FREE ESSAY ON FOREST DILEMA

FOREST DILEMA

Can you picture our earth without forests? Many of us can't. Forests cover approximately
one fifth of the worlds land surface and play an important role in our everyday lives
(Dudley 4). Forests provide us with many products and services from helping maintain
erosion to providing jobs for our citizens. Humanity depends on the survival of a healthy
ecosystem and deforestation is causing many social, economic and ecological problems. One
ecological problem is Global warming witch is caused when carbon is released into the air
after the burning of forests. Governments and industries must become more aware of these
consequences of their activities and change accordingly. They need to cooperate with
forest management and work towards a future that benefits all. Humans need to be educated
about the current issues of the forests in order for us to save, preserve or sustain
these places that provide us with so much.
Humans depend tremendously on the world's forests, but yet were the ones destroying them.
For humans, the forests have many aesthetic, recreational, economic, and cultural values.
Timber and other products of the forests are important economically both locally and as
exports. They provide employment for those who harvest the wood or for those who make
products from the living forest. Forests also provide us with medical drugs, dyes and
fabrics. There are many people who are dependent on forestland for their livelihoods. One
third of the world's people depend on wood for fuel as a significant energy source
(Dudley). Not only do the forests provide some people with homes, but also provides a
popular setting for ecotourism, which includes hiking, camping, bird watching and other
outdoor adventure or nature study activities. All these activities and products the
forests provide us are at great risk from deforestation.
Not only do forests provide us with all this but also protect soil from erosion and
reduces the risks of landslides and avalanches. Trees help sustain freshwater supplies
therefore are an important factor in the availability of one of life's basic needs.
Forests affect the climate and are also a very important source of oxygen. One major
factor that the forests carry is that they are the home to over one half of the world's
total species (Dudley). Currently we are discovering 20 new species of insects and 15
species of plants each day (Dudley 13). "Recent reports by the World Resources Institute
have shown that more than 80% of the plant's natural forests have already been destroyed"
(Hatch). Yes humankind is the cause of deforestation, however us humans are also capable
of having a positive effect on this crisis.
Tropical forests cover about 10 per cent of the world's dry land surface, mostly located
in South America and Asia (Dudley 6). In the tropical forests of the world, deforestation
is occurring for agriculture and livestock pastures. The main cause is the unequal
distribution of land (Anderson). 
Temperate forests are found in land areas that are warm enough and low enough to support
trees but not so hot to be tropical. They are found in North America, Europe and cooler
parts of Australia (Dudley 4). The problems in temperate forests are not so much the
decrease in overall forest area, but the substantial change in the types of forests and
their ecological diversity and stability. Commercial forestry is the main cause of
deforestation in temperate forests. "In very broad terms, the total area of forest in
Europe, the USSR and North America is likely to decrease only slightly in the medium
future, but the proportion of forest existing as plantation is liable to rise sharply"
(Dudley 66). This however is going to lead to an increase in conflict between the
recreational and conservation interests and will also tend to make forestry a more
capital-intensive operation, thus providing fewer jobs.
Since so many people are dependent on the world's forests, deforestation will have a
social, economical and ecological effect on the world. Most of these effects are negative
ones. The loss of forestlands is connected to desertification, which translates into
there being fewer trees, thus decreasing the future forest workers employment. Heavy
rainfall and high sunlight quickly damage the topsoil in tropical rainforest, causing
them to regenerate slower and also providing insufficient farming grounds. When forests
are replanted there will also be a loss in quality. Also the medical treatments, cures
and vaccines will never be discovered if there are no forests to discover them in. There
may be a loss of future markets for ecotourism. The value of a forest is often higher
when it is left standing than it could be worth when it is harvested (Dudley).
Deforestation can cause the climate to change which could cause and increase in floods
and droughts. 
Global warming is a big factor in the destruction of trees. Forests store large amounts
of carbon that are released when trees are cut or burned. It is said that deforestation
and the burning of biomass will be responsible for fifteen percent of the greenhouse
effect between 1990 and 2025 (FAO). Because of global warming ranges of tree species
could shift with respect to altitude and latitude (Humankind 2). Furthermore, the stress
of such environmental change may make some species more susceptible to the effects if
insects, pollution, disease and fire (FAO). Also, areas of trees may be lost and genetic
diversity may decrease. 
