very important for us and the animals.

Ways to Prevent Deforestation

There are many ways to stop deforestation. We can plant more trees, which is called reforestation. We can also recycle paper to save trees. Another way is to use less wood and more metal or plastic. These things can help us save our forests.

Role of Government and People

The government and people can play a big role in stopping deforestation. The government can make rules to protect forests. People can follow these rules and also teach others about the importance of trees. We can all work together to save our forests.

In conclusion, deforestation is a big problem, but we can solve it. We need to plant more trees, recycle, and use less wood. The government and people need to work together. If we do these things, we can save our forests and our planet.

250 Words Essay on Deforestation Solution

Introduction.

Deforestation means cutting down trees in large numbers. It is a big problem because trees help to keep our air clean and our climate stable. They also provide homes for many animals. We need to find ways to stop deforestation and protect our forests.

The Problem of Deforestation

Deforestation is mostly caused by human activities. People cut down trees for many reasons. Sometimes, it’s to make space for farms or buildings. Other times, it’s to use the wood for things like furniture or paper. This is harmful because it leaves less space for animals and plants. It also means there are fewer trees to take in carbon dioxide, a gas that contributes to climate change.

Solutions to Deforestation

One solution is to plant more trees. This is known as reforestation. It helps to replace the trees that have been cut down. Another solution is to use less paper and wood. We can do this by recycling and by choosing products that don’t use wood.

Government Role

Governments can also play a big role. They can make laws to protect forests. They can also encourage people to plant more trees. For example, some countries have programs where they give money to people who plant trees.

In conclusion, deforestation is a big problem, but there are many solutions. If we all work together, we can protect our forests and our planet. So, let’s start planting more trees, using less paper, and supporting laws that protect our forests.

500 Words Essay on Deforestation Solution

Deforestation is a big problem. It’s when we cut down too many trees and don’t replace them. This can hurt our planet in many ways. We need to find solutions to stop deforestation. This essay will talk about some of those solutions.

Plant More Trees

A simple answer to deforestation is to plant more trees. This is called reforestation. When we cut down a tree, we should plant a new one in its place. This way, we can balance the number of trees on earth. Schools, communities, and governments can all help with this. They can organize events where people come together to plant trees.

Use Less Paper

Trees are cut down to make things like paper. So, if we use less paper, we can save more trees. We can do this by recycling paper and using digital tools more often. For example, instead of writing on paper, we can type on a computer. Instead of buying books, we can read eBooks.

Buy Responsibly

Sometimes, trees are cut down to make products like furniture. We can help stop this by buying products made from recycled materials. We can also look for products with a “FSC” label. This label means the product was made in a way that did not hurt the forest.

Protect Forest Land

Governments can also help by protecting forest land. They can make laws to stop people from cutting down too many trees. They can also create parks where no one is allowed to cut down any trees at all.

Support Organizations

There are many organizations that work to stop deforestation. These organizations plant trees, protect forests, and educate people about the importance of trees. We can support these organizations by donating money or volunteering our time.

Deforestation is a big problem, but there are many solutions. We can plant more trees, use less paper, buy responsibly, protect forest land, and support organizations. If we all work together, we can stop deforestation and protect our planet.

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• 04 April 2024

Tropical-forest destruction has slowed — but is still too high

• Carissa Wong

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Rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon burns. Credit: Ricardo Funari/Brazil Photos/LightRocket via Getty

Loss of pristine tropical forests slowed last year — but the world is still falling far short of a global goal to end deforestation by 2030. The findings, from an analysis of satellite data released this week , highlight the need to improve conservation of tropical forests to protect biodiversity and slow climate change.

In 2023, the tropics lost 3.7 million hectares of primary forest — areas of natural, mature forest cover that have not been recently cleared and regrown — the analysis found.

“Those tropical primary forests in particular represent some of the most important ecosystems to protect in order to avoid carbon emissions and biodiversity loss,” said Mikaela Weisse, director of Global Forest Watch at the World Resources Institute (WRI), an environmental think tank in Washington DC, at a press briefing. The WRI conducted the study with researchers at the University of Maryland in Riverdale.

Source: World Resources Institute

By analysing satellite data on tree cover, Weisse and her colleagues found a 9% reduction in the loss of primary tropical forests last year, compared with 2022 (see ‘Tropical losses’).

This reduction is mostly down to shifts in political leadership in Brazil, which saw a 36% decrease in primary-forest loss, and Columbia, where there was a 49% decrease, according to Weisse. But the researchers found that this progress was largely counteracted by increases in loss of tropical primary forest in countries including Bolivia, Laos, Nicaragua and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (see ‘Forested countries struggle’).

Globally, loss of tree cover owing to both natural and human causes — in plantations as well as natural forests — increased by 24% from 2022 to 2023. This global rise was driven entirely by a fivefold increase in fire-related loss of tree cover in Canada. In the rest of the world, tree cover loss declined by 4%.

The researchers also found that the world is on track to miss a goal to halt and reverse forest loss due to human activity, or deforestation, by 2030. This goal was agreed in 2021 by more than 145 countries and territories that, between them, are home to 90% of the world’s forests.

“To be on track, we need at least a 10% annual reduction in deforestation, but the persistence of the deforestation rate indicates we are far from this target,” says ecologist Dolors Armenteras at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá (see ‘Falling behind’). Meeting it will require stronger political will to tackle deforestation, along with greater international cooperation and more financial incentives to conserve existing forests, she adds.

“We are running out of time and may be reaching the tipping point of irreversible changes in the tropical-forest realm — that will affect us all, locally, regionally and globally,” says Weisse.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00989-7

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