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Jason Laflamme Section 331

Deforestation

Word count: 3601

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Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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What is deforestation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Purpose of paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Body Paragraph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Consequences of deforestation on biodiversity loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Economic losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Fishing Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Consequences of deforestation on environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Greenhouse gas emissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Disruption of water cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Increase soil erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Consequences of deforestation on specific communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Greater Mekong, South East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Deforestation solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

*Sentence which are paraphrase do not have quotations (“”) but simply the proper APA indication ex: (Normander, 2012) at the end of the sentence to indicate where I got the information from. If the paraphrase sentence happens not to have the APA reference at the end, note that it was obtain from a source which is located in the reference page.

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Introduction: For many years now, deforestation, one of the most devastating environmental issue of or time has been ignored and neglected. Deforestation is the act of intentionally removing forests and group of trees without implying to reforest them or allowing it time to regenerate itself. This global threat has long been disregarded by scientifics and researchers, as it continuously felt under the shadow of a more well-known threat that is global warming. Yet, “Some 46-58 thousand square miles of forest are lost each year—equivalent to 48 football fields every minute” (WWF, 2017). More specifically, in the Amazon “around 17% of the forest has been lost over the last 50 years” (WWF, 2017). The principle reasons why deforestation occurs is due to agricultural purposes for example clearing forests to grow crops, for commercial purposes which implies exploiting resources which forest produces and selling them, for housing purposes and firewood use which leads to logging. Deforestation has always been part of our world, but since the 1950s, it began to shift for the worst resulting in mass exploitation of many forests and its resources (Williams, 2001). Areas which are most affected by deforestation include Middle and South America as well as lower South-East Asia. There is lots of ignorance surrounding this social issue as shown through the lack of forest management and the poorly enforced environmental laws which do not prevent in any way the act of deforestation. Deforestation qualifies as one of the dominant social problems of our era due to its global impact over the world and considering “forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area” (National Geographic, 2017). This research will analyze this social issue on both a macro and meso level, macro being how deforestation affects the world in general and meso being its

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impact on specific communities. The social disciplines which will be covered in this research paper are environmental studies, economic, and geography. Purpose of Paper: This paper will emphasize the consequences that deforestation has on our current environment. Deforestation on its own poses a global threat due to its vast amount of repercussions. The first reason why it is such a problematic issue is because deforestation leads to biodiversity loss. Deforestation also contributes to climate change and destabilize the whole environment in general. Furthermore, it has a devastating impact on specific communities and indigenous tribes. Consequences of deforestation on biodiversity loss: Biodiversity loss is deforestation number one consequence. Its repercussions are shown through a chain reactions, first starting with the deforestation of the forest itself, resulting in the whole ecosystem being disturbed, then, the disruption of the ecosystem leads to many other consequences such as; economic losses and a shortage in the fishing industry. “About 80% of the world’s documented species can be found in tropical rainforests—some of the forests most vulnerable to deforestation” (WWF, 2017). Deforestation disrupts the ecosystem affecting the homes of all the species living in these lands forcing them to constantly adapt to the changing environment. As a result, they become extremely vulnerable to poachers and hunters. Many research have shown that ‘‘human actions were dismantling the Earth’s ecosystems, eliminating genes, species and biological traits at an alarming rate’’ (Cardinale, 2012). While poachers and hunters are the most obvious people to blame for biodiversity loss, the large companies and

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industries are the ones we should blame as they are the ones giving the orders which makes them for the most part responsible for deforestation which leads to the mass extinction of millions of species. Up to “28,000 species are expected to become extinct by the next quarter of the century due to deforestation” (Normander, 2012). Economic losses are one of the effects of biodiversity loss. If the productivity of the ecosystem is compromised, the whole economy revolving around it will be affected. Biodiversity loss and the economy are strongly correlated. With the ecosystem’s fragile food chain, it just takes one specie to become endangered and all of the species in this particular ecosystem will be affected. In other words, biodiversity loss results in the ecosystem producing less resources. This concept can be further explained through Alfred Marshall’s theory of supply and demand. Biodiversity loss will result in forests producing less resources which will have a direct impact on the economy in general. As the scarcity of these resources increase, the prices will also increase meaning the economy will be affected on a global scale which can be devastating for some countries especially those relying more on these specific resources. It will also be devastating for most industries in the long run, if they are unable to meet the production needed, they will be restrained from supplying the demand needed which can very well make the market crash. Another sector which has been terribly affected by biodiversity loss is the fishing industry. Human presence is found all over the oceans which disrupts the marine ecosystem as a whole. Recent studies have shown that “the major part of the species (80%) constituting the world’s fish stocks meaning that they are fully exploited or overexploited by the industry” (UN, 2010). Similar to the resources found on land, the production of fish will decrease therefore its scarcity will increase, resulting once again in the rise on prices affecting the whole economy on