The clearing of forestland results in increase of erosion and landslides. Landslide is a
descent of a mass of earth and rock down a mountain slope. Landslides may occur when
water from rain and melting snow sinks through the earth on top of a slope, seeps through
cracks and pore spaces in underlying sandstone, and encounters a layer of slippery
material, such as shale or clay, inclined toward the valley (Encarta).
Logging has directly and indirectly damaged spawning grounds, blocked river channels,
raised water temperatures and caused water levels in streams to fluctuate dangerously.
Therefore, the removal of tress can reduce the viability of fist stocks in their
watershed and down streams environments. 
People destroy or degrade forests because, for them, the benefits seem to outweigh the
costs. Underlying causes include such issues as poverty, unequal land ownership, women's
status, education and population. Immediate causes are often concerned with a search for
land and resources, including both commercial timber and fuel wood (Dudley).
The government and industry play a huge role in the destruction or stability of forests.
The government is the major aspect in controlling and maintaining the forests. They have
a huge say on what can and can't be done. For example on March 14th 1996 the senate voted
54-42 against repealing a section of the 1995 rescissions law that allows the forest
industry to salvage burned and downed trees from national forests (Shuster 1). They can
restrict loggers by making laws but also are the link between compromising with the
environmentalists.
High unemployment and job loss is usually blamed on the restrictions set on foresters.
However this is a myth. Most of this unemployment is from worldwide economic change. The
production of value-added forest products would create more jobs and bring more wealth to
these logging communities. The whole goal of this would be to reduce the pressure on the
forests.
If commercial forestry is to have a future, its methods need to become more ecologically
sound and sustainable. The technique of salvage logging, removing dead and diseased trees
from the forest, is good if the loggers don't take advantage of it and know what trees to
go after. Another affective method logger's use is known as whole tree harvesting. This
uses all of the wood from a tree. The branches and the treetops are converted into wood
chips. Whole tree logging provides more jobs for the people and more products to be sold
for the economy.
The government must play a greater role in forest management to protect the environment
and employment. The government should ensure that the interests of all stakeholders and
as well as the long-term effects associated with forest areas are taken into account
during forest planning. Governments should stop defending the forest industry from
criticism and end the practice of subsidization. Propaganda originating from governments
and corporations requires elimination if the public is to be able to make the right
choices.
Probably only the action of concerned citizens and consumers will compel government and
industry to make changes in the forests. Individuals can communicate their uncertainty
about the future of the world's forests to politicians, corporate executives and
non-governmental organizations through personal communication in the form of letters,
telephone calls, faxes and e-mails. 
Deforestation is a serious problem, but humans can make a difference. And individual as
well as a business can practice green consumerism. They can make an effort to purchase
the most ecologically sensitive products. Recycled paper is always available, which can
reduce the demand for timber. One of the most important ways a person to have a positive
effect is to reduce his or her consumption of forest and related products. An increase in
the participation of reducing, reusing and recycling is necessary.
Education is one of the most effective ways to promote change in our environment. Society
should educate people of today to change their ways and teach the younger generations to
have respect for nature. The young people in our society should also be taught about the
biological, social and economic values of forests. Environmental conservation should be
as important as math, physics, and history in school. Workers should be taught to use
technology to enhance forest ecosystems instead of destroying them for reforestation. If
humans would just see themselves as a part of nature, they will respect it so much more
and not just exploit it for its resources.
Humans bear the responsibility for deforestation and the global ecological crisis. But
humankind has the abilities and potential to change its ways and prevent the destruction
of our world's forests. If the forests are protected and regenerated they will benefit us
all in many ways. Trees will help benefit the land from erosion. Endangered species will
have better chances for survival. Human health will benefit from medicinal compounds that
are given a chance to be disvocered. Local economies will benefit from ecotourism and
consumers worldwide will gain satisfaction from knowing that their wood products were
harvested in a sustainable manner that left four out of five trees standing (Greenpeace).
In order for this to occur humans are going to have to undergo some degree of ideological
change. Humans are going to have to live more sustainable lives and become closer with
nature. Once the crisis of deforestation has passed, humankind will enjoy a finer
existence, and will look forward to a bright future.