DEFORESTATION

I. Introduction

Deforestation is the practice of permanently removing or uprooting trees from the ground to give
rise to something else other than forests (Derouin, 2019) it was also clearly defined by Pachamama
Alliance (an empowered organization who partnered with Indigenous people and is dedicated to
bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, socially just human presence on this
planet) as the "clearing, destroying, or otherwise removal of trees through deliberate, natural, or
accidental means." It can occur in any area densely populated by trees and other plant life, but the
majority of it is currently happening in the Amazon rainforest.

Forests are an important natural resource, but humans have destroyed substantial quantities of
forested land. When forests are destroyed, complex ecosystems are disrupted or perish. Human
communities that depend on forests also suffer the consequences of widespread deforestation.

II. Summary of Points

a. Unsustainable Agricultural Development

b. Major Contributor to Climate Crisis

c. Effects to Indigenous People

III. Discussion

1. Unsustainable Agricultural Development

According to The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), land conversion
for large-scale agricultural production is the leading cause of tropical deforestation, accounting for
about 80% of forest loss. Land is often cleared through slash-and-burn farming to create fields for
commercial agricultural development, palm oil production, soy fields or cattle ranches. Methods like
these are a major driver of wildfires in rainforests, like the ones that occurred in 2019

Drought. Prolonged drought in 2016 in Kenya caused severe food shortages in the country. A report
by UNICEF stated that in 2016, more than 4 million people were left without access to food as a result of
the drought (Oloo, 2017). Agriculturally, deforestation and conversion of forest to arable land has drastic
effect on soil properties. The principal effect of deforestation on chemical and nutritional properties of
soil is related to a decrease in organic content. This leads to disruption of nutrient cycling mechanism as
a result of the removal of deep rooted trees, which has serious effect on organic and nutrient content as
such affects agricultural productivity. In recent years, the level of agricultural productivity continues to
decline drastically. For instance, agricultural productivity declined from 258.26 in 1987 to 214.32 and
108.20 in 1999 and 2005 respectively (Ayinde et al., 2011). This can be attributed to low rainfall,
temperature variability, nutrient loss, drought and desertification, which are attributed to deforestation.

2. Major Contributor to Climate Crisis

Rainforests house 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, which is the foundation of life on Earth.
For example, FAO states that one-quarter of all modern medicines are derived from rainforest plants. If
these tropical forests are destroyed, we not only lose some of our most critical species, but also the
potential for discovery of many others. Failure to stabilize climate is in itself a large threat to biodiversity
already at risk from deforestation. Protection, expansion, and improved management of the world’s
forests represent some of the most promising natural solutions to the problem of keeping global
warming below 1.5–2 degrees (Griscom et al., 2017; Roe et al., 2019).

Additionally, forest loss not only releases a large amount of carbon to the atmosphere, but it also
significantly diminishes a major pathway for carbon removal long into the future (Houghton and
Nassikas, 2018). Also, the role of forests in maintaining critical habitat for biodiversity is well known, but
new research on extinction confirms the role of forests in maintaining critical climates to support
biodiversity. Changes in maximum temperature are driving extinction, not changes in average
temperature (Román-Palacios and Wiens, 2020).

3. Effects to Indigenous People

As large amounts of forests are cleared away, allowing exposed land to deteriorate and the habitats of
innumerable species to be destroyed, the Indigenous communities who live there and depend on the
forest to sustain their way of life are also under threat.

The loss of forests has an immediate and direct effect on their lifestyle. Many Indigenous
communities depend on what the forest has to offer for food, medicine, building materials, and cultural
resources. Because many of these communities are located in remote areas in dense forests, the loss of
these resources poses many challenges to their health and wellbeing.

Deforestation has human rights implications, particularly for the many Indigenous groups who are
frontline communities. Often, frontline communities have little say in how their local environment is
altered by governments and corporations. At the same time, these communities face the most
immediate and threatening impacts of environmental degradation and climate change.

V. Conclusion

Deforestation is the purposeful clearing of forested land. Throughout history and into modern times,
forests have been razed to make space for agriculture and animal grazing, and to obtain wood for fuel,
manufacturing, and construction. Today, the greatest amount of deforestation is occurring in tropical
rainforests, aided by extensive road construction into regions that were once almost inaccessible.
Building or upgrading roads into forests makes them more accessible for exploitation.

More immediately, the loss of trees from a forest can leave soil more prone to erosion. This causes the
remaining plants to become more vulnerable to fire as the forest shifts from being a closed, moist
environment to an open, dry one. More consequently affecting a large amount of agricultural spaces
around the world.

References

Ayinde.O. E, Muchie, M and Olatunji, G.B.(2011).Effects of Climate Change on

Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria: A Co-integration Model Approach.

Journal of Human Ecology. Vol. 35, No. 2, Pp189-194.

Derouin, S. (2019). Deforestation: Facts, Causes & Effects. Live Science; Live

Science. https://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html

Griscom, B. W., Adams, J., Ellis, P. W., Houghton, R. A., Lomax, G., Miteva, D. A., et al.

(2017). Natural climate solutions. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 114,

11645–11650.

Houghton, R. A., and Nassikas, A. A. (2018). Negative emissions from stopping

deforestation and forest degradation, globally. Glob. Change Biol. 24,

350–359. doi: 10.1111/gcb.13876

Román-Palacios, C., and Wiens, J. J. (2020). Recent responses to climate change

reveal the drivers of species extinction and survival. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.

U.S.A. 117, 4211–4217. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1913007117