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a global scale. Lots of country rely solely based on the fishing industry like some of the indigenous tribes in Thailand which means the less fish there are in the ocean, the harder it will be for their economy not to crash. The concept of over-fishing works in a similar way as the concept of deforestation, the high demand for this specific resource in this case being fish stocks leads to the destruction of the marine ecosystem. As for the marine wildlife itself, a scarcity in fish species will disrupt the food chain in a similar fashion to the ecosystem found in forest as bigger fishes feed on the smaller ones being hunted down by humans for economic purposes.

Consequences on climate change and environment: The consequences of deforestation on the environment can be observe though all its negative effects. When forests are lost or destroyed it sets off a series of change affecting the whole ecosystem surrounding the area. A study was conducted and showed that “If deforestation were to continue at this rate, most of the Amazonian tropical forests would disappear in 50 to 100 years” (Shukla, 1990) since “the presence or absence of vegetation has a huge influence on regional climate change” (Shukla, 1990). The first consequences deforestation has on our environment is that it increases greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions are extremely bad for the environment as they trap heat contributing severely to global warming. One of the forests primary contribution to our environment is that they reduce greenhouse gas emissions therefore when they are cut down the level of greenhouse gas increases. The consequences deforestation has on global warming is displayed on a global scale.

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For example, in Sumatra, “rainforests on deep peatlands are being cleared, drained and converted to pulp plantations, contributing to Indonesia’s high greenhouse gas emissions” (Greenpeace, 2017).

Another repercussion caused by deforestation on the environment is the disruption of water cycles. The role forests play in the maintaining of stable water cycles is that they preserve a precise balance between water on land and water which evaporates and end up in the atmosphere. As consequence, when an area is deforested, water cycles are disrupted resulting in rivers to be either dry or overflooded. In addition, the muddying of the water which is another way of saying an excessive accumulation of mud in a water reserve, occurs when water enters a basin and there is an absence of trees, as a result, water plants or species suffer tremendously from it. Fresh water reserves are affected which makes the water unsafe to drink for both humans and animals.

The last major consequence deforestation has on our environment is that it increases soil erosion. When deforestation occurs for agricultural purposes as mentioned above, the crops which replace the trees are a lot weaker with much smaller roots thus making the soil a lot more unstable and prone to dismantling. As a result, when there will be heavy rain the soil will get swipe by the water flow since it is weaker, causing erosion. “Scientists have estimated that a third of the world’s arable land has been lost through soil erosion and other types of degradation since 1960” (WWF, 2017). All three consequences can apply through the geographic theory of forest transition. This theory suggests that the rate at which forests are removed should that the same as the rate at which they are reforest. In other words, because

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forests are being remove faster than they can recover, it leads to many issues like all three mentioned in this section of the paper.

Consequences on small communities and indigenous tribes: Last but not least, deforestation poses a huge issue for small communities and indigenous tribes living near areas affected by it. A multitude of people, especially those living in Middle/South America and South Asia rely on forests and the resources it produces for hunting, gathering, medicine, and agriculture. As tropical forests are destroyed or degraded, some populations are forced to change the area which they collect their resources. In some cases they have no choice but to move into areas already occupied by other groups, diminishing the area's resources even more. In other cases they are forced to move from a rural area to a more urban district in order to find a job as they can no longer rely of the resources the environment produced, “permanently altering their way of life by converting to agriculture or to cash employment” (Cultural Survival INC, 1982). The repercussions deforestation has on these communities can be explain through the theory of over-consumption. This theory suggests that us humans consume more than they actually need. These smaller communities understand this principle since their lives depend on it, but the upper world countries over-consume all the time which as consequence makes those who depend on the resources forests produce suffer. This section will overlook the consequences of deforestation on a meso level, looking at the Greater Mekong in Southeast Asia and Brazil where the population’s lives are both immensely affected by deforestation.

