Deforestation

Presented By Team Genius

Ariana Woodson, Heng Zhang, Martina Gualtieri, Sandra Flores, Sergio Alvarez, and Alex Bricout

What Is It?

• Deforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by logging & burning.

• occurs for many reasons: – fuel or as a commodity, – while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock,– plantations of commodities, and settlements.

• In many countries, deforestation is an ongoing issue that is causing extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of indigenous people.

• Among countries with a per capita GDP of at least US$4,600, net deforestation rates have ceased to increase.

Why This Problem?

• Natural resources are under increasing pressure, as Terracivians try to balance economic production, resource conservation, and sustainable development

• The dense forests of Terracivis have made it a significant exporter of timber

• provide habitat for 1,600 species of birds, including 120 endemic species, a number of which are critically endangered

• Industries: logging, mining and refining minerals, coal extraction, textiles, fishing, ecotourism

IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS

• Multiple benefits to environment, people and animals.

-Cool air temperature.-Generation of oxygen.

-Sound barrier and reduce light reflection.-Supply higher quality water with less impurity.

Control water level in floods.

-Minimization of noise pollution.

-Advances in medicine thanks to different herbs and plants.

-Place for education and research.

Causes of Deforestation• corruption of government institutions• the inequitable distribution of wealth and power• population growth and overpopulation• urbanization • Globalization is often viewed as another root cause of deforestation

– cases in which the impacts of globalization have promoted localized forest recovery.

• In 2000 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that "the role of population dynamics in a local setting may vary from decisive to negligible," and that deforestation can result from "a combination of population pressure and stagnating economic, social and technological conditions."

Eviromental Problems• Atmospheric

– Deforestation is ongoing and is shaping climate and geography.– Deforestation is a contributor to global warming, and is often cited as

one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect. Tropical deforestation is responsible for approximately 20% of world greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change deforestation, mainly in tropical areas, could account for up to one-third of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.

• Hydrological– Trees extract groundwater through their roots & release into

atmosphere– When part of forest is removed trees don’t evaporate away this water

and climate becomes dry– Deforestation reduces content of water in soil & groundwater as well

as atmospheric moisture

Cont.• Deforestation reduces soil cohesion

– erosion, flooding & landslides ensue• Forests enhance the recharge of aquifers in some locales,

– forests are a major source of aquifer depletion on most locales. • Soil• Undisturbed forests have very low rate of soil loss,

– Approx. 2 metric tons per square kilometer (6 short tons per square mile). • generally increases rates of soil erosion

– increasing amount of runoff & reducing protection of soil from tree litter – This can be an advantage in excessively leached tropical rain forest soils

• Forestry operations themselves also increase erosion through the development of roads and use of mechanized equipment

Economic Impact

• Damage to forests & other aspects of nature could halve living standards for world's poor & reduce global GDP by about 7% by 2050,– a major report concluded at the Convention on

Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting in Bonn. • Historically utilization of forest products played

key role in human societies • Today, developed countries continue to utilize

timber for building houses, and wood pulp for paper

COUNTRIES WITH DEFORESTATION

• NIGERIA.-Worst deforestation rate.

-CONSEQUENCES: loss of natural systems, extinction of animal species, soil loss and decrease in the number of trees.

• BRAZIL.-deforestation caused by constant logging (legal or illegal),

cattle ranching, etc.

-decrease in the availability of renewable resources (fruits, vegetables…)

-destruction of local cultures

• CONGO.-causes are building infrastructure, local subsistence activities

(mainly agriculture), in addition to commercial logging and mining.

-loss of ecosystems, decrease in biodiversity, soil loss and erosion, resources loss…

Congo Brazil

Nigeria

Causes of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, 2000-2005

Tropical deforestation rates from 2000-2005

Solutions

• Protect through organizations– Greenpeace– Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species (CITES)

• Sustainable logging– Balance demands and preservation– Plant 10 for every 1– Reduce emissions

Solutions Cont.

• Controlled farming– Manage compaction through confining to

narrow strips

• Reforestation– Restock existing forest areas– Peace Corps can get volunteers to replant– Companies involved in reforestation

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<http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0801.htm>.

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• Kirby, Alex. "Britons urge tighter meat imports." BBC News (2004): 1. Web. 30 Jul 2010. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3527241.stm>.

Deforestation Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioTEOOTlEi4

If the video doesn’t work, copy and paste this to your URL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioTEOOTlEi4