Modern-Day Plague

Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year.

The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.

Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to people’s need to provide for their families.The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. Often many small farmers will each clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them in a process known as “slash and burn” agriculture.

Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also cut 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.

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

Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes.

Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts.

Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and holds in heat at night. This disruption leads to more extreme temperatures swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.

Trees also play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming. Fewer forests means larger amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere—and increased speed and severity of global warming.

The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees. Though deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities make this unlikely to occur.

A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating clear-cutting to make sure that forest environments remain intact. The cutting that does occur should be balanced by the planting of enough young trees to replace the older ones felled in any given forest. The number of new tree plantations is growing each year, but their total still equals a tiny fraction of the Earth’s forested land.

Its imperative for the industrial growth of a country to have 25% of its total land area under forest cover. It ensures the unhampered supply of timber, fuel wood, minor forest produces and allows other land uses under the multiple use concept without jeopardizing the ecosystem. Pakistan, despite having diverse habitats (9 habitats) has a meager forest cover of 5.2% which is highly insufficient for meeting the national demands. The major reasons for deforestation in Pakistan are discussed briefly:

1. Pakistan still relies on old technology of building construction which considers wood as the major component whereas modern world has switched over to aluminium for doors and windows.

2. An over whelming majority of Pakistani people are living below the poverty line and therefore, they prefer the forest areas for dwellings. They use the forests for hunting, fuel wood collection and the point of concern is that they trade in forest produce to earn their living, and hence deforestation occurs.

3. Population of 180 million exerts a heavy pressure on forest resources to cater for the requirements of timber for shelter and fuel wood for stoves. The meager forest resources are thus under heavy population pressure.

3. Encroachment upon the lands demarcated as forest is a major issue. The wood cutter families living inside the forests and the housing societies in the vicinity of forest areas encroach the forest lands and cut the trees to use the land for agriculture and housing. DHA and New Murree projects are an example.

4. Pakistan is an agricultural country and, therefore, forestry is dominated whenever a comparison between the two fields of interest is drawn. Thus forests are cleared and the lands are brought under cultivations.

5. Rapid industrialization and GDP growth exerts pressure on forest resources to draw raw materials for housing, shipping, sports industry, fuel, charcoal production, pit props etc.

6. The department corruption and in-efficiency can also be not ignored which has paved way for deforestation over the years.

7. Private ownership of forests in Kohistan and other northern areas of Pakistan makes the forest more susceptible to depletion. The people want to earn their living whereas government generates revenue by the taxes levied on these private forests.

8. The legislation is deficient in necessary clauses. Moreover, the implementation of the laws too, is an important constraint. The legislature itself includes the members who have their interests in forest resources and , therefore, hamper the process of the enactment of strict laws for the maintenance of forest resources.

9. Lack of awareness has always been a problem as people are unaware of the negative impacts of deforestation such as climate change, erosion leading to siltation of dams and ultimately power crisis.

10. As forest are depleted for the want of fuel woods , its imperative to provide them with alternative sources of energy such as gas facility, providing dwellings, to the inhabitants of forest, outside the forest area.

It is also a noteworthy fact to mention that almost 70 % of Pakistan's area is arid i.e. receiving less than 10 inches of rainfall which makes the area non-conducive for the propagation of woody vegetation.

SUGGESTIONS:

Awareness alone cannot serve the purpose of controlling deforestation inside the country as people living below the poverty line are more concerned with their survival and, therefore, providing education to the forest communication so that they can be employed, alternatives to fuel wood, sane and strict legislation, improving the implementation process, check and balance over the departmental corruption and finally, the use of other materials in building construction like aluminium and composite wood products wood indeed bring down deforestation if not stopping it completely. A new concept of social forestry, where by the local communities are taken on board about the management of forests, has successfully evolved in the SAARC countries. It is expected that the new social forestry approach would help bringing down the level of illicit cutting of trees.

well article written in the context of the topic lacks the most eminent problem tht is the environmental euilibrium lost i do agree to both of the writers to all the mentioned reasons and the way to rectify it but i would personaly see this topic to be more related to enviroment so in this regard one should keep the global warming and to some scientist cutting down forest is yet another reason for earth quakes. So we shold write wht is the most latesd version of the story rather thn swinging wth the old noams.In the end i did nt intented to hurt ant one feeling s by any means just wanted to add to a noble cause SO NO HARSH FEELINGS

You had better to see the title of my post which clarified the domain of my post as "causes" and control. Your knowledge of the subject is welcome and i expect you to come forward with a better write up on the subject for our advantage.



The impacts of deforestation on environment are very hard to bear, especially in the third world countries having magnanimous environmental degradation by a variety of factors. Keeping the time constraint in mind, i will briefly discuss the negative impacts of deforestation on environment:

1. Roots of vegetation are excellent soil binders and , therefore, hold the soil firm against the odds of erosion. Moreover, the leaves (canopy as a whole) through is umbrella effect resist the direct fall of heavy and high velocity rain drops, which would otherwise cause splash erosion (the phenomena being called interception). Deforestation paves way for all types of erosion. In Pakistan, the forests are located in the watershed/catchment areas and therefore these are the catchments of major dams. Deforestation in such areas cause erosion and ultimately the siltation of dams which is consequent in the form of extreme load shedding.

2. Glucose, the food of plants, require CO2 for its synthesis. Thus vegetation acts as a sink for carbon. The absorption of carbon in these sinks is known as carbon sequestration. Therefore, the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere is reduced. deforestation leads to the accumulation of CO2 in atmosphere.

3. The CO2 and other pollutant gases make a pseudo ozone layer (false ozone) which acts as a green house. The incident sun rays can penetrate this layer but prevents the heat released by the earth from escaping into the upper atmosphere. This trapping of heat near the surface of earth causes the temperature temperature to rise and this annual increase in the average temperature of the earth is known as Global warming.

4. As the environment is composed of both biotic and abiotic components, the deforestation leads to the disturbance of wildlife. Wildlife depends upon the type and extent of vegetation and the removal of vegetation disturbs the wild life by destroying their habitats and consequently the food web is disturbed.


5. Evapo-transpiration from the forest cover enhances the atmospheric humidity and ,therefore, the incidence of rainfall is greater in forested areas. Moreover, the relative temperature is cooler. Deforestation disturbs the rainfall and temperature phenomena ( collectively called the micro climate).

6. As vegetation facilitates the deep water storage through the percolation process, the deforestation phenomena hampers the infiltration/ percolation process while increases the amount of surface runoff ultimately causing floods.

7. Vegetation makes the soil fertile by the falling litter decomposition. The lower temperature and moist conditions in the tree shade make situation conducive for microbial activity and the decomposition of the litter to humus. This decomposition of litter produces the requisite manure for plant growth, which is hampered by the deforestation menace.

8. Water quality and quantity are both dictated by vegetation . Vegetation checks erosion to improve the water quality, whereas its quantity is controlled through the absorption phenomena. But a barren area facilitates flood as it has no vegetation cover to reduce the speed of water and facilitate absorption and bind the soil against erosion.


Till this moment, i could type this much. I hope it serves the purpose to some extent.

Dear Uzma Yousafzai SALAAM:
I have opted for Forestry in the coming PMS exam under Khyber Pakhtoonkhwah PSC. I have acquired some notes from a frnd of mine but i m not satisfied from it. I wanted to know if you have full notes on forestry plzz send it to me on my email address so that i may print it for myself

I shall be really thankful to you...