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Greater Mekong is a region located in Southeast Asia, the laws reguarding land ownerships are very weak therefore government industries keep seizing land from individuals and deforestation them for economical purposes which lead to many social conflicts (WWF 2017). This sub region is composed of six states, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan Province, China, and is home to approximately three-hundred million people (Wikipedia). This area of the world is extremely rich in resources yet no one can benefit from it without creating conflict. The problem tied to land tenure in this area is due to the fact that the government keeps taking land which is already owned by rural farmers and turning them into commercial industries. The recent OECD Investment Policy Review of Myanmar notes that “tenure remains insecure for most smallholder farmers for a wide range of reasons: iv) weak protection of registered land use rights” (Myanmar, 2015). As a result, this leads to many disputes in this region between the government and rural farmers. In addition to conflicts, deforestation is also responsible for loss in biodiversity and climate change in the sub-region of the Greater Mekong, causing scarcity of many viable resources which inhabitants of this region need. The principle reason why the government commits deforestation of a large scale is for logging purposes for export. Brazil is another country which over the years has been devastated by deforestation. Aside from the problems tied to scarcity of resources found in forest being deforested, Brazil is currently facing another harsh consequence of deforestation which is affecting inhabitants living in this region. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, people from the lower class in Brazil are persuaded to leave their homes and go work on soy plantations where most of the times they are forced to work under brutal conditions (WWF, 2017). In addition, soybean plantations

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are terrible for the environment, they compromise “massive deforestation and loss of biodiversity, water pollution by pesticides and, consequently, destabilization of ecosystems and intoxication of human beings” (Bickel, 2005). As for the working conditions, Ulrike Bickel interviewed two former people which had lost their jobs due to deforestation and had been lured to go work on soy plantations. The two workers reported to be treated in a similar way to how slaves were treated, they were given no proper equipment to protect themselves while working, they worked almost the whole day seven days a week where they were housed in homemade tents located on the plantation, “food was unbalanced and insufficient, and the promised salary was not paid” (Bickel, 2005). Brazil is by far the country which the population has been affected the most by deforestation. The people in this area suffer as much as the forests itself as it is the case for South East Asia also.

Conclusion: In conclusion, deforestation itself is one of the most prominent issue of the 21st century as it leads to many consequences. This research essay was done with the intention to emphasize the consequences of deforestation on our current world. Repercussions of deforestation include the loss of biodiversity, affecting the whole economy on a global scale by increasing the scarcity of some resources resulting in their price increasing. In addition, deforestation has lots of consequences linked to the environment such as climate change, the disruption of water cycles, and the increased of soil erosion. Last but not least, it affects more than just the forest itself, deforestation has an impact on the lives of communities and indigenous tribes living around

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areas affected by increasing the scarcity of the resources viable to those groups and promoting conflicts and inhumane working conditions. Deforestation can be interpreted on both a macro and meso level as mean to support my thesis, macro being the repercussion deforestation has on the world in general and global economy. Meso being how it affects specific communities exposed to deforestation. Deforestation puts human society at risk on many level. Possible solutions to deforestation include, the creation of protected areas, offsetting carbon emissions from forests, promoting sustainable bioenergy, and putting an end to illegal logging (WWF, 2017). Many agencies such as World Wild Life, Greenpeace, and REDD+, contribute tremendously in order to fight back deforestation. Lots of progress has been made because of them but there is still a long way to go as to prevent deforestation from ruining forests. In the end, deforestation remains a very important global threat therefore the public’s attention and researchers should be more aware of the consequences is poses.

References

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Bickel, Ulrike. (2005). Human Rights violations and environmental destruction through soybean production in Brazil. 1-20. Cardinale, B. J., Duffy, J. E., Gonzalez, A., Hooper, D. U., Perrings, C., Venail, P., . . . Naeem, S. (2012). Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature, 486(7401), 59-67. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.champlaincollege.qc.ca/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1020697424?accountid=44391 Cultural Survival Inc. (1982). Deforestation: The Human Costs. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survivalquarterly/deforestation-human-costs Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet. National Geographic. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/ Deforestation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2017, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation Gray, C. L., Bilsborrow, R. E., Bremner, J. L., & Lu, F. (2008). Indigenous land use in the Ecuadorian amazon: A cross-cultural and multilevel analysis. Human Ecology, 36(1), 97109. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10745-007-9141-6 Greenpeace. (2017). License to Kill. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.greenpeace.org/ Longobardi, P., Montenegro, A., Beltrami, H., & Eby, M. (2016). Deforestation Induced Climate Change: Effects of Spatial Scale. Plos ONE, 11(4), 1-34. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153357 Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (2015). State of Environment Report Myanmar, Environmental Conservation Department, Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, Myanmar. Mitten, L. (1997). The human cost of deforestation. Peace Review, 9(4), 549-553. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.champlaincollege.qc.ca/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/217521474?accountid=44391 Normander, B. & Kumar, S.(2012). U.S.: Mass extinction predicted absent